Blackburn College university leavers are top earners (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn College university leavers are top earners

2:18pm Wednesday 11th January 2012 in Education By Nafeesa Shan, Reporter

GRADUATES from an East Lancs university centre are better paid than their peers at top universities including Cambridge and Durham.

And at £25,0000 a year, students who gain degrees from the University Centre at Blackburn College earn the same as graduates at Oxford and University College London.

According to figures from the government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England, Unistats, Blackburn College has an average starting salary of £25,000 within six months of graduating.

That’s £4,000 above the national average.

Principal Ian Clinton said the college’s focus on industry related courses created with the help of business leaders had contributed to increased graduate salaries.

He said the college had also ensured its courses were endorsed by industry bodies and kitemarks, that employer-led research projects were developed and work-based learning and placement opportunities were carried out by students.

Graduates from the University of Central Lancashire, the University of Salford, and Manchester University earn £21,000 within six months of leaving, according to Unistats.

While students from Manchester Metropolitan University and Liverpool John Moores University earn on average £20,000.

Mr Clinton said: “We are very proud of these figures, which clearly illustrate our commitment to providing each and every one of our students with the best possible chance of joining, and sustaining, their chosen career path.

“We put the employability of our students at the heart of everything we do.”

However graduates from the other institutions have more chance of getting a job than those at Blackburn College.

On average 60 per cent of graduates secure employment within six months at Blackburn College.

But at the University of Central Lancashire on average at 69 per cent of students gain jobs, it is 67 per cent at the University of Salford, 77 per cent at Manchester University and 63 per cent in Liverpool John Moores.