Top ten graduate employers
(2002 in brackets)
- Civil Service (4)
- Accenture (1)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (2)
- Army (5)
- KPMG (6)
- HSBC (16)
- BBC (11)
- Proctor & Gamble (8)
- NHS (27)
- Deloitte & Touche (18)
Gordon Brown's massive investment in public services may also have persuaded students that working in the Civil Service offers more rewarding prospects than the stereotype of 25 years as a deskbound pen-pusher. Nearly 15,500 students who completed their degrees this summer were asked which employer offered "the best opportunities for graduates" for the latest edition of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers guide.
The Civil Service ranked first, up from fourth last year, dislodging the consulting company Accenture from the top spot it has held for the past five years.
Other public sector employers also fared well, particularly the NHS which leapt 18 places to ninth. The army was fourth, the police service rose five places to thirtieth, and local government made a debut appearance at fifty ninth in the list.
The new Teach First programme, aimed at persuading high-flying graduates to work in schools for two years before considering other careers, also made an impression on the Class of 2003. It was sixty third on the list in just its first year of operation.
The BBC's standing rose among graduates, helped perhaps by its high-profile row with the Government over the alleged "sexing up" of the Iraqi war dossier. The broadcaster was rated the seventh most sought-after employer, compared to eleventh in 2002.
Investment banks, in the news more often for redundancies than anything else in recent years, saw their stock decline despite the potential financial rewards. Goldman Sachs, last year's highest-rated bank, slipped from ninth to seventeenth while its rivals JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley fell out of the top 40.
Supermarkets and other retailers did a much better job of selling themselves to graduates. Marks & Spencer was the top-rated store at sixteenth, up from twenty-fifth, two places ahead of Sainsbury's. The Aldi chain of supermarkets was the highest climber, up to 20 from 65, while Asda was the highest new entry on the list.
The survey of graduate careers has been carried out each year since 1997 by High Fliers Research. Martin Birchall, the survey director, said: "The fact that the table is headed by the Civil Service for the first time reflects the widespread concern amongst university-leavers that career prospects for new graduates are far from certain in the private sector. Graduates from the 'class of 2003' have turned away from traditional favourites such as the investment banks, management consultants and the accountancy firms in their thousands and have instead opted for major public sector employers such as the NHS."
