The vast majority of St. Clare's graduates go to university as the next step in their career. Our students are welcomed by institutions all over the world, and during their two years at St. Clare's they are well prepared for and guided through decisions and applications.

Most students start university immediately while a small proportion choose to develop their personal skills and interests by taking a ‘gap year' in which to travel, work or volunteer and thus improve their career prospect s p rior to continuing in education. A few undertake national service before progressing to university.

Those progressing to higher education in 2009 applied far and wide and have been successful in taking places at prestigious universities around the world. This has been a year of excellent results which has ensured success for our students, particularly at a time when competition is strong.

Summary of destinations for 2009 graduates:	No. of students
UK universities (see below for details of top universities)	62
US universities: Bryn Mawr, Johns Hopkins, Pennsylvania, Pitzer, Reed	7
European universities: including Bocconi (Italy), Hamburg (Germany), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne and Les Roches (Switzerland)	7
Asian universities: Hong Kong, Kazakhstan	3
Australasian university	1
Art foundation	2
Gap year (most placed in universities)	15
Employment or national service	4
Undecided	2

US and UK university league tables

For 2009, 35 St. Clare's graduates have been placed in the top 20 UK and US universities (as ranked by The Times newspaper and US News and World Report: America's Best College), with 18 in the top 10 universities (see below). These universities are ranked nationally using figures to represent an average of each university's teaching, research, entry standards, staff-student ratio, degrees awarded, job prospects and spending per student.

Students placed in the top 10 US and UK universities are as follows:	No. of students
US universities
Pennsylvania	2
UK universities
Oxford University	2
Cambridge University	1
Imperial College, University of London	2
University College London	3
Warwick University	3
London School of Economics	1
University of Durham	1
Exeter University	2
Bristol University	1

The choice of degree subjects includes medicine, law, engineering, history/politics, economics, business studies, modern languages, architecture, public relations, psychology, international relations, geology, middle eastern studies and liberal arts.

Further detailed information is available from our Careers and Higher Education Adviser, Liz Reece (liz.reece@stclares.ac.uk) and for United States Universities and Colleges, Paul Sinclair (paul.sinclair@stclares.ac.uk).