Hundreds of university leavers will get public money to help them to travel to places such as Costa Rica, Borneo and India, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has confirmed.

It said the scheme will be launched with expedition company Raleigh International in August. The class of 2009 – the first to pay top-up fees – faces becoming the “lost generation” in a graduate job market that has shrunk by 20% in the past year.

The number of graduates who are unemployed six months after leaving university has reached its highest level since records began, with one in 10 not in jobs or further study. Careers experts say 80 000 will hunt in vain for work this summer.

A surge in the number of applicants for university – up 10% on last year – means the situation for this year’s graduates is expected to worsen. Rising numbers will be graduating every summer, adding to the competition for jobs.

Critics said the government was “bribing” graduates to go on gap years to manipulate unemployment figures.

The first university leavers to take part in the scheme will spend the months up to Christmas living in remote communities and going on expeditions in projects that usually cost €3 000 per person.

The graduates, who must be under 24, will help to build schools and improve sanitation. They will spend time learning skills which the government and Raleigh, the gap-year company running the programme, say will help them to find jobs when they return to Britain.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance reacted with anger to the initiative. Matthew Sinclair, its research director, said: “The government’s attempts to keep people off the unemployment numbers at any cost are growing more and more transparent.

“It’s increasingly clear that whether it’s soft jobs in the public sector or paying for gap years, the important thing is masking the problems in the economy rather than actually delivering value for taxpayers’ money.”

Gap years should be paid for by the travellers or their parents, he added. “This kind of charity, paid for out of the taxpayer’s pocket, is unfair and unsustainable.”

Raleigh’s website states that “with the increase in people taking gap years and career breaks abroad, as well as the government endorsing volunteering as a valuable learning experience for young people, the interest in volunteering opportunities overseas has grown.”

“Volunteering overseas is a great way to gain a deeper understanding of the culture of a country and to explore areas that you wouldn't get to see on the usual tourist route. It also enables you to learn new skills, especially soft skills such as communication and team-working, that are necessary in any work environment.”