uk phd dropout rate

• PhD Failure Rate – A Study of 26,076 PhD Candidates
• Doing a PhD

The PhD failure rate in the UK is 19.5%, with 16.2% of students leaving their PhD programme early, and 3.3% of students failing their viva. 80.5% of all students who enrol onto a PhD programme successfully complete it and are awarded a doctorate.

Introduction

One of the biggest concerns for doctoral students is the ongoing fear of failing their PhD.

After all those years of research, the long days in the lab and the endless nights in the library, it’s no surprise to find many agonising over the possibility of it all being for nothing. While this fear will always exist, it would help you to know how likely failure is, and what you can do to increase your chances of success.

Read on to learn how PhDs can be failed, what the true failure rates are based on an analysis of 26,067 PhD candidates from 14 UK universities, and what your options are if you’re unsuccessful in obtaining your PhD.

Ways You Can Fail A PhD

There are essentially two ways in which you can fail a PhD; non-completion or failing your viva (also known as your thesis defence ).

Non-completion

Non-completion is when a student leaves their PhD programme before having sat their viva examination. Since vivas take place at the end of the PhD journey, typically between the 3rd and 4th year for most full-time programmes, most failed PhDs fall within the ‘non-completion’ category because of the long duration it covers.

There are many reasons why a student may decide to leave a programme early, though these can usually be grouped into two categories:

• Motives – The individual may no longer believe undertaking a PhD is for them. This might be because it isn’t what they had imagined, or they’ve decided on an alternative path.
• Extenuating circumstances – The student may face unforeseen problems beyond their control, such as poor health, bereavement or family difficulties, preventing them from completing their research.

In both cases, a good supervisor will always try their best to help the student continue with their studies. In the former case, this may mean considering alternative research questions or, in the latter case, encouraging you to seek academic support from the university through one of their student care policies.

Besides the student deciding to end their programme early, the university can also make this decision. On these occasions, the student’s supervisor may not believe they’ve made enough progress for the time they’ve been on the project. If the problem can’t be corrected, the supervisor may ask the university to remove the student from the programme.

Failing The Viva

Assuming you make it to the end of your programme, there are still two ways you can be unsuccessful.

The first is an unsatisfactory thesis. For whatever reason, your thesis may be deemed not good enough, lacking originality, reliable data, conclusive findings, or be of poor overall quality. In such cases, your examiners may request an extensive rework of your thesis before agreeing to perform your viva examination. Although this will rarely be the case, it is possible that you may exceed the permissible length of programme registration and if you don’t have valid grounds for an extension, you may not have enough time to be able to sit your viva.

The more common scenario, while still being uncommon itself, is that you sit and fail your viva examination. The examiners may decide that your research project is severely flawed, to the point where it can’t possibly be remedied even with major revisions. This could happen for reasons such as basing your study on an incorrect fundamental assumption; this should not happen however if there is a proper supervisory support system in place.

PhD Failure Rate – UK & EU Statistics

According to 2010-11 data published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (now replaced by UK Research and Innovation ), 72.9% of students enrolled in a PhD programme in the UK or EU complete their degree within seven years. Following this, 80.5% of PhD students complete their degree within 25 years.

This means that four out of every five students who register onto a PhD programme successfully complete their doctorate.

While a failure rate of one in five students may seem a little high, most of these are those who exit their programme early as opposed to those who fail at the viva stage.

Failing Doesn’t Happen Often

Although a PhD is an independent project, you will be appointed a supervisor to support you. Each university will have its own system for how your supervisor is to support you , but regardless of this, they will all require regular communication between the two of you. This could be in the form of annual reviews, quarterly interim reviews or regular meetings. The majority of students also have a secondary academic supervisor (and in some cases a thesis committee of supervisors); the role of these can vary from having a hands-on role in regular supervision, to being another useful person to bounce ideas off of.

These frequent check-ins are designed to help you stay on track with your project. For example, if any issues are identified, you and your supervisor can discuss how to rectify them in order to refocus your research. This reduces the likelihood of a problem going undetected for several years, only for it to be unearthed after it’s too late to address.

In addition, the thesis you submit to your examiners will likely be your third or fourth iteration, with your supervisor having critiqued each earlier version. As a result, your thesis will typically only be submitted to the examiners after your supervisor approves it; many UK universities require a formal, signed document to be submitted by the primary academic supervisor at the same time as the student submits the thesis, confirming that he or she has approved the submission.

Failed Viva – Outcomes of 26,076 Students

Despite what you may have heard, the failing PhD rate amongst students who sit their viva is low.

This, combined with ongoing guidance from your supervisor, is because vivas don’t have a strict pass/fail outcome. You can find a detailed breakdown of all viva outcomes in our viva guide, but to summarise – the most common outcome will be for you to revise your thesis in accordance with the comments from your examiners and resubmit it.

This means that as long as the review of your thesis and your viva examination uncovers no significant issues, you’re almost certain to be awarded a provisional pass on the basis you make the necessary corrections to your thesis.

To give you an indication of the viva failure rate, we’ve analysed the outcomes of 26,076 PhD candidates from 14 UK universities who sat a viva between 2006 and 2017.

The analysis shows that of the 26,076 students who sat their viva, 25,063 succeeded; this is just over 96% of the total students as shown in the chart below.

Students Who Passed

The analysis shows that of the 96% of students who passed, approximately 5% required no amendments, 79% required minor amendments and the remaining 16% required major revisions. This supports our earlier discussion on how the most common outcome of a viva is a ‘pass with minor amendments’.

Students Who Failed

Of the 4% of unsuccessful students, approximately 97% were awarded an MPhil (Master of Philosophy), and 3% weren’t awarded a degree.

Note : It should be noted that while the data provides the student’s overall outcome, i.e. whether they passed or failed, they didn’t all provide the students specific outcome, i.e. whether they had to make amendments, or with a failure, whether they were awarded an MPhil. Therefore, while the breakdowns represent the current known data, the exact breakdown may differ.

Summary of Findings

By using our data in combination with the earlier statistic provided by HEFCE, we can gain an overall picture of the PhD journey as summarised in the image below.

