Graduates from the University of Birmingham are among the most likely in the country to become successful business leaders, new research shows.

Emolument.com, the crowd sourced pay-data website, analysed data from 26,000 graduates from UK universities to find the institutions with the highest ratio of chief executives, chief technology officers or company partners.

The University of Birmingham was ranked third in the UK, just behind London Business School (1st) and Cambridge (2nd).

Alice Leguay, COO & Co-Founder at Emolument.com, said: “With the inescapable rise of the Gig Economy and ubiquitous start-up technology firms, employers are more likely to look for hands-on graduates and employees, who have either studied related topics or have added specialised MOOCs to their toolkit.”

The findings chime with Birmingham’s recent accolade from The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015-16, which named Birmingham as University of the Year for Graduate Employment.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir David Eastwood said at the time: “When students choose to go to University they are making a big investment in their future. When they choose to study at Birmingham they are choosing a university that is profoundly committed to preparing them for a successful and fulfilling life ahead, as well as a world-class education.”

Emolument’s top ten list for producing successful business leaders was as follows:

University % of C-Suite & Partners
London Business School 5%
Cambridge University 3.9%
University of Birmingham 3.2%
Strathclyde University 3.1%
Leeds Metropolitan University 3.1%
University of London 2.9%
Royal Holloway 2.6%
Leicester University 2.6%
Sheffield University 2.3%
Brunel University 2.2%

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