An analysis on the destination of law leavers from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Since the introduction of tuition fees for university education in the UK, universities have come to be seen as the stepping stone into the world of graduate level employment. As a result, universities are constantly striving to find new ways in which their employability ratings can be improved. However, the definition of employability is not so straightforward or unanimous. Moreover, Law at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is ranked one of the lowest in terms of employability in the university league tables (2014/15), there was a concern that the figures given (around the 40% mark) were inaccurate.

This report begins with a literature review of the research undertaken in the field of employability as well as on the utility of university league tables, before proceeding to analyze the responses of former CCCU law students to assess (among other things) whether they are employed, if they felt that the university developed their employability skills, and how much they actually paid attention to the university league tables when applying to university.

The findings are very informative and, especially in terms of graduate level employment, do not match the university league table results.
Overall, the university was viewed as having a positive impact into law students’ employability skills.

The external impact of this presentation and the research findings it produces from the empirical study undertaen, is probably best measured in the way in which the employability of our Law graduates can now be viewed if the findings of the report were to be considered by others. The findings reveal a much more accurate position in relation to CCCU Law graduate employment than portrayed in the subject based University league tables, where Law at Canterbury Christ Church University has been traditionally ranked very low against similar Law Schools. In terms of marketing, this study can be treated as being advantageous and serves to enhance the University’s profile when for legal education, particularly in terms of employability. The findings of the study will be particularly useful for open day and prospectus information.