Separate figures show university graduates are overwhelmingly content with the boost that higher education gives their career.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency’s survey of more than 49,000 2006- 07 leavers looked at what they were doing in November 2010.

It found that 84.2 per cent were satisfied with their careers; the median salary of those in full-time employment was pound;25,000.

Some 85.4 per cent of those in employment viewed their qualification as “helpful, important or necessary” in getting their job, while 70.4 per cent said the course they completed in 2006-07 had been good value for money.

When surveyed six months after finishing their courses, they were enjoying the highest employment rate ever recorded by HESA at that stage.

www.hesa.ac.ukdlhelong0607_intro.