Less than a third of people working in the West Midlands have graduated from higher education, according to official statistics.

Only 30 per cent of the region’s working population have studied at university, says the Office for National Statistics.

Nationally, the report revealed that almost half of recent graduates were working in non-graduate jobs.

The ONS said 47 per cent of those who completed a degree in the past five years were working in roles such as sales assistants and care workers in April to June this year, up from 39 per cent in 2008.

Almost all graduates who had studied dentistry or medicine (95 per cent) had found employment, followed by students who opted for media and information studies at 93 per cent.

While the medical graduates had the highest average pay after qualifying, at £45,600 a year, their media and information studies peers had the lowest of all subject groups, at £21,000.

Graduates were much less likely than non-graduates to be out of the labour market, with an inactivity rate of only nine per cent compared with 13 per cent for those with A-levels and 18 per cent for those with A* to C grade GCSEs.

In the West Midlands, just under five per cent of all graduates were listed as unemployed. Most of the region’s university-qualified adults were aged over 40 – compared to an average age of just 34 in London.

Annual earnings for those with a degree increased at a faster pace as they gained experience before levelling off when they reached 38 with an average of £35,000 a year, the statistics stated. On average a male graduate earned £3 an hour more than a female counterpart.

In contrast, average earnings for those who left education with an A* to C grade GCSE level out at age 32 at £19,000, and those for with A-levels at age 34 on £22,000.