Cambridge Celebrates 800th Year

Cambridge University, one of the world's most prestigious higher education institutions, this year celebrates its 800th anniversary.

A special light show was amongst the main events marking the anniversary, which featured projections of famous former students such as Oliver Cromwell, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking.

The launch of this year's celebrations was attended by many in Senate House Yard, Cambridge. Other events included church bell-ringers worldwide simultaneously performing a piece composed especially for the occasion.

Cambridge has produced more Nobel Prize winners than any other institution, and was the site of many world-changing events such as the splitting of the atom and the discovery of the structure of DNA.

Cambridge was founded in 1209 by scholars from Oxford, and now has 18,000 students and an annual turnover of almost √1bn.

Other events are planned for the forthcoming year, including a Charles Darwin Festival, a science festival and a Festival of Ideas.

Source: BBC News Online, last updated 00:16 GMT, Sunday, 18 January 2009

Graduate Employment Increases

The UK graduate jobs market is still strong, despite the economic downturn. An annual survey found that the graduate unemployment rate is at its lowest in five years.

The survey, which tracks students six months after graduation, found that only 5.6% of graduates are out of work, compared with 6.1% last year.

Graduates from the creative arts and computer sciences suffered from the worst employment rates. Students with low degree grades were also found to be less employable.

Course which lead to specific careers, such as dentistry, medicine or teaching, have extremely low unemployment rates - in medicine it is only 0.2%.

The annual survey, which is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, reflects a long-term trend towards a growing number of jobs requiring skilled employees.

Source: BBC News Online, last updated 09.54 GMT, Friday, 8 August 2008