Postgraduate Research UK Update as of September 2024

Our unique Pulse trackers and Share of Search data provide insights on thousands of prospective international students interested in UK PhD opportunities. As of September 2024, we’re seeing that:

• The recent Share of Search fall from non-EU audiences appears to be flattening, while interest from the EU continues to be stronger than last year.
  
  
• Spring 2025 is the most popular UK entry point for Internationals. UK Continuers are more focused on Autumn 2025, while UK Returners remain interested in ‘asap’ entry points.
  
  
• 4 of the 5 fastest growing specialisms are fields of Engineering. This appears have been driven by an increase in interest from South Asia.
  
  
• Our Spotlight this month explores the development of domestic PGT enrolments since 2016/17. We see the substantial impact of the pandemic in increasing enrolments during the 2020/21 academic year, and the sustained effect it has had for students aged 30+
  since then.