Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine raised the issue of graduate employment in the House of Commons on Thursday 6th September, and praised the record of the University of Winchester.
Speaking in questions to the Business Department, Mr Brine asked Higher Education Minister David Willetts what assessment the Government has made of the current employment outcomes of new graduates leaving university.
Responding, the Havant MP said that university remains a great route to a rewarding career and told MP graduates earn on average £100,000 more over their working lives. "We recognise the need to do all we can to help universities and businesses to prepare students for the labour market", he added.
The Winchester MP said: "I am a huge supporter of the University of Winchester, which we are very lucky to have here in the city, and wanted to remind the Minister that 96% of its full-time teacher training graduates for 2010/11 had gone into employment which is testament to the way the courses are structured and the ultimate quality of the graduates it produces.
"I also wanted to ask the Minister whether he is satisfied that, across the country more widely, higher education institutions are doing enough to focus prospective students on the employment prospects they can expect if they choose to study and spend what is now significant sums of money at their institutions."
In reply to Mr Brine, the Minister told the House of Commons: "I congratulate the University of Winchester on their excellent achievement. That is why this month we are introducing, for the first time, a requirement that universities release the information on the percentage of their leavers who are in work after six months, course by course, so that prospective students can assess their performance on that crucial measure."
Steve Brine will be appearing at the University of Winchester Freshers' Fair on the morning of Saturday 22nd September with the Winchester Student Conservative Society.
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The exchange can be seen in full via http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2012-09-06a.368.9&s=speaker%3A24901#g368.10.
