Graduate employability and employment

We are supporting the higher education (HE) sector to develop opportunities to boost graduate employability and employment. These pages outline the funding programmes we have supported and show examples of help for students and graduates that have been provided. They also profile what is available from 2012-13 when the new HE fees and funding reforms take effect.

Helping businesses and graduates

In recent years we have run a number of funding programmes designed to help businesses find the skills they need and also help graduates find the skills that lead to employment.

Since 2009 we have supported internships for undergraduates and graduates. We also set up a fund – the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) – to tackle some of the economic challenges of the 2009 recession.

The internships schemes and the ECIF have provided over 11,000 work placements and internships across England, supported by a range of other regional activity and matched funding.

Employability, information and student choice

Universities and colleges will provide increased and enhanced information for prospective students and enhance student choice from 2012-13.

To this end we are working with universities, colleges and partner organisations in the HE sector to provide prospective students with information that will help them choose what and where to study.

As part of this work, we are asking HEFCE-funded institutions to publish information about the employability of their graduates. This takes the form of 'employability statements' that will be published through the commentary section of the Unistats web-site, and through communications channels at individual institutions.

Page last updated 21 July 2011