RISING numbers of Scottish students are securing employment in professional occupations when they graduate.

Figures for 2013/14 show 73 per cent of Scottish graduates who went straight into a job were employed in a professional capacity - up from 69 per cent the previous year and the highest figure in the UK.

However, the report from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) also showed more than a quarter of the 14,500 students who got a job when they left university went into non-professional roles.

Of these, five per cent were in so-called "elementary jobs" where only basic skills are required and ten per cent were in sales and customer services.

The figures come at a time when some have questioned the benefits of a university education with the suggestion many graduates end up working in the service industry.

However, Angela Constance, the Education Secretary, said the improving figures showed prospects for graduates continued to be "excellent".

She said: "An increase in full-time first degree graduates going into professional occupations, the majority of which are in Scotland, is particularly welcome and shows our continued economic development is allowing staff to take up posts in areas they want to specialise in.

"Scottish universities are already viewed as world leading around the globe with four institutions in the world's top 200, more than any other country per head of population apart from Switzerland."

A spokesman for Universities Scotland, which represents university principals, said the figures were "great news" for Scottish graduates.

He said: "Of those that go straight into work it is very encouraging to see that Scotland is better than the UK average for the proportion going straight into graduate level jobs.

"This builds on previous progress and marks the impact of a university experience in Scotland that is very focussed on employability and on developing well-rounded graduates.

"Scotland's universities are very proud of their record on graduate employability and this continues to be a real priority with universities working closely with employers to design courses and create work placement opportunities."

Vonnie Sandlan, president-elect of national student body NUS Scotland also welcomed the figures.

She said: "It speaks volumes for the high standard of our institutions and out students. Any significant level of unemployment, and equally pressing, underemployment, is a huge waste of talent, and bad for our society and our economy.

"University graduates still have a huge advantage in the job market compared to many other young people in our society although colleges play a vital role in supporting many of those from our most disadvantaged communities into education and into work."

Overall, the Hesa figures showed 90 per cent of graduates from Scottish institutions went into employment or further study.

Of the 35,680 people who left higher education in Scotland in 2013/14, almost two-thirds found a job in the UK, with five per cent going into employment overseas.

Some 15 per cent went on to further education, while six per cent combined working with continuing their studies.

Graduates from medicine and dentistry were the most likely to immediately secure professional employment, while half of those who took languages were in non-professional jobs.

Just five per cent of those who left university were unemployed, with the remaining five per cent described as being "engaged in other activities".

Of those students who had just finished their first degree, 65 per cent found a job in the UK, with almost three-quarters of this group employed in a professional role.

The median salary for Scottish first degree leavers in full-time UK employment was £22,000, up £1,000 over the year, the highest figure for all UK administrations.

Just five per cent of leavers were unemployed, down from six per cent last year, the lowest figure for all UK countries jointly with Wales.

Across the UK, the figures showed male graduates earn higher salaries than females within six months of leaving university.

Three in 10 male graduates who left university last year were earning a salary of more than £25,000 by January this year. The same was true for fewer than a fifth of women.