Leeds top ten for top employers

Students at the University of Leeds are in the UK’s top ten most targeted by leading employers.

The annual survey, conducted by High Fliers Research, highlights graduate vacancies and starting salaries at the country’s 100 leading employers as featured in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers.

They include Deloitte, Civil Service Fast Stream, Goldman Sachs, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, and the NHS.

In this year’s survey, Leeds is ninth.

The rankings are based on the numbers of top graduate recruiters at recruitment presentations, careers fairs or other local university promotions during 2018-2019.

The research shows that UK’s top employers are increasing their graduate vacancies by 9.1% in 2019, the biggest annual rise in graduate recruitment for nine years.

A top ten place indicates that our students are sought after when it comes to finding a job and paid work experience with leading employers.

Jane Campbell, Head of Student Careers at Leeds, said: "A top ten place indicates that our students are sought after when it comes to finding a job and paid work experience with leading employers.

"We offer a range of opportunities to help students increase their employability, experience and skills, from study abroad – we send more students abroad than almost any other university in the UK – through to work placements and volunteering, and our award-winning work with student business start-ups.

"We involve employers in every aspect of the student journey, from shaping curricula to offering internships and jobs."

Vacancies at the country’s best-known graduate employers recovered in 2018, after a sharp fall in graduate jobs that followed the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, and are set to rise significantly in 2019, the research shows.

The research also shows that more than four-fifths of the country's top graduate employers are offering paid work experience programmes for students and recent graduates during the 2018-19 academic year, providing a total of 13,098 places.

The report confirmed that the top ten universities most targeted by Britain's top graduate employers in 2018-19 are Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Warwick, University College London, Cambridge, Nottingham, Leeds and Oxford.