The research – which examined 100 employers including Barclays, Shell, the Civil Service, Rolls-Royce, Deloitte and Marks & Spencer – also revealed that starting salaries are set to hit a median of £30,000 for the first time in 2015.
University leavers working in law firms and investment banks can expect starting salaries in excess of £40,000. This pay increase comes as the first undergraduate students to pay £9,000 tuition fees get ready to leave higher education.
The study also shows a big increase in paid work placements and internships available for students and recent graduates. More than four-fifths of recruiters now offer paid work-experience programmes to students and university leavers, with 13,049 placements available this year.
The research found that graduates with no work experience are unlikely to find employment, while a third of graduates who went on to work at a firm have already held a position there. Two-thirds of recruiters offer paid placements during the summer holidays.
Martin Birchall, the managing director of High Fliers Research, said that graduates leaving university in 2015 can expect a “buoyant jobs market”.
Universities minister Greg Clark said: “Confidence in the economy continues to grow, and this is reflected in the fact that Britain’s top companies will recruit more graduates this year than they have for a decade.”