To summarise, based on the analysis of 26,076 PhD candidates at 14 universities between 2006 and 2017, the PhD pass rate in the UK is 80.5%. Of the 19.5% of students who fail, 3.3% is attributed to students failing their viva and the remaining 16.2% is attributed to students leaving their programme early.

The above statistics indicate that while 1 in every 5 students fail their PhD, the failure rate for the viva process itself is low. Specifically, only 4% of all students who sit their viva fail; in other words, 96% of the students pass it.

What Are Your Options After an Unsuccessful PhD?

Appeal your outcome.

If you believe you had a valid case, you can try to appeal against your outcome . The appeal process will be different for each university, so ensure you consult the guidelines published by your university before taking any action.

While making an appeal may be an option, it should only be considered if you genuinely believe you have a legitimate case. Most examiners have a lot of experience in assessing PhD candidates and follow strict guidelines when making their decisions. Therefore, your claim for appeal will need to be strong if it is to stand up in front of committee members in the adjudication process.

Downgrade to MPhil

If you are unsuccessful in being awarded a PhD, an MPhil may be awarded instead. For this to happen, your work would need to be considered worthy of an MPhil, as although it is a Master’s degree, it is still an advanced postgraduate research degree.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of stigma around MPhil degrees, with many worrying that it will be seen as a sign of a failed PhD. While not as advanced as a PhD, an MPhil is still an advanced research degree, and being awarded one shows that you’ve successfully carried out an independent research project which is an undertaking to be admired.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

Additional Resources

Hopefully now knowing the overall picture your mind will feel slightly more at ease. Regardless, there are several good practices you can adopt to ensure you’re always in the best possible position. The key of these includes developing a good working relationship with your supervisor, working to a project schedule, having your thesis checked by several other academics aside from your supervisor, and thoroughly preparing for your viva examination.

We’ve developed a number of resources which should help you in the above:

• What to Expect from Your Supervisor – Find out what to look for in a Supervisor, how they will typically support you, and how often you should meet with them.
• How to Write a Research Proposal – Find an outline of how you can go about putting a project plan together.
• What is a PhD Viva? – Learn exactly what a viva is, their purpose and what you can expect on the day. We’ve also provided a full breakdown of all the possible outcomes of a viva and tips to help you prepare for your own.

Data for Statistics

• Cardiff University – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• Imperial College London – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• London School of Economics (LSE) – 2006/07 to 2015/16
• Queen Mary University of London – 2009/10 to 2015/16
• University College London (UCL) – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Aberdeen – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Birmingham – 2006/07 to 2015/16
• University of Bristol – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Edinburgh – 2006/07 to 2016/17
• University of Nottingham – 2006/07 to 2015/16
• University of Oxford – 2007/08 to 2016/17
• University of York – 2009/10 to 2016/17
• University of Manchester – 2008/09 to 2017/18
• University of Sheffield – 2006/07 to 2016/17

Note : The data used for this analysis was obtained from the above universities under the Freedom of Information Act. As per the Act, the information was provided in such a way that no specific individual can be identified from the data.

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One in four PhD students drop out

By Luke Payne

One in four Durham PhD students leave study without achieving their target doctorate degree. The data, acquired through a Palatinate Freedom of Information request, reveals performance is particularly poor in certain departments, with Computer Science, Education, and History performing amongst the worst in their respective faculties.

Palatinate received data from 10 UK universities counting the number of PhD students who left study between the 2015/16 and 2019/20 academic years and how many of those students received a doctoral degree. The figures include some medical students and other doctoral awards, while a small minority of students leave study due to transferring to another university.

At Durham, only 74% of doctoral students, who left study over the five-year period, received doctorates. This figure compares poorly with rival institutions such as Glasgow and Imperial where figures are 93% and 91%. Only two of the 10 institutions surveyed had poorer PhD success rates based on the raw data. These were Strathclyde (68%) and Liverpool (65%).

In response to the article, Durham University disputed Palatinate’s findings and said the true success rate was closer to 81%, after taking into account students transferring between institutions. It further claimed that it was not accurate to compare its data with other UK universities.

In the Faculty of Science, a number of Durham departments are very successful at ensuring their PhD students graduate with doctoral degrees. Over 90% of Physics, Mathematics and Earth Sciences PhD students graduate with doctorates.

By comparison, only 73% of Engineering and 69% of Computer Science students leave with doctorates. These rates are 10 to 20 percentage points behind comparable departments at Glasgow, Imperial, York and Leeds.

A Durham Physics PhD student told Palatinate that their department had a “very strong sense of community and provided many activities, both academic and social. This really helps students to feel less isolated, which I think can be a problem in other departments.”

“Only 55% of Durham’s Education PhD students graduate with doctorates”

In the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health, less than two-thirds of Durham PhD students within the Sociology Department, School of Government and International Relations and the School of Education graduate with doctorates.

Only 55% of Durham’s Education PhD students graduate with doctorates compared with 86% at the University of Leeds and 81% at the University of Glasgow. This equated to 51 Durham Education PhD students leaving with non-doctoral degrees (such as Research Masters) and 36 leaving with no degree over the past five years.

Within Arts and Humanities, the success of PhD students studying within the Theology & Religion, History and Classics and Ancient History departments was less than 73%.

In their response to the article, Durham University provided some explanation of why some departments’ PhD students may be struggling to achieve doctoral degrees.

“A number of our disciplines (Education, Theology and Religion and Business/Economics/Management) have a significant proportion of mature students returning to higher education… financial and life challenges and changes for these students tend to contribute to withdrawals.

“Science research is often conducted in teams whereas, in other disciplines, postgraduate researchers tend to work alone on their individual research topic. Differences in the proportion of part-time, mature, international and self-funded students between disciplines also contribute to differing outcomes.

“The University, through its Research Degrees Committee, analyses thesis submission and withdrawal data annually. Where a department has a submission rate that is lower… departments are required to review the data and report on their action plans.

