Until recently, the focus of most high-end charity auctions was luxury: a day’s pheasant shooting (castle accommodation included) perhaps, or entry to a top pro-am golf tournament. Last year though, something went under the hammer at an event organised by Pilotlight that offered a different kind of exclusive opportunity: two weeks’ unpaid work experience at Harvey Nichols. The winning bid was £2,500.

It wasn’t a one-off. Last Monday, six different one-week placements were auctioned at a Tory party fundraising evening. Bids reached £3,700 for work experience at Condé Nast, £3,000 for a spell at Ecosse Films, £2,500 to work at a contemporary art dealer, £1,300 at the catering company Rhubarb, £1,250 for a spell with the PR and photographic agency M+M management, and £1,100 for a placement at the financial consultancy Pelham Bell Pottinger.

The Conservative party has had a few ­problems with authenticity of late, accused of airbrushing David Cameron's campaign posters, and distorting crime statistics.

Now questions are being asked over the genuineness of students photographed listening to Cameron's speech at the ­University of East London on Monday.

The eight or so young people sitting directly behind the Tory leader and listening quietly as he spoke of "rebuilding trust in politics" certainly looked like students. They bore all the hallmarks of youth and academia: hooded tops, jeans, smooth skin. But according to the ­president of the university's union, they were not ­students, but baby-faced ­members of Cameron's campaign team.

"They are not our students," Joseph Bitrus, told the Guardian. "Afterwards I spoke with one of them, and he said he had just joined the campaign a week ago and was learning how it worked."

Graduate salaries were frozen last year for the first time since records began and will also stagnate this year, a survey of major employers suggests today.

They said university leavers unable to find jobs should temp or do voluntary work rather than go on a gap year.

Too many unemployed graduates are returning to university to do pointless postgraduate courses that will not help their career, the findings indicate.

The twice-yearly survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters(AGR) sought the opinions of more than 200 of the biggest employers including Boots, Shell, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Sainsbury and Barclays.

The 310,000 students expected to finish their degrees this summer can expect a fierce battle for jobs once they have graduated. A quarter of positions starting in September have already been filled — by the 80,000 people unable to find graduate jobs last year, according to a survey by the market research company High Fliers.

With one in six recent graduates estimated to be unemployed, experts say that getting work experience is more important than ever before.

Heather Collier, the director of the National Council for Work Experience, explains: “It’s been a particularly tough time for graduates trying to find jobs and a great work-experience placement can not only add the necessary practical skills needed to land a job but also be a good confidence boost when times seem hard.”

She adds: “As pressure mounts on recruitment budgets for employers during a recession, internships are often seen as a cost-effective means to drive talent into business.”

Here Times Money highlights schemes that offer students and graduates a leg up on to the career ladder.

Intense competition for graduate jobs is fuelling record applications for big companies, research has shown.

The biggest recruiters of graduates received unprecedented numbers of applications last year and are expecting even more this summer. Thousands of top graduates are expected to miss out on places.

A London student has taken a mathematical equation that predicts the possibility of alien life in the universe to explain why he can't find a girlfriend.

Peter Backus, a native of Seattle and PhD candidate in the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick, near London, took on his own dating woes in " Why I don't have a girlfriend: An application of the Drake Equation to love in the UK."

University students have average attention spans of just 10 minutes and many miss lectures because of the need for part-time jobs, research suggests.

Many are ill-prepared for both learning and living a modern university life, the survey of 1,000 students claims.

A quarter struggle to manage money and to live independently, says the survey for the technology firm Olympus.

Nearly half of students feared they would finish with high debts and no jobs, according to the study.

The survey suggested that when it came to adjusting to student life, money and lectures were the biggest hurdle.

If you know where to start and are prepared to put in the hard graft, setting up a club night at university can be a fun way to supplement your student loan says Richard Partington.

Alex Hope runs the hottest electro night in Manchester. With a Mix Mag club of the month award, and performances from a string of international DJs, Alex’s night, Prostitutes & Policemen, is setting the standard for student club nights across the country.

“It was hard getting the night going at first”, Alex admits, “We had to put money we couldn’t afford to lose on the line to get the venue, sound equipment and DJs, and it’s always a risk that people might not turn up on the night. We promoted it well though and if you do that then there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be a success.

Two directors of the crisis-hit Student Loans Company have resigned over errors that led to tens of thousands of students starting term with no cash this autumn.

Wallace Gray, who was in charge of the company's computer network as IT director, and Martin Herbert, director of marketing and customer services, have left the company, SLC's board said today.

The firm's chief executive, Ralph Seymour-Jackson, will stay.

A student will soon be flying by the seat of his pants in a 1940’s original biplane.

Flying mad Ross Willington, who turns 20 today, has been crowned Student Pilot of the Year and will get the chance to fly a Tiger Moth.

Ross, who is in the second year of a pilot studies degree at Liverpool University was given the honour yesterday by Liverpool Flying School at John Lennon Airport.

But the keen pilot, who dreams of flying a rescue plane for the coastguard or ambulance service, couldn’t take to the air because of poor flight conditions.

He said: “I’m very excited about flying the plane, it was great putting on the vintage flying gear and sitting in the cockpit.

“Flying a Tiger Moth is a once in a lifetime experience and will be completely different to flying a modern plane with updated aerodynamics.

“In this plane I will get the thrill of flying and that ‘flying by the seat of your pants’ feeling.”

Ross was chosen as the best student pilot by Martin Keen, owner of Liverpool Flying School and instructor.

Martin said: “We teach the practical part of the university course, helping the 25 students get their 20 hours flying time.

“Ross is always so enthusiastic, always on time and loves flying. He is also one of the best academically which is why he deserves this new accolade.”

Liverpool University runs the pilot studies course as part of its Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical/Electrical Engineering faculty.

Students use flight simulators and do their theory at the university before gaining their Private Pilots Licence at the airport.

Dr Mark White, from the university added: “There’s still so much to learn about flying and our course is helping create future ‘super pilots’.”