Four in 10 graduates are underemployed in jobs where a degree is unnecessary, according to a report commissioned by the Association of Accounting Technicians and prepared by the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Jane Scott Paul, chief executive at the Association of Accounting Technicians, who commissioned the study, said: “If we are asking people to invest £9,000-a-year on tuition fees, they should expect a credible return on that investment, yet AAT research shows that over half of graduates are nowhere near benefiting from their degree and the situation is set to get worse.

“For too long vocational qualifications have been seen as the poor relation, with poorer employment prospects, when the truth is that high-quality vocational courses open doors and create employment.”