A report has found that 61% of recruiting businesses value experience in the industry over qualification, whilst 8% say degrees are ‘pointless’ given the number of people graduating with similar grades.

Student-employer matchmaking site studentgems.com, conducted a study of 1,561 managing directors across the UK. The results show that 61% of recruiters are more likely to hire an applicant based on relevant experience over a degree or other qualifications.

With over three million people currently studying for degrees in the UK; studentgems.com estimate that nearly half will struggle to find themselves a job relevant to their chosen career path. 41% of employers said they valued vocational qualifications more than degrees, whilst 8% said that they thought degrees were ‘pointless’ given how many students graduate with similar grades.

1 in 5, 19%, of the employers asked said they would hire an applicant with two year's experience yet no qualifications over another applicant with no experience but a degree with honours. Of those employers, 11% said qualifications bore little importance in their short listing process.

The results highlighted five specific industries that value experience over qualifications: Sales where 72% admitted they preferred relevant experience over qualifications, catering with 70%, graphic design with 69%, photography with 67% and finally, carework with over half at 64%.

The study shows that just 23% of employers would not consider somebody for a role without qualifications.