The Times is reporting that almost a quarter of graduate employers have complained of being unable to fill vacancies despite record numbers of school leavers going to university…

Hundreds of posts with Britain’s leading companies were left vacant as employers said universities were failing to produce graduates with the skills they wanted, and predicted that things would get worse.

The findings took the gloss off strong figures in the graduate recruitment sector — employers reported a 17.1 per cent rise in graduate vacancies, compared with just 4.3 per cent last year, and a remarkable turnaround from two years ago when numbers contracted by 8.2 per cent.

However, 23.3 per cent of employers said they were unable to fill all their graduate positions in the most recent recruiting cycle. There were 452 graduate vacancies reported by 41 employers, an average of 11 per company.

Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, blamed a “mismatch” between the graduates produced by universities and the knowledge and skills sought by employers…

The findings were based on a survey of 189 graduate employers. The fastest-growing were banks and financial services companies, which expanded their recruitment by 54 per cent as they recovered after the financial crisis…

Graduate jobs were concentrated in London, with 45.6 per cent in the capital and 11.2 per cent in the southeast…

We often hear this call that students are leaving education – whether school or university – with the wrong or inadequate skills. Is it actually the case or are there unrealistic expectations amongst employers? Should they be doing more themselves to widen their net and then offer more training to new recruits?