Going to university has gone “beyond a choice and become a rite of passage”, according to research commissioned by recruitment solutions firm TMP Worldwide and accountancy firm PwC.

And TARGETjobs research shows that UK-wide graduate vacancies are at 64% of their February 2008 level.

The TMP/PwC research found that 70% of young people plan to go to university, with 80% believing their degree would be important for career prospects.

Simultaneously, it showed that 41% of students feel their schools careers service is below par and that only 34% take career guidance from parents.

Meanwhile, just 4% of employers told the TMP/PwC research that schools are doing enough to provide careers information to students, but employers also admit that they could be doing more, despite 57% responding that they were actively engaging with young people.

Research from jobs board TARGETjobs says that 14% of employers seek potential candidates before university and 25% try to reach students in their first year of university.

The TARGETjobs research also shows that UK-wide graduate vacancies have dropped from 700,000 in February 2008 to 450,000 currently.

Jayne Cullen, head of graduate solutions, TMP Worldwide, says: “There is much work to be done to address the differing agendas between schools and the employment market.”

Sonja Stockton, PwC director of recruitment, agrees saying: “Education and business need to come together to kick start a new approach to supporting young people in making these decisions. We met with over 150 careers advisers recently from across the UK, and their feedback was for more information and proved to us there’s a huge appetite for engagement.”