GRADUATES from the South East of England contemplating postgraduate study will be encouraged by new figures, which suggest that studying for a Masters will considerably enhance their career prospects.

Just less than eight in 10 2003 Masters stu-dents from the South East were in employ-ment six months after graduation, according to the latest report by Graduate Prospects, the UK's official graduate recruitment and careers guidance provider.

The report was compiled using data prov-ided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

The South East also produces the second-highest number of postgraduate students after London - with 15.1 per cent of the 2003 cohort originating from this part of the country - and is the second most popular region for postgraduate study, with 13 per cent choosing to study there.

Despite the success of students from the South East, the region is also the fourth most likely to lose its newly-qualified post-graduates to the rest of the country - with more than four in 10 Masters graduates from the South East choosing to work elsewhere in the UK.

According to the report, an additional eight per cent went on to further study or train in the UK, 2.7 per cent chose to work overseas and 3.5 per cent were not yet available for work or study.

The overall number of postgraduates who hadn't yet found work stands just below the national average, 3.7 per cent compared with four per cent, highlighting that a Masters degree can offer a worthwhile entry ticket into the workforce.

Women Masters graduates can expect even better employment prospects than their male counterparts, with 80 per cent of the 2003 cohort in work six months after graduation, compared with 78 per cent of males.

This gap in employability between the sexes extends to eight per cent for Masters graduates in the biological sciences and six per cent in the arts and humanities.

Reasons for postgraduate study vary - from students looking to gain a headstart in their careers to those pursuing their interest in a particular field.

And it seems women are also slightly more likely to study for a Masters degree than men - of the 2003 Masters graduates, 51 per cent were female, while 49 per cent male.