“Recently departments have addressed this issue through a number of measures across the student journey that have shown positive results in improving submission rates. In particular, departments have reviewed and enhanced their recruitment practices and processes to support students through annual progress reviews and training.”

“It makes me concerned that the department really does not value its postgraduate researchers”

Not all students are satisfied that sufficient progress is being made to support PhD students during their programmes. Upon learning of Palatinate’s findings, a Durham Engineering PhD student provided this comment:

“It was disappointing to hear that only 73% of Engineering PhD students receive a doctorate. It makes me concerned that the department really does not value its postgraduate researchers, especially after very little support has been provided during virtual working since the start of the pandemic.

“Many PhD colleagues in Engineering haven’t had any additional support or check-ins from supervisors – if anything, it has subsided. It makes me wonder if the general lack of any community amongst Engineering PhD students and staff contributes to the higher drop-out rates.

“I envy other departments which have reading groups, specialised research communities and department organised socials. This lack of support has made me feel lonely, frustrated and underappreciated for the research and teaching contributions my PhD colleagues and I make.”

Image:  Michal Jarmoluk  via  Pixabay

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Graduate Statistics for the UK

Graduates make a huge impact in the UK economy, job market and workplace, so we wanted to record all of the facts and figures surrounding graduates in one place.

We’ve scoured a huge amount of UK graduate information sources to provide you with all of the latest graduate statistics.

If you want to know the current number of graduates in the UK, the average graduate salary, or which universities have the lowest drop-out rates, and more… It’s all below.

Key UK Graduate Statistics

• As of 2023 , estimates show there will be 36.4 million graduates in the UK .
• Undergraduate figures increased by 0.4% from 527,070 in 2021 to 529,360 in 2022.
• Recent graduates (2020 onwards) currently face an unemployment rate of 12.7% , which equates to over 96,000 unemployed graduates each academic year.
• Universities in the UK awarded 133,995 first-class honours qualifications in 2022 , a 14.1% decrease from the 155,955 awarded in 2021.
• Business studies graduates achieved the highest number of qualified degrees, with a total of 175,670 graduates in 2022.
• Women made up 57.6% of higher education graduates in 2022, with 530,170 women graduating.
• On average, 6 in 100 (6.3%) students in the UK drop out of university, an average of 48,548 students each year since 2014.
• Male graduates typically at the age of 25 earn 5% more than the average female graduate
• The average student loan debt is £46,150 in England and takes and average of 29 years and 4 months to pay off.

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Get our studies on jobs, salaries, recruitment and more as soon as they are published, number of graduates per year in the uk.

In the UK, there are over 800,000 undergraduates and postgraduates leaving higher education each year. Importantly, this is the number of people graduating and does not include those who do not successfully complete their degree .[1]

“There were an estimated 36.4 million graduates in the UK in 2022”

In 2017 (the latest study of this kind), 42% of adults aged 21 to 64 years held a graduate degree, meaning there were over 34 million graduates then. [2] Using annual graduate figures, estimates would show that the figure in 2021 would be around 36.4 million graduates in the country.

Undergraduate numbers have steadily increased in the 2010s. The following graph shows this increase in the number of graduates per year in the UK.

Undergraduate figures increased by 7% from 492,355 in 2019/20 to 527,070 in 2020/21.

However, from 2020/21 to the 2021/22 academic year, undergraduate figures increased by only 0.4% from 527,070 to 529,360.

Similar to undergraduates, postgraduate numbers also increased in 2020/21 by 12%. The sharp increase in both undergraduate and postgraduate figures in 2021 is likely due to the drop seen in the 2019/20 year as a result of the pandemic. Postgraduate numbers saw a similar increase in 2021/22 with a 12.9% increase on the previous year, from 345,700 to 390,585.

Gender split of graduates in the UK

The table below shows comparisons of UK graduates by gender from 2019 to 2022: [34]

Female graduates made the largest contribution to the total number of graduates over the previous five years. In fact, females made up 57.6% of higher education students in 2021/22, totalling 530,170. The number of females studying in higher education has increased by 13.5% since 2019/20.

Male numbers have also steadily increased from 332,925 in 2019/20 to 387,690 in 2021/22, a 16.4% increase in male graduates. Graduates who identify as other genders have also increased since 2019/20 from 1,000 to 2,080 in total. A large increase of around 108%. [34]

Which course has the highest number of graduates?

In the UK, typically business studies is the course with the highest number of graduates at a total of 141,125 graduates achieving a degree in this selected field in 2020. In second place, science subjects allied to medicine and biological sciences awarded 159,520 students with a degree in that same year. [1]

At the other end of the scale, veterinary science courses typically have the fewest number of graduates in the UK with just 2,480 graduates entering the market in 2022.

Undergraduate enrolment by ethnicity

The vast majority (71.5%) of undergraduates are white, while Asian students account for the second-largest demographic at 12.9%. The third-largest ethnicity demographic in 2022 was Black students (8.5%), followed by just under 1 in 20 (4.8%) who were from mixed ethnic backgrounds, as well as 2.3% who were from other minority ethnic groups.

Over a six-year period prior to 2022, the percentage of Asian, Black, Mixed and other ethnic groups beginning an undergraduate course has increased from 24% to 28.5%. [3]

Black students have seen the biggest increase in postgraduate study as figures rose from 5.8% in 2010/11 to 8.3% in 2019/20. Postgraduate entrants who were Asian rose by 2.4% from 9.4% over the same period.[4]

Graduate achievements by ethnicity

A higher proportion of white graduates (36.1%) complete their degree with a first-class qualification than any other ethnicity, closely followed by those with mixed ethnicity (31.3%).

The data below breaks down degree achievement by ethnicity:

According to the UK government, the percentage gap decreased from 26.3% to 20.0% between white and Black graduates getting a first-class or upper second degree from 2015 to 2022. The data suggests the trend is shifting but could take many more years to get to similar levels. [5]

Student dropout rates in the UK

On average, 6 in 100 (6.3%) students in the UK drop out of university. Since 2007/08, dropout rates have decreased by 1.1%, from 7.3% in 2008, to 6.2% a decade later. [6] This would mean an average of 48,548 students each year drop out.

