Edinburgh Napier University has emerged as the third best university in the UK for securing jobs for graduate journalists – with a success rate of 70 per cent.
It is the only Scottish university in the top ten but, then again, no Scottish university features in the bottom ten.
Edinburgh Napier’s success is featured in an article on the website, MediaNation, based on government figures – Unistat – for graduate employment.
Says MediaNation, of the 37 Higher Education Institutions offering journalism undergraduate degrees, 25 provided enough data to be recorded. And of those, the average graduate employment rate for the UK’s journalism students is 55 per cent.
As reported by MediaNation, the top ten institutions each recorded a figure of 60 per cent or above: Nottingham Trent University 75, Staffordshire University 73, Edinburgh Napier University 70, Leeds University 70, University of Central Lancashire 65, Sheffield University 65, University of the Arts London 64, Kingston University 60 and the University of Glamorgan 60.
The website goes on to report the 'bottom' ten institutions: University of East London 20, University of Sunderland 35, University of Huddersfield 40, Middlesex University 45, Cardiff University 45, Southampton Solent University 48, Leeds Trinity University 50, Lincoln University 50, Liverpool John Moores 50 and the University of Salford 50.
Adds MediaNation: “What can be said is that in terms of media-related degrees in the UK, the nation’s universities are managing to turn in higher averages of graduate employability for journalism graduates, than those studying media or allied disciplines. What these statistics actually mean in real terms is open to question and the subject of much debate in the academic community. They may not be perfect, they may well expose a range of factors – not least of all regional differences in media employment. But students and their parents pay attention to them.
“Getting into the creative industries in the UK is tough, and highly competitive. The raising of the fees cap (in England) further emphasises the student-as-consumer. Like it or not, higher education, as a route to employment, is still the order of the day. And as the public sector cuts begin to bite down hard, the Unistats figures are likely to become one of the crucial indicators potential students use for careers success.”
