Almost half of new IT graduates believe that their degree course has failed to provide them with relevant skills, a new survey has found.

The research also found that 41% felt that in hindsight, they would have skipped university and gone straight into work.

As an alternative to degree-based IT training, 53% of respondents said that they would have preferred to complete vocational or on-the-job training.

The survey, by international IT services company FDM, also reveals that IT graduates are still heavily favouring work in the private sector, with only 10% of those surveyed committed to working in the public sector.

However, the survey also revealed a significant shift in the IT gender divide with only 2% suggesting that their gender negatively impacted on them finding work. In addition, only 6% of those surveyed felt that age was an issue in IT recruitment.

Rod Flavell, CEO of FDM, comments: "After three years of studying, many graduates are finding that they can't afford additional training to get them ready for the work place.

"It's clear that more people than ever are open to the idea of vocational training to get the skills they need rather than automatically opting for university study and we will see this trend rise dramatically in the next few years."

* The survey was conducted amongst recent graduates on www.graduates-jobs.com, with 61% male and 39% female respondents. The research