Universities with the highest dropout rates in the UK

The graph below shows the universities with the highest dropout rates:

The university with the highest dropout rate as of the 2019/20 year is Arden University with a dropout rate of 32.3%. This is followed by Point Blank Music School at 19.2% [7]

Universities with the lowest dropout rates

The universities with the lowest dropout rates in the country as of 2019/20 are the Royal Veterinary College (0.4%), the University of Cambridge (0.6%), and the University of St Andrews (0.6%). [7]

Studies show that the majority of universities with the lowest dropout rates can be found in the top 20 on the Complete University Guide’s league table. St George’s and the University of London are just two universities that have one of the lowest dropout scores and don’t sit in the top 20 league table.

Undergraduate courses with the highest dropout rates

IT and computing degrees, such as computer science, have the highest dropout rates with 9.2% not making it.

Undergraduate courses with the highest dropout rates were as follows: [7]

In 2020, 29,360 students in the UK deferred their studies for a gap year due to the pandemic, a 9.4% increase compared to 2019. [8]

Which universities have the best grades in the UK?

Overall, universities in the UK awarded 133,995 first-class honours qualifications in 2022, a 14.1% decrease from the previous year where 155,955 were awarded.

We ranked data based on which universities awarded the most first class honours awards in 2022 below, with the University of Manchester coming out on top with 2,855 given. [9]

Universities with the most first-class degrees in the UK

The University of Leeds ranked second awarding 2,750 first-class honours classifications.

Overall, 197,345 upper second class honours qualifications were awarded in 2020/2021, a 4.1% increase compared to the year before.

UK universities with top employment figures

The University of Cambridge has the highest employability ranking for the 2022 academic year, with the University of Oxford coming in second.

The table below shows the UK universities with the highest employability rank in the 2022 academic year. [32]

Which universities have the best career prospects?

Five institutions based in London ranked in the top ten for the best career prospects in the UK.  Imperial College London scored the highest (95%) based on the success of graduates after leaving university with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) scoring slightly lower at 91%. [10]

The graph below shows the top ten universities in the UK ranked by their career prospects:

Best UK universities for business founders

Whilst many graduates full of ambition go on to secure a full-time role, many also opt for a different path and become business founders. The best UK university for the proportion of business founders was found to be the University of the Arts London (15.83%), followed by LSE (14.03%).[11]

The table below shows the top ten universities for producing business founders ranked by the percentage of founders that came from there:

The percentage of business founders is made from the number of graduates from that institution who go on to become business founders.

Graduate schemes: what are they?

Graduate schemes are designed to help someone gain industry experience whilst earning a competitive salary. The aim of the scheme is to allow new candidates to explore various areas of a business in order to broaden their knowledge whilst following a structured program, leading to a successful career for many.

Companies such as Google, KMPG, NHS, and the UK Civil Service are just a few of many large corporations offering graduate schemes on a yearly basis in Britain.

Who is eligible for a graduate scheme?

Graduate schemes require a minimum grade in order to be considered for the role. In most cases, a 2.1 or higher is the grade most companies will look for when recruiting new candidates .

How many graduate schemes do students apply for?

Recent reports show that students on average were applying up to 29 graduates schemes with different employers.

“The NHS receives an average of 85 applications for every graduate position”

In terms of NHS graduate schemes, reports show the public health service receives around 85 applications for each graduate position; they have 17,000 applications for just 200 spaces. [12]

On average, reports show that overall graduate job applications have increased by 41% from 2020 to 2021. [13]

What is the average graduate scheme salary?

The average graduate scheme salary is £30,362 and ranges between £25,000 and £32,000 according to Glassdoor [14] .

If you require more information on this topic, our research team has also compiled a complete analysis of graduate salaries in the UK   including a comparison to non-graduates and a variety of job-specific data.

How much do graduate jobs pay by region?

As you would expect, London pays the highest starting salary for graduates at £31,423, with the East of England following at £26,216. In the UK, Northern Ireland pays the least at an average of £22,143 to start. [15]

The table below shows the average starting salary for graduates around the UK:

Graduate starting salaries can clearly vary with a clear financial divide between the North and South of the UK. The total average salary in the UK is £29,669 as of 2023, therefore, only London graduates meet and exceed this.

Which graduate schemes pay the highest?

The highest-paid graduate scheme in the UK is a private finance role for Rothschilds, with a salary of £65,000 followed by investment banking positions with J.P. Morgan, who will pay graduates £58,000 a year. [16]

Most commonly, the highest-paid graduate schemes sit within finance and banking and often exceed the average amount by tens of thousands of pounds.

How many undergraduates gain work experience?

Studies show that the majority (64%) of undergraduates undertake some period of unpaid work experience, with 41% of this group doing so for at least one month. [17]

In 2020, that would mean around 512,227 (64%) students did some period of work experience before entering the job market as graduates, and 210,014 did so unpaid.

“Over 210,000 students work unpaid during their degrees each year”

A separate study from 1995 showed that 82% of undergraduates had some work experience during their degree, comparatively this could indicate modern students are less likely to do work experience. [18]

In terms of employability, most (94%) interns are offered job roles once they have completed work experience, therefore, it is a valuable decision for students to add to their CV. [17]

How long does it take graduates to secure a job?

Securing a job role is a process many students start prior to graduating with many beginning applications in an attempt to begin full-time work as soon as possible once qualified.

Studies show the time it takes for graduates to secure a job varies anywhere between three to 18 months.

Graduate outcomes and employment figures

In 2023, 82% of UK graduates from 2021 were in full-time or part-time employment. That’s around 314,450 graduates employed from that year. [33]

“A typical graduate cohort will see around 82% enter into employment or further studies within a year”

Below is an example of typical graduate outcomes showing the many different paths students choose once they have completed their degrees. The data refers to the graduates who graduating in 2020 and what they were doing when data was analysed in 2022.

Using 2021 graduates the data shows a typical outcome for a year’s cohort of students: the majority 89% are in some form of education or employment, a further 5% go into caring for loved ones and/or travel, while the remaining 5% are unemployed, or unknown.

