Keira Knightley regrets not gaining a university education

Hollywood actress Keira Knightley has spoken of her regret at not gaining a university education, which opens the door to jobs for many graduates.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said that while has starred as some of literature's most famous characters, not having studied to degree level leaves her with a complex about her own intelligence.

Keira told the paper: "I am completely uneducated. Not going to university did give me an incredible driving force because it leaves you with a slight chip on your shoulder.

"It makes me feel I am going to read absolutely everything so I can prove I am not stupid."

The actress was diagnosed with dyslexia at six and as a result her reading abilities are impaired. However, she has still managed to make her way through some weighty titles including Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch.

Open doors

Although Keira may see having a degree as a sign of intelligence, for many it is also a qualification that will open doors into the world of employment and jobs.

However, having a degree is not all graduates need to get a job once they leave university and one expert has said this week that experience is a vital factor, which is where Keira is miles ahead of the crowd.

Anne Fairweather, head of public policy at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said: "Increasingly, you're seeing that anyway, with more and more graduates coming through as more people study in higher education, people [employers] are looking for something extra and not just a degree when they are looking at graduate recruitment."

She explained that graduates ought to "think long and hard" about the type of work experience they complete.

Voluntary work, Ms Fairweather noted, is always a good move as it shows dedication to the chosen line of work and also proves that graduates are capable of doing the job in hand, rather than just having a hypothetical academic knowledge of how it works.

Competitiveness

The necessity to consider these options is borne from the competitive nature of the graduate jobs market.

However, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters' Graduate Recruitment Summer Review, which was published last month, vacancies for these jobs are growing.

The review found that vacancies for graduate-level positions are growing with a respectable rise of 11.7 per cent on 2007 figures.

Furthermore, almost three-fifths of employers surveyed expected to report an increase in vacancies in 2008.