Postgraduate Research UK Update as of September 2025

Our unique Pulse trackers and Share of Search data provide insights on thousands of prospective students interested in UK PhD opportunities. As of September 2025, we’re seeing that:

• International interest for UK PhD study rises from both EU and non-EU audiences. For non- EU audiences, this ends a subtle slide that had been underway since February. For EU  audiences this continues a steady trend of consistent growth that we’ve seen since April.
  
  
• In terms of specific regions, interest is rising significantly from South Asia, China and India  but we continue to see drops from some European audiences.
  
  
• UK Returners and internationals continue to target entry during the 2025/26 academic year. UK Continuers, however, now favour 2026/27 entry, with over 40% already focusing on Autumn 2026.
  
  
• Our Spotlight this month takes a look at how international study destination interests are moving in a shifting landscape. We see that across both PGT and PGR, interest in UK study is growing faster than the other members of the ‘Big 4’. Mark explores why this might be, and what we can learn from it, on the FAU blog.