Nursing courses at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have been ranked first for graduate prospects in The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2017.
This outstanding performance in the influential league table is down to the programmes' clinical focus, quality of teaching and strong links with placement providers, say staff and students.
It follows on from the most recent Destinations of Leavers in Higher Education (DHLE) report (2014/15), which revealed 100 per cent of DMU Nursing students are in full-time employment or further study within six months of graduating.
Head of School Dr Chris Whitney-Cooper is delighted but not surprised by the strong student outcomes across the suite of professionally-accredited courses, including Adult, Child, Learning Disability and Mental Health Nursing.
She said: "At DMU we are proud of our relationship with our local trusts, which has enabled us to develop courses and recruit high-calibre clinical and research staff to provide up-to-date and clinically focused programmes that prepare our students to be caring and compassionate nurses.
"I have been told by our local employers that our graduates are 'head and shoulders' above other applicants, so are highly sought by employers.
"Many take up posts in Leicestershire on qualifying."
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Adult Nursing graduate Grace Broughton, who works at the Acute Medical Unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary, said employability was promoted throughout her time at DMU.
Grace said: "The university ran regular events with our potential future employers at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, and also encouraged us to consider where we would like to work from an early stage.
"The nursing course is very job orientated anyway, and the job interview process that DMU set up for us was very quick and easy, to ensure we selected where we wanted to work and had a good chance of getting this."
Grace, who won a Royal College of Nursing award for her role in promoting palliative care within the university, added: "DMU also promoted employability by encouraging students to engage in extra-curricular activities such as #DMUglobal and additional experience such as working on the nursing bank.
"Lecturers seemed more than happy to support us by providing references and advice."
Posted on Wednesday 2 November 2016