management


Gauging the interest in post-graduate study A


SURVEY of the intentions of nearly 140,000 graduates found few differences between what students


from different backgrounds plan to do after graduation, but does find differences in how likely they are to fulfil their ambitions. The Intentions After Graduation Survey


(IAGS) asked final year undergraduate students at English HE institutions what they plan to do after university. HEFCE has analysed how the responses of those graduating in 2016 compared with previous years, and also how the intentions of those who graduated in 2015 matched what they actually did. Research was conducted prior to the


launch of the PG loan scheme which may have a marked effect on future survey responses (Over two-thirds of all respondents to IAGS in 2016 said that they would be likely or very likely to study at postgraduate level if a loan of around £10,000 was introduced). The survey further revealed:


• Black and Asian graduates were less likely than white graduates to fulfil their intentions to go on to postgraduate study


• Fewer students from disadvantaged backgrounds who said they would do postgraduate study actually did. Among those who intended to go on, the proportion who did so was nine percentage points lower than for the least disadvantaged graduates


• The factors most likely to deter students from continuing to postgraduate study were course fees and the overall cost of living. These concerns were greatest among students from the most disadvantaged areas, and these students were especially likely to say that postgraduate loans would encourage them to study further. The survey responses from 2015 were


linked to the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2016, to see how students’ intentions shortly before graduation matched their actual destinations. A large proportion of those who went on to postgraduate study did not have firm plans to do so just months earlier. Just over a third (36%) of those who entered postgraduate study in 2015- 16 had said they intended to do so. Conversely, of those who planned to go straight on to postgraduate study, about


67% actually did so. Graduates who had intended to go on


to postgraduate study, but who got lower degree classifications, were more likely to revise their plans and go into work instead. Similarly, of those who had not intended to do postgraduate study, those getting firsts and upper seconds were most likely to change their minds. However, degree classification does not explain the differences between graduates of different ethnicities and social backgrounds.


www.hefce.ac.uk Loan eligibility


Postgraduate students starting a full- time or part-time master’s course can apply for a Postgraduate Loan, so long as they are under 60, ordinarily live in England and don’t already have a master’s degree or higher qualification. They’ll be able to borrow up to £10,000 to help with fees and living costs.


highereducationestates 11


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