UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School says 88% of its graduates were employed within nine months of graduation in 2025, up from 86% the previous year. The figure comes from a school-paid Irish Times advertising feature, not an independently audited report. It does not establish the employment prospects of a particular student or programme.
What does the 88% figure measure?
The 2 October 2026 Irish Times advertising feature, supplied and paid for by UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, reports that 88% of the school’s graduates were employed within nine months of graduation in 2025. It reports 86% for the previous year, without identifying that earlier cohort more specifically. The figures are the school’s claims in sponsored content; the Irish Times says its newsroom and other editorial departments were not involved. Read the Irish Times feature.
The same feature says 72% of “these working graduates” were employed directly in Ireland. That is a share of the graduates counted as working, not a claim that 72% of all graduates found work in Ireland.
What the figures do—and do not—tell prospective students
The reported rate offers a broad indication of the outcomes the school says its graduates achieved. It is not a placement guarantee, an estimate of an individual applicant’s chances, or evidence that every programme has the same result. The feature does not report the survey sample size, response rate, population denominator, programmes covered, collection method, or calculation details. Without those details, readers cannot assess how representative the figures are.
That matters when weighing the cost of postgraduate study against likely career benefits. Employment within nine months is one outcome measure; it does not, by itself, show salary, job quality, how closely work relates to a graduate’s degree, or whether employment is full-time. Those measures are not provided in the feature.
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Careers support and the graduate example
In the sponsored feature, school director Professor Federica Pazzaglia attributes the outcomes to academic programmes, industry connections, and preparation for employers’ needs. Louise Campbell, head of the UCD Smurfit Careers Network, describes employer relationships and tailored support, and names recruitment across professional services and consulting, technology, financial services, retail, FMCG, and other sectors. These are the school’s descriptions, not separately reported measures of the effect of careers support.
The feature also profiles Aoife Corscadden Hennessy, a 2025 MSc in Digital Marketing alumna. She says she worked with the careers team and served as a Careers Network ambassador; she later became an agency partner manager for Pinterest at Accenture. Her experience illustrates one graduate’s path, but it cannot establish the outcomes of the wider cohort.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to use the statistic when comparing courses
For a useful comparison with another business school or programme, look for equivalent definitions and disclosures—not just headline employment percentages. Check:
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- Which cohort and programmes are included, and how long after graduation employment was measured.
- What “employed” means, including whether the measure distinguishes full-time work, further study, and work related to the course.
- Whether geography is specified and whether the rate covers all graduates or only respondents.
- The survey denominator, response rate, collection method, and whether results were independently validated.
The Irish Times feature does not supply those methodological details, so its figures alone cannot support a robust comparison with another school’s rate.
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