Dudley listed in top ten places graduates choose to remain in - despite not having its own university
Dudley is the only place in the Black Country that made the list - keeping well over half of the region's students after they graduate from university.
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A new ranking has revealed the towns and cities in England where UK graduates are most likely to remain after completing their studies, revealing the effect of the ‘brain drain’ on rural areas and small towns.
The study, conducted by student recruitment marketing agency Think Orion, analysed government data on several cohorts of students, calculating the percentage of university graduates who remained in the same region where they sat their GCSE examinations.
The study also collected employment statistics and average annual income figures for each area, to understand why graduates are incentivised to stay or leave their home towns.
Rural areas and smaller towns had a disproportionately low graduate retention rate, with students having to move elsewhere for the purpose of higher education, and choosing not to return home after graduation.
This is in line with a phenomenon referred to as the 'brain drain’, where many UK regions lose their graduates to London, as the capital offers stronger employment opportunities.
Amongst the list, which included places like London, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle, Dudley is eighth - retaining 69.7 per cent of its university graduates.
