Readers' reactions

Last week in The THES. Lucy Aitkens argued that employers should recruit Oxbridge graduates.

I contest the argument that Oxbridge graduates are "the best" for employers to recruit. Employers only rate academic ability when it is alongside practical skills.

I also contest Ms Aitkens's point that Oxbridgejobs.com is the first "niche" online recruitment agency. My company, STEP Enterprise, runs the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP) in which 1,500 undergraduates each year undertake a project with businesses. This programme now has an online database of all students who have completed STEP - it is called Skills Bank (www.step.org.uk.)

These students, who come from a variety of academic backgrounds and who have proven work experience and quality skills, are the "best" that employers can find.