Postgraduate Research UK Update as of July 2025

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

• International interest for UK PhD study is stable from both for EU and non-EU audiences. Non-EU interest is now trending far above the level we saw last year, while EU interest has nearly caught up to last year’s level.
  
  
• July sees various South Asian audiences enter the top 10 fastest growing list, mirroring what we have seen in UK Masters study throughout 2025 - Nepal jumps straight to the top, joined latterly by Bangladesh and Pakistan.
  
  
• All audiences continue to shift their attentions to entry points in 2026 and beyond. Around half of UK Continuers are now targeting the 2026/27 academic year.
  
  
• Our Spotlight this month explores explores how interest for study in the US and UK has been affected throughout the last year. We see that growth trends are often mirrored between the two study destinations. For example, interest in the USA fell following the election, and that fall accelerated in Q2 as policy announcements ramped up. The opposite is true of interest in the UK, with interest growing in Q1 and that growth accelerating though Q2 - suggesting a US-UK pivot. We have further explored signs of a US-UK pivot on the blog.