Postgraduate Research UK Update as of October 2025

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

• International search interest in UK Masters study remains strong from both non-EU and EU audiences, with both trending far above the levels we saw in 2024.
  
  
• Growth remains strong from the top 15 audiences for UK PGT. The most significant growth  continues to come from South Asian audiences, particularly Nepal, India and Bangladesh.
  
  
• More than half of UK Continuers are now targeting entry in Autumn 2026. UK Returners and Internationals are still predominantly interested in entry during the 2025/26 academic year.
  
  
• Our Spotlight this month takes a look at which international audiences intend to take up post-study work upon graduating from a Masters. We see that Asian audiences are more committed to this route than some of their counterparts. However, for most people in most audiences, staying to work after graduation is a ‘maybe’ not a ‘definitely’. Mark Bennett - VP Research & Insight (Keystone Education Group) further explores the possible impact of shortening the UK Graduate Route on the Keystone blog.