Continuing missions: to explore postgrad worlds

Graduates from 1994 Group members are more likely than those of any other mission group to go on to taught postgraduate study, research has found.

Those from Million+ and University Alliance institutions are only about half as likely to progress, with the lowest rates recorded by graduates of GuildHE institutions.

However, within the mission groups there is a range of attainment, with some post-1992s such as Edinburgh Napier University and Coventry University recording higher rates than some research-intensive universities.

The Russell Group has the highest proportion of graduates progressing to research degrees, providing well over half the numbers, according to Transition to Higher Degrees across the UK: An Analysis of National, International and Individual Differences.

The report, written by Paul Wakeling and Gillian Hampden-Thompson, academics at the University of York’s department of education, was commissioned by the Higher Education Academy. It also shows that the rates of progression vary hugely by institution: from less than 0.5 per cent to 42 per cent for taught postgraduate degrees and between zero and 13.6 per cent for research degrees.

Notes: Graduates from 2009‑10 and 2010-11. Mission groups reflect membership in December 2012

Source: Transition to Higher Degrees across the UK: An Analysis of National, International and Individual Differences

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com