Degrees with the highest employment in the UK

Degrees related to professional services, tech , and science, had the highest percentage of high-skilled graduates employed in the UK at 93%, closely followed by information and communication professionals (90%).[19] Therefore, the degrees with the highest employment in the UK, are likely those in I.T., tech, and science related fields.

Below is a table which displays the percentage of graduates and/or postgraduates working in various professional industries by the level of skill, giving some indication of employment by degree subject:

9 in 10 (90%) postgraduates who completed their course in 2018/2019 were in high-skilled jobs in 2021. In comparison to this, undergraduates equated to 69% suggesting that postgraduate study makes a prospective employee more likely to be hired.

How many graduates are self-employed?

In 2021, 13,275 graduates (from 2018 onwards) were self-employed , using graduate figures, that would mean only 0.42% of graduates from four academic years became self-employed after graduating.[19]

The table below demonstrates graduate numbers (from two academic years) for self-employment, and those running their own business, or working on creating projects.

What is the average graduate salary?

The average graduate salary in the UK is £30,000 and has been this way since 2015. As we’ve discussed, this varies per region, and graduate schemes often inflate the average when compared to an entry-level role outside of such schemes.

Data from the UK government states that as of 2022, the median nominal graduate salary in the UK is £38,500, however, when adjusted for inflation, the median real-terms salary for graduates is £26,500. [30]

UK graduate salaries per subject area

Science-based subjects such as medicine, dentistry, subjects allied to medicine, biological science, and veterinary sciences pay the highest salary to graduates who achieve a first-class degree and are highly skilled with starting salaries ranging between £31,000 to £35,000. [19]

A medium skilled dentistry role could be a dental assistant, while the high-skilled role in the field could be a dentist. This designation is not a choice we have made in the analysis and comes from the various data sources.

For most roles, if graduates possess a lower range of skills when starting out, the average salary earned is £18,000 with the potential to progress as skillsets are improved.

Best universities for high salaries in the UK

The best university for high salaries is the University College of Estate Management (UCEM), as 29% of its graduates receive a salary of £51,000 or more. This is a remote learning institution specialising in construction and real estate graduates, leading to roles that have higher salaries.

London School of Economics (LSE) is the next highest university with 12% of its graduates hitting the £51,000+ salary mark. [13] In 2021, LSE was offering 41 undergraduate courses therefore not having a specialised pool of undergraduates like UCEM.

The following is a list of the top ten universities ranked by the percentage of graduates earning above £51,000:

The highest published graduate starting salaries for 2021 include law firms White & Case (£50,000), Clifford Chance (£48,000), Baker McKenzie (£48,000), Linklaters (£47,000), technology company TPP (£45,000) and retailer Aldi (£44,000.) [13]

Other studies [31] on universities with the highest graduate salaries have shown:

• Graduates of Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) earn an average of £52,167 five years after graduating.
• Students leaving the University of Oxford can expect an average salary of £47,618 after five years.
• Imperial College graduates earn an average of £45,741 per year after five years.
• The average salary five years after graduation for students from the University of Cambridge is £44,190.
• University College London graduates achieve an average salary of £40,855 five years after graduation.

Gender pay gap for graduates

Male full-time high-skilled graduates who obtained first-class degree qualifications and entered full-time paid employment in the UK in 2019 were paid on average £26,000 compared to high skilled females who were paid £24,500. [19]

On average, male graduates at the age of 25 earn 5% more than the average female graduate. By age 30, the gender pay gap in annual earnings stands at 25%. [20]

The graph below demonstrates the portion of graduates and their earnings for men and women. [19] Studies do not offer comparative information for anyone identifying as other than male or female.

Lower salary bands on average have a higher percentage of women earning more than men. Whilst an average of 6% more women than men earned more in the salary bracket £24,000 – £26,999, it seems that the gender pay gap widens as the salary band increases. In particular, 7% of males earn £51,000+ compared to just 3% of females.

How many unemployed graduates in the UK?

The graduate unemployment rate is 12.7% for graduates who obtained a degree in recent years (2020 onwards). In 2021, the graduate unemployment rate was 12%, meaning the rate has decreased by 0.7 percentage points.[30]

With the rate of 12%, this would mean, in recent years, there are approximately 96,041 unemployed graduates each year in the UK, based off 2021’s academic year.

When looking at the data regionally, we can see that England, Wales, and Scotland have an average graduate unemployment rate of 5%, while Northern Ireland has just 3%. [2]

How many jobs do graduates apply for?

Most graduates who apply for graduate schemes and job roles will never receive a response from the majority of their applications. With most graduates applying on average to around 25 job roles, they find that the ratio of receiving an invitation to an interview to job applications is just over twenty to one .

Degrees with the highest unemployment in the UK

There are some degree subjects that are more likely to land you a job when you graduate than others. One study analysed the employability of different degrees by asking students to give a rating on the job prospects available to them after graduating.

Media and cultural studies came out as the worst degree subject for employment with students rating it a 2.5/5 on average. As a broad degree, students found that jobs in media were highly competitive and applicants with more specific skills generally fared better.

The degree subject with the second lowest employability rating was European studies (2.8/5). Similar to international relations (3/5), graduates in this sector are often competing for a small number of roles in global organisations, making it a tough job market.

Other subjects that students rated poorly for job prospects were Psychology (2.9/5), which often requires further study to obtain a job, and civil engineering (3.1/5) which saw a 50% decrease in new apprentices in 50% as the sector has struggled to offer new jobs.[28]

UK graduates and Covid-19

The pandemic had a detrimental impact on the opportunities available and career prospects for everyone, but especially graduates who entered the market at the time.

As many were ordered to stay indoors, 75% of graduates noticed a fall in the number of available opportunities in 2020 and 2021, with many (72.6%) graduates feeling less confident about their future. [38] According to the University of Southampton, 83% said that the pandemic had a detrimental impact on graduates’ employment prospects with most graduates saying they had to rethink their future (79.4%). [21]

Furthermore, the ONS found that UK graduates reported a lower life satisfaction score (6.7) than people of their typical age (6.9) and average adults (7.0) during that time. [22]

The pandemic also saw many more graduates in roles that aren’t typically filled by people with degrees. In the UK in 2020, 25.5% of graduates were in a role that was requiring skills less than they had gained in their degree, referred to as a ‘skills mismatch’, this was 5% more in 2019 during the pandemic. [2]

Student finance statistics in UK

Fees to study at university were first introduced in 1998. In 2006, a new system was introduced which would make studying for a degree more accessible. The cost to study was raised to £3,000 in England which would be classed as a tuition loan. As fees gradually increased, the Government raised fees further to £9,000 per year in 2012.

Whilst the pandemic caused record unemployment, graduates were also unable to make repayments. [40] In fact, 201,900 graduates (From various academic years) failed to make repayments through their salary in 2020-21.

How much is the average student loan debt in the UK?

As students in England pay £9,000 a year to study for their chosen degree, they will incur an average of over £46,150 of student loan debt in the 2021/22 year.

In comparison, the average student loan debt varies in other regions, for example, Wales has an average of £33,830, and Northern Ireland has £24,360. Scotland has the lowest average student loan debt at £14,840, this is due to Scottish students not having to pay tuition fees. [23]

When does a student debt have to be paid off?

Whilst the new system implemented in 2012 allows students to defer their student loans during their study, these debts still have to be repaid within 30 years.

The table below shows a graduates minimum earnings (before tax) to have to pay back their student debts:

As you can see, England has the highest repayment threshold allowing graduates to earn up to £27,295 a year before having to start making repayments. In comparison, Northern Ireland has the lowest threshold with graduates beginning repayments once earning £19,895.

The average annual repayment via HMRC per region in order was England (£930), Northern Ireland (£840), Wales (£800), and finally, Scotland (£660.)

How long on average does it take a graduate to pay off their student loan?

As students start making repayment at different thresholds, the average time to pay off a student loan may vary per person. A study revealed that a student loan takes an average of 29 years and 4 months to pay off with the average debt being just under £48k in England. [25]

According to the UK Government, it is expected that just 25% of current full-time undergraduates will repay their full student loan. [26]

Outstanding student debt

The Students Loan Company states that as of 2021, outstanding student loan debt in the United Kingdom reached over 177 billion British pounds starting from 2013/14 when student debts were increased to £9,000 a year.

“Estimates say by 2050, there will be £560 billion of student loan debt in the UK”

England owes the majority of this debt standing at £160 billion with Scotland totalling £6.5 billion, Wales £6.2 billion, and Northern Ireland £4.1 billion. By the middle of the century, the Government predicts that the value of outstanding loans will be around £560 billion. [27]

In 2021, 1,117,000 students took a student loan. The value of student loans equalled £15,908 million.

[1] HESA: Higher Education Student Statistics: UK https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students

[2] ONS: Graduates’ labour market outcomes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/graduateslabourmarketoutcomesduringthecoronaviruscovid19pandemicoccupationalswitchesandskillmismatch/2021-03-08

[3] Gov: First year entrants onto undergraduate study

https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/higher-education/first-year-entrants-onto-undergraduate-and-postgraduate-degrees/latest/

Accessed February 2024

[4] Office for Students: Equality, diversity, and student characteristics data.

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/equality-diversity-and-student-characteristics-data/

[5] UK Gov: Undergraduate degree results

https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/higher-education/undergraduate-degree-results/latest

[6] Debut: Degree Dropouts

https://debut.careers/degree-dropouts/

[7] HESA: UK Higher Education Performance Indicators –

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/performance-indicators/non-continuation

[8] Teaching Abroad Direct: Gap Year Statistics UK

https://www.teachingabroaddirect.co.uk/blog/gap-year-statistics-uk

[9] HESA: HE qualifiers by HE provider and level of qualification obtained 2014/15 to 2021/22

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-16

[10] Complete University Guide: University League Tables 2022

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?sortby=graduate-prospects

[11] Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance: Which university produces the most CEOs? Via

https://www.businessleader.co.uk/which-university-produces-the-most-ceos/#

[12] NHS: Multi-award winning Graduate Management Training Scheme doubles its intake

https://www.hee.nhs.uk/news-blogs-events/news/multi-award-winning-graduate-management-training-scheme-doubles-its-intake

[13] Highfliers: The Graduate Market in 2021

https://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/2021/graduate_market/GM21-Report.pdf

[14] Glassdoor: Graduate Scheme Salaries in the UK

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/graduate-scheme-salary-SRCH_KO0,15.htm

[15] Prospects Luminate: Graduate Salaries in the UK

https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/graduate-salaries-in-the-uk

[16] Glide: Highest Paid Graduate Schemes

https://glide.co.uk/guides/highest-paid-graduate-schemes/

[17] Prospects: Students urged to focus on longer work experience for employability boost

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/prospects-press-office/students-urged-to-focus-on-longer-work-experience-for-employability-boost

[18] HEFCE: Nature and extent of undergraduates’ work experience

https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5159/1/rd19_02.pdf

[19] HESA: Graduates’ salaries

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/graduates/salaries

[20] IFS: Gender differences in subject choice lead to gender pay gap immediately after graduation

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/15657#:~:text=At%20age%2025%2C%20the%20average,annual%20earnings%20stands%20at%2025%25 .

[21] AGCAS : The Impact of Covid-19 On Recent Graduates’ Career Decisions And Outcomes

https://www.agcas.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Resources/Research%20and%20knowledge/826_The_impact_of_Covid-19_on_recent_graduates_career_decisions_and_outcomes_-_July_2021.pdf

[22] ONS: Coronavirus and higher education students. November 2021  https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandhighereducationstudents/5to15november2021

[23] UK Gov: Average Loan Balance on entry into repayment

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62a9a6c8d3bf7f03744c7c90/Average_loan_balance_on_entry_into_repayment.pdf

[24] STS: Student Loan repayment guide 2021

https://www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/student-loan-repayments.html#plan2

[25] Cosmopolitan: It takes a depressingly long time to pay off your student loan

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/worklife/campus/a12443209/how-long-uni-students-pay-student-loans/

[26] UK Parliament: House of Commons Library: Student loan statistics https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01079/

[27] Statista: Outstanding debt of student loans in the UK 2013-2021

https://www.statista.com/statistics/376411/uk-outstanding-student-loan-debt/

[28] Ice: Is COVID-19 a friend or foe of civil engineering? – https://www.ice.org.uk/news-and-insight/ice-community-blog/august-2021/covid-19-friend-or-foe-civil-engineering

[29] Edu Opinions: Student reviews of the best degrees for job prospects – https://www.eduopinions.com/blog/what-to-study/eduopinions-student-reviews-guide-best-degrees-for-job-prospects/

[30] UK Gov: Graduate Labour Markets 2022 – https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/graduate-labour-markets

[31] Adzuna: Which Universities Produce the Highest Earning Graduates? – https://www.adzuna.co.uk/blog/which-universities-produce-the-highest-earning-graduates/

[32] Times Higher Education: Graduate Employability – https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/graduate-employability-top-universities-uk-ranked-employers

[33] HESA: Higher Education Graduate Outcomes – https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/16-06-2022/sb263-higher-education-graduate-outcomes-statistics/activities

[34] HESA: Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2021/22 – Qualifications achieved – https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/19-01-2023/sb265-higher-education-student-statistics/qualifications

[35] HESA: Higher Education Student Statistics: What are HE students’ progression rates and qualifications?- https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/outcomes

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Predictors of UK postgraduate researcher attendance behaviours and mental health-related attrition intention

• Open access
• Published: 08 December 2022
• Volume 42 , pages 30521–30534, ( 2023 )

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• Clio Berry   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1164-9836 1 ,
• Jeremy E. Niven   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7786-5254 2 &
• Cassie M. Hazell   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5868-9902 3  

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High rates of postgraduate researchers (PGRs) terminate their studies early. This attrition can have detrimental personal consequences, and results in a loss of productivity, and research and innovation for the higher education sector and society as a whole. PGRs are vulnerable to the experience of mental health problems; a factor that appears to be increasing attrition amongst students in the UK. However, investigation of the determinants of problems with PGRs’ attendance and influencing intention to discontinue their studies is rare. Here, we consider the relative predictive validity of a set of putative predictors (mental health symptoms, demographic, occupational, psychological, social, and relational) of attendance behaviours (absenteeism, presenteeism, mental health-related intermission) and early attrition intention amongst UK PGRs. Depression, anxiety, and suicidality predicted attendance behaviours and greater attrition intention. Individual demographic and occupational factors predicted all outcomes. Psychological, social and relational factors had less predictive validity, although individual variables in these conceptual clusters did significantly predict some outcomes. Our results suggest that interventions to reduce high rates of mental health problems are likely to improve attendance behaviours, and reduce the extent to which PGRs intermit or consider ending their PhD studies for mental health-related reasons. Initiatives designed to improve supervisory relationships and reduce loneliness may also reduce absenteeism, intermission and attrition intention.

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Introduction

Doctoral attrition is high in many countries, with reported rates of up to 40 to 50% of postgraduate researchers (PGRs) terminating their PhD studies before completion (Geven et al., 2017 ; Litalien & Guay, 2015 ). Attrition can be considered a process, in which PGRs weigh the costs and benefits of persisting or discontinuing, and then do or do not actually end their studies accordingly (Jaksztat et al., 2021 ). Attrition may be provoked by reasons outside of the PhD, such as other opportunities, changing goals, or family obligations (Maher et al., 2017 ), and is not in itself ‘bad’. However, for many PGRs, attrition results in adverse psychological, financial and employment outcomes, as well as there being problematic consequences of non-completed PhD research for supervisors, institutions, and society (Litalien & Guay, 2015 ).

There has been limited research attention to PGR attrition (Jaksztat et al., 2021 ; Litalien & Guay, 2015 ), especially as it relates to mental health problems and other psychological factors (Jaksztat et al., 2021 ). The few known studies that have been conducted in this area originate from the US, where the PhD experience is unique; for example, typically being more structured and longer in duration (Jaksztat et al., 2021 ). This lack of research is especially concerning as increasing numbers of university students generally in the UK appear to be discontinuing their studies due to poor mental health (The Guardian, 2017 ).

Much evidence has emerged in the past few years in particular to suggest that PGRs experience high rates of stress (Hazell et al., 2020 ), depression, anxiety and suicidality; seemingly at rates that exceed those seen in other student and working populations (Hazell et al., 2021 ; Levecque et al., 2017 ). The PhD itself and its surrounding environment have been implicated in the onset and exacerbation of PGR mental health problems (Berry et al., 2020 ; Levecque et al., 2017 ), with the recent COVID-19 pandemic seemingly exacerbating the poor mental health and wellbeing of the adult population generally (Amerio et al., 2021 ; Odone et al., 2020 ), and PGRs specifically (Byrom, 2020 ) even further.

Poor mental health and suicidality are inherently distressing and associated with negative health and functional outcomes (DeRoma et al., 2009 ; Okajima et al., 2015 ), including death by suicide; a frequently under-reported phenomenon (Visentin et al., 2019 ). A functional outcome for PGRs that is important, yet under-investigated, is mental health-related attrition. However, attrition is not the only index of disengagement from academic study. Disengagement can be conceptualised multi-dimensionally, with a focus on problematic attendance behaviours as well as attrition-related cognitions. Attendance behaviours themselves can be conceptualised as using multiple indices: absenteeism (non-planned/non-holiday absences); presenteeism (working or studying when unwell enough to take absence); and intermission (interruption or prolonged break from doctoral studies). Evidence suggests that PGRs with experience of mental health problems report greater absenteeism and presenteeism (Berry et al., 2021a ), intermission, and intention to discontinue doctoral study (Castelló et al., 2017 ; González-Betancor & Dorta-González, 2020 ; Hunter & Devine, 2016 ).

The present study tests a comprehensive range of potential determinants of attendance behaviours and attrition intention amongst a large sample of UK PGRs. We were informed by our previous work which identified putative determinants of mental health symptoms as demographic, occupational, psychological, social and relational in nature (Berry et al., 2021b ). Taking this same approach here aligns with studies that suggest influences on doctoral attrition are complex and multifactorial (Castelló et al., 2017 ; Gardner, 2010 ), and with theoretical models of student retention as being a product of both academic and social integration (Tinto, 2016 ). We first predicted that mental health symptoms would predict poorer attendance and attrition intention. 

We next predicted that demographic and occupational factors would predict attendance and attrition intention. White PGRs report fewer days absent but more severe presenteeism (Berry et al., 2021a ). Female PGRs appear to spend more time in presenteeism and absenteeism (Berry et al., 2021a ), report greater number of intermissions (Moore & Keith, 1992 ), greater attrition intention (Castelló et al., 2017 ), and are more likely to actually discontinue their PhD studies (Jaksztat et al., 2021 ). A lack of funding is associated with greater attrition intention (Castelló et al., 2017 ) and attrition (Litalien & Guay, 2015 ). PGRs who spend less time per week in PhD study report greater attrition intention (Castelló et al., 2017 ). However, it is unclear to what extent demographic and PhD-study related characteristics independently and uniquely influence attendance behaviours and attrition intention, i.e. when modelled simultaneously and when considering psychological and social factors.

Finally, we predicted that psychological, social and relationship factors would predict PGR attendance behaviours and attrition intention. With respect to psychological factors, PGRs who perceive themselves to lack competence report greater attrition intention (Castelló et al., 2017 ) and attrition (Litalien & Guay, 2015 ). Moreover, lower academic aspirations are associated with a greater number of intermissions (Moore & Keith, 1992 ). This suggests a potential role in doctoral attrition for the psychological traits of perfectionism ( i.e. having high standards and/or believing one is not meeting their standards) and impostor thoughts ( i.e. believing that one is not as competent as others perceive one to be). Moreover, the nature of interpersonal relationships in general, and specifically with the supervisor, are likely important. Social disconnectedness is associated with PGR attrition intention (Castelló et al., 2017 ; Volkert et al., 2018 ). Supervisory relationship stressors and lack of psychological support are associated with attrition intention (Litalien & Guay, 2015 ; Volkert et al., 2018 ), and clear authoritative direction, i.e . supervisor agency, seems important in doctoral completion (McCray & Joseph-Richard, 2020 ). Mental health problems may be a confounding factor here, however, as previous research has found supervisory relationship qualities to predict mental health symptoms (Berry et al., 2021b ) and thus, this should be accounted for in modelling associations with attendance and attrition-related outcomes.

Research considering the relative contribution of influences across multiple domains on PGR disengagement is rare, especially considering indices spanning multiple proxies of attendance and attrition intention. Furthermore, although research has considered whether dissatisfaction is a precursor to attrition (González-Betancor & Dorta-González, 2020 ), no known study has tested whether problematic attendance behaviours themselves may function as precursors to attrition intention. We predicted that this would be the case because academic disengagement leads to intention to leave academia (Lesko & Corpus, 2006 ). Furthermore, absence and presenteeism reduce productivity (Johns, 2010 ), organisational commitment and embeddedness (Boswell et al., 2008 ), and additionally likely increase time-to-completion, which in turn predicts doctoral attrition (de Valero, 2001 ).

Based upon our predictions, we tested the specific hypotheses that attendance behaviours and attrition intention would be predicted by mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, suicidality), and then by the following factors:

demographic; age, gender, ethnicity, UK residency, disability and lifetime mental health problem prevalence,

occupational; fulltime status, funding, year of study, fieldwork, time spent in occupational activity,

psychological; impostor thoughts, perfectionistic standards and discrepancy,

social; loneliness and multiple group memberships, and

relational; supervisory relationship communion and agency.

Materials and methods

Participants and procedure.

Data were obtained from a national online self-report survey (U-DOC) conducted in the UK between 2018 and 2019. The survey was designed to contain a battery of self-report survey assessments and qualitative data pertaining to PGR mental health symptoms, and multiple factors considered to be potential correlates of these symptoms and associated behaviours. Participants were a convenience sample of 3352 current PGRs who provided informed consent and then completed questionnaire measures and qualitative free-text questions. The participant inclusion criteria were that participants were aged 18 years or over and were currently studying for their PhD at a UK University. Participants were recruited by contacting all UK doctoral schools ( N  = 162) and asking for them to promote the study, via email, institutional communications and through social media advertising (e.g. Twitter, Facebook). The research team additionally promoted the study via social media platforms. The study received research ethics approval from the University of Sussex Sciences and Technology Cross-Schools Research Ethics Committee (Reference: ER/CH283/9). Additional methodological and sample details are reported elsewhere (Authors, 2021).

Absenteeism and presenteeism

Absenteeism and presenteeism data were collected using items from the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iMTA PCQ) – Presenteeism Scale (Bouwmans et al., 2015 ). For the present study, binary variables were used to indicate absenteeism (no absenteeism 0, absenteeism 1) or presenteeism (no presenteeism 0, presenteeism 1) specifically regarding PhD study in the past month, excluding planned annual leave or holidays. Absenteeism referred to days absent and presenteeism referred to “days in which you worked but during this time were bothered by physical or psychological problems”. Additional information about the measure of absenteeism and presenteeism has been published previously (Berry et al., 2021a ).

Mental health-related intermission and attrition intention

Respondents indicated if they had had to take a break from their PhD studies for mental health-related reasons (mental health-related intermission), and if they had considered terminating their PhD studies for mental health-related reasons (mental health-related attrition intention). In both cases, respondents indicated whether statements were ‘true’ or ‘false’; coded as ‘1’ or ‘0’, respectively. A third option ‘not sure’ was also coded as ‘0’.

Mental health symptoms

The 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9 (Kroenke et al., 2001 )) was used to capture depression symptoms, the 7-item (GAD-7 (Spitzer et al., 2006 ) to capture anxiety symptoms