Uni of Manchester grads are the 5th most employable in the UK

The University of Manchester's graduates have been ranked as among the most employable in the world.

In the 2019 QS World University Rankings released this week, UoM graduates were placed 35th globally, out of 500 universities assessed.

This makes them the 5th most employable graduates in the UK, where only Oxbridge, UCL and Imperial outranked those with a University of Manchester degree to their name.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more commonly known as MIT, came top globally, with Stanford and the University of California coming in joint second place.

Cambridge was the highest ranking UK institution, coming in 7th globally, with Oxford coming in 10th.

Unfortunately for students of the other Manchester universities, none of them made the top 500 this year. MMU students can instead remain proud to be part of the UK's most environmentally friendly university.

The rankings are compiled using a methodology that goes beyond earnings data or graduate employment rates.

QS also surveyed over 42,000 employers to evaluate the reputation of each university from their perspective, as well as nearly 30,000 individuals that have gone on to highly successful careers after graduation.

They also looked at the number of research partnerships and placement opportunities offered by each faculty of a university, along with how many employes have been physically present on campus in the last year.

The University of Manchester's Whitworth building

Bristol and Leeds also fared relatively well in the 2019 rankings, coming in 47th and 53rd respectively.

Birmingham ranked 99th globally, the lowest of the 14 UK universities in the top 100.

18 other British institutions ranked in the top 250, including Sheffield, Liverpool, and Lancaster. Some, such as Loughborough or Aston University, climbed hundreds of places since 2018 to make this years rankings.

Ben Sowter, Research Director at QS told The Tab: “Rises in tuition fees and an ever-more-competitive job market are making students ever-more-concerned about the likelihood that their prospective university will help them thrive afterwards.

“This ranking is designed to empower them to make more informed choices, and indicates that those universities that have excellent research profiles and global reputations aren’t invariably those that do most to nurture student employability.

“The United Kingdom’s overall performance is stable-to-good, with more drops than rises.

“However, it is also clear that the nation’s very top institutions are losing ground, with universities occupying tiers below them aware that the promise of a clear focus on a good career is an attractive pull factor for prospective students, and a means of competing in international performance evaluations such as this one.”