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Finance
· The majority of postgraduates have a higher income than expenditure. Of those respondents who gave full details of their income and expenditure (776 respondents), 51% had a greater income than expenditure, 16% broke even, and 33% had a greater expenditure than income.
· Despite this, 51% of respondents described their funding as "not sufficient", and only 8% said their funding was "more than sufficient". 15% had tried to get access or hardship funds from their institution.
· 64% of respondents paid their own tuition fees. Fees paid ranged from £250 to £20,000. The average fee for part-time courses was £1,550 and for full-time courses was £3,780. The main sources of funding for those who had fees paid for them were government awards, including Research Councils (39%), Higher Education Institutions (24%), and employers (22%).
· The average income of respondents was £15,273. The most common sources of income were paid employment (65% of respondents, average £13,638), postgraduate awards from Research Councils etc. (34%, £7,529), overdraft (30%, £1,319), savings (20%, £3,624), parents (16%, £3,003), career development loans (9%, £4,436) and institutional scholarships (8%, £3,996).
· The average expenditure of respondents was £12,958. The main items of expenditure, in addition to tuition fees, were rent/mortgage (average £3,531), food/household goods (£2,218), household bills (£1,354), entertainment/ socialising (£1,289), travel (£1,155), clothes (£584) and course materials (£400). 13% of respondents had childcare or child-related costs, with an average of £3,317.
· Students whose expenditure is greater than their income, or who describe their funding as "not sufficient", are more likely to be young (20-25), full-time students on taught postgraduate courses in the arts, humanities or social sciences.
· 47% of respondents owned their own home, 29% lived in private rented accommodation, 12% with their parents, and 9% in halls of residence or other accommodation provided by their institution.
· Respondents had an average of £6,442 debt prior to commencing their current course, have £7,775 debt now, and anticipate £8,513 debt on graduation.
· 71% of respondents were undertaking paid work alongside their studies. 29% were in full-time professional employment, 22% were employed doing teaching or other work at their institution, and 18% were doing casual work elsewhere. 54% of respondents undertook this work for essential income, and 33% had career development as a main motivation.
Reasons for pursuing postgraduate study
· 72% of respondents said they had decided to pursue postgraduate study to improve their career prospects. 68% wanted to continue studying their subject, and 30% said personal development was a key factor.
· 75% of respondents said they had to overcome financial obstacles in order to pursue postgraduate study.
· "The course/area of study is exactly what I wanted" was rated as clearly the most important factor involved in choosing a particular course of study. Other important priorities were the location of the institution and the reputation of the institution. Factors such as living accommodation offered, and social and recreational facilities provided by the institution, were seen as less important.
· 36% of respondents said that financial considerations had a strong influence on where they studied, and 39% said that financial considerations had a strong influence on their choice of full- or part-time study.
Future plans
· 86% felt that the money spent on their current studies will be a good investment in their future.
· 53% had expected higher earnings as a result of their course, before they started the course. 48% still expected their course to lead to higher earnings. The average salary respondents expected to earn on completion of their postgraduate studies was £22,000.
· 41% of respondents expected to work outside of higher education, but in an area related to their subject. 22% expected to go into research or teaching in a UK Higher Education Institution. 8% expected to go into academic research or teaching elsewhere, 8% into further postgraduate study, and only 6% expected to go into work not related to their subject area.
· 21% of respondents had changed their career plans since commencing their current studies.
Related Articles
National Postgraduate Survey; Key Findings
National Postgraduate Conference Report
NPC Elections
National Postgraduate Committee Website
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