Currently, there is considerable debate over the role graduates play in influencing the economic and social characteristics and trajectories of towns and cities. Some commentators argue that a larger graduate population will increase the levels of entrepreneurship, innovation and start-up businesses in a town or city, and support a cultural and social infrastructure that will attract other wealthier migrants. Indeed, increasing the number of graduates in a town or city is often seen as an important policy mechanism through which a region can retain people with innovative, entrepreneurial and management capabilities. Yet, to date there have been few studies that examine the reasons why some graduates stay put while others move on after finishing university. Existing studies tend to focus on the contribution of graduates to local and regional economic growth and human capital. At the same time, research into the migration patterns of young people highlights the importance of situating migration within a wider youth transition process shaped by cultural and social influences: a point missed in most studies of graduate mobility