The UK has slipped from third to tenth in the ‘graduate league table’.

The survey, which measures the percentage of the population graduating with a higher education qualification, reveals that youngsters in the UK are increasingly pessimistic about their chances of getting into university.

The report, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), also confirms that university graduates in each country surveyed earn more money and find jobs more easily than people who have not had a university education.

However, despite other countries overtaking the UK when calculating the amount of people completing academic degrees, the UK still has one of the highest entry rates into vocational courses, including those in leisure.

Minister for further and higher education, Bill Rammell, said: “The figures are encouraging. The UK has one of the highest entry rates for vocational higher education and since the Higher Education figures in the OECD report are from 2005 we expect to see continued increases over the coming years.

“But we still have a way to go. Since these data were gathered, the Government’s response to the Leitch review on Skills has been launched. This will help over four million adults learn new skills and improve existing ones over the next three years and the plans will help make Britain’s workforce one of the most skilled in the world by 2020.”