Academic pay outpaced

Average graduate starting salaries are rising quicker than the pay of full-time academics, figures out this week reveal. The going rate for a newly recruited graduate rose to nearly £22,500 on average last year - more than 7 per cent higher than in the previous year and 32 per cent more than in 1998, according to a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters. The growth has outstripped that of average full-time academics' salaries, which rose by only 5.9 per cent last year and by .9 per cent from 1998 to 2005.