The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) figures reveal Newcastle University graduates also earn some of the highest salaries.

Graduates from the university go on to earn first job salaries averaging �17,900 - with one in 10 moving into senior management posts.

Many of the graduates are choosing to stay in the North East.

The government figures show that almost 50% of graduates move into professional occupations, such as medicine, accountancy and law.

Hard work

With 20% working in associate professional and technical occupations, such as financial, IT and media services.

The HESA figures are based on information collected from university leavers with first degrees six months after they graduate.

Nick Keeley, director of Newcastle University's careers service, said: "This goes to show that all our hard work in making sure that employability is high on the agenda for all students, as soon as they start their degrees, is paying off.

"We are particularly proud of our enterprise programme, which, through a variety of course modules and other activities, encourages our undergraduates to explore their own ideas and to consider turning these into actual business ventures.

"In fact, some of our recent graduates are already making a name for themselves as self-employed entrepreneurs."