The Careers Survey reported that the media (attracting 12.4% of finalists), teaching (11.9%), investment banking (11.1%), marketing (11%) and accountancy (10.8%) were the top five career destinations for the class of 2006. Consulting (10.3%), science, research and development (9.8%), charity or voluntary work (8.6%), the Civil Service (8.5%), and Engineering (7.5%) made up the remaining places within the top ten.

When compared with 2005, the survey found that application levels for 2006 increased for eight sectors (accountancy, actuarial work, armed forces, transport or logistics, consulting, buying or purchasing, investment banking, and finance).

Thirteen sectors experienced a fall in applications: this included a 1% fall in application levels for science, research and development.

More graduates needed

The CBI has said that the UK needs to double the proportion of science and engineering graduates leaving university by 2014 or see skilled jobs go overseas.

It said that around 12 per cent of graduates presently leave university with a science, engineering and technology degree and this needs to rise to at least 25 per cent f the UK is to match the predicted growth in jobs.

The business group has identified four weaknesses that it says are holding back the flow of students into university science courses:

• Poor science laboratories in schools - with one in four unsafe or inadequate according to the Royal Society of Chemistry, and four in ten basic and uninspiring.
• A lack of teachers with specialist knowledge to teach GCSE and A level science
• A stripped-down curriculum which does not devote sufficient time to science - only one in five state schools offers separate GCSEs in physics, chemistry and biology and too few students step up to study science at A Level.
• Poor careers advice which fails to stimulate young people's interest in the well-paid and cutting edge careers available in STEM.

Cogent CEO Joanna Woolf added: “This country has a world-class science base and Cogent is working with industry to ensure we continue to build on this. We are now in competition with India and China who are turning out high numbers of highly skilled STEM graduates. The sustainability of our industries depends on us making sure our own education infrastructure meets industry needs.

“Cogent recognises that a huge amount of investment is taking place in education and that there are many organisations working alongside Cogent to ensure our education system can give young people the skills they need.”

John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General concluded: "If we don't step up to the plate then the companies which have helped build up the UK's science base will be faced with no alternative but to go overseas. They are increasingly recruiting from abroad and the danger is they may relocate altogether.”