More graduates are opting to travel

Many of this year's graduates are planning to take a year out to travel around the world before starting work, a survey suggests.

The poll of over 1,000 students for Graduate Prospects found 13% of final year students who did not have a job lined up were planning to travel beyond the end of the summer holidays.

A fifth of those surveyed were hoping to further their studies with a postgraduate course, while 31% expected to be in graduate-level employment.

The study, carried out by Mori, suggests the internet is the most popular source for careers information, with 78% saying they used it to research career options, job vacancies and postgraduate courses.

And 72% of students expected to continue to log on to get careers advice and information after graduation.

E-mail updates on jobs will be used by one in six students (17%) but text message updates have not yet caught on - 87% of students said they would not want to receive job information via their mobile phones.

Mike Hill, the chief executive of Graduate Prospects - an arm of the Higher Education Careers Service Unit - said: "The fact that so many graduates are planning to go travelling demonstrates the increasingly popularity of a gap year."

"Whether taken before or after university it can be extremely valuable. If it is well planned it can enable a student or graduate to learn and develop skills which will help them in their future careers," he said.

Prince William raised the profile of travelling during a gap year when he spent time in Chile and Africa before taking up his studies at St Andrews University.