Technical supplement to the understanding the Student Strand Report

The growing consensus over the economic, social and cultural benefits of postgraduate study has not been matched by a detailed understanding of who progresses to postgraduate study, and why. Similarly limited is our understanding of the barriers to postgraduate study. The lack of robust empirical data on these issues is particularly concerning in the context of a reported decline in UK postgraduate student numbers in recent years (see, for example Times Higher Education 10 January 2013), and has led to calls for more research on postgraduate education by a number of organisations (1994 Group 2012; British Academy 2012; HEC 2012; Lindley and Machin 2013; Milburn 2012; NUS 2012