Postgraduate Research UK Update as of January 2026

Our unique Pulse trackers and Share of Search data provide insights on thousands of prospective students interested in UK PhD opportunities. As of January 2026, we’re seeing that:

• International interest for UK PhD study remains relatively stable from both EU and non-EU audiences. The former trends far above the level of interest from December 2024, while the latter sits slightly under last years level.
  
  
• Growth from the top 15 audiences comes from Europe. Interest continues to rise from Spain and Italy (relative to a drop last year) but also France and the Ireland. We see the largest falls from Saudi Arabian, Canadian and Pakistani audiences.
  
  
• UK Continuers remain the most likely audience to seek PGR entry during the 2025/26 academic year area (35%), while over 75% of both UK Returners and Internationals are now targeting 2026/27.
  
  
• Our Spotlight this month looks at familiarity with UK PG finance options and finds that ⅓ of domestic audiences aren’t fully familiar with Masters student finance, a proportion that rises with age. We’ve further explored funding intentions and knowledge gaps on the blog.