Let’s guess: before university, many students will have explored the university bibles such as The Times Higher Education or The Guardian University Guide and based at least half of their choice on those eight columns.

With fees rising to £9000 a year, prospective university students may feel extra pressure to think about graduate employment before they step through the doors.

The reputable university guides include percentages of employability statistics or ‘career prospects’.

These terms have ambiguous meaning for many students. The blanket term includes full-time employment and further studies; and searching for this information can be difficult and include jargon that feels like an algorithm is needed to work it out.

The Guardian University Guide has a career score that is the percentage of graduates who have graduate level jobs, or are studying further, within six months of graduation.

For 2008/09, 91.3% of Swansea graduates were in employment or further studies and 78% were in graduate level jobs after six months.

Judith James, the strategic projects manager and part of The Employability Academy of the university, explains how Swansea University gathers graduates employment status after six months:

“All universities are required to complete a survey of their students six months after graduation.

“This survey is called the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education and collects information about what those completing their higher education experience go on to do.”

The record is split up into two parts: an early survey and a longitudinal follow-up later on. In the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) 2009-10 survey, 92% of students who graduated from Swansea students were in full time employment or further study. Judith explained how this is calculated:

“All universities manage this survey by contacting their own graduates and asking them what they are doing at a particular point in time, six months after graduation. The information is then ‘classifed’ by staff who have experience and expertise in using the ‘Standard Occupational Classification for Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Institutions’.”

The classifications decide what constitutes a graduate level job and makes the results from all HE institutions comparable. HESA then checks the classifications are accurate, collates and publishes the results.

“The university does not work out the statistics and we have to wait for the information to become available, as it is published for all universities on the same date.”

Not all students enter the employment market immediately as many take gap years to travel, or get part time work to fund living independently or take an entry-level job to climb up the ladder to a graduate level job. As Judith explains, six months is not an ideal time to follow-up graduates’ career paths, but it is a national measure to ensure students can be contacted:

“We also need to remember that students who go on to further study are not included in this result. It is a national measure and as it is difficult to get a response after six months it may be impossible after a year or two!

“The target for each university is an 80% response rate, so it can be hard work for staff who are responsible for the survey and every response is very helpful.”

This year’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education results saw that 9% of Welsh graduates were assumed to be unemployed six months after leaving.

The highest bracket of full-time paid employment is in the associate professional and technical occupations.

The lowest was process, plant and machine operatives and skilled trades occupations.

The Destination results for 2011/12 will be released in July.