New figures show that students from the University of Bath can expect to get some of the best jobs on the market when they graduate.

The Sunday Times University Guide, which was published yesterday, reveals that 87.6 per cent of students from the Claverton Down campus end up in graduate level jobs.

This is the second highest figure in the country after Imperial College in London, with Cambridge and Oxford beaten into sixth place equal.

The average starting salary for a student from the University of Bath is £23,562 - the eighth best in the UK.

The university was rated as 11th out of 122 institutions in the newspaper's annual guide, but was pipped to the post as best in the west by Bristol, which was given 10th position in an overall table headed by Oxford University.

Bath is the seventh highest rated university among school headteachers and the guide says: "Reasons for its popularity are immediately apparent. Graduate unemployment levels are low and few students drop out — Bath's non-completion rate of 5.5 per cent is well below the anticipated level of 6.8 per cent.

"The employability of Bath students is due in no small part to the fact that nearly 60% of undergraduates spend one year on an industrial or business placement."

Vice-Chancellor Professor Glynis Breakwell, said: "The Sunday Times describes our performance in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise as a 'triumph'.

"Some league tables ignore research performance, but I believe that our world-leading research makes a real difference to the quality of the student experience and the vibrancy of the learning environment.

"It is particularly satisfying to be rated so highly by headteachers at Britain's leading academic schools who recognise Bath's ability to give students an excellent education as well as providing a range of opportunities to broaden their experience of university life.

"Every day, colleagues across campus are making real efforts to improve the quality of the student experience here at Bath, and I am delighted that their efforts have once again received national recognition."

The university is said to be the 15th most middle class institution in the country, and the 18th best for research, while its sporting pedigree is rated as the second best in the UK behind old rival Loughborough.

Bath Spa University is ranked 76th in the overall table, and has the fourth lowest average starting salary in the country at £16,047.

However, despite University of Bath graduates' earning power, the unemployment rate among them at 7.2 per cent is actually higher than Bath Spa's figure of 6.9 per cent.

The guide says the Newton Park campus provides an "unrivalled" setting and highlights its pioneering environmental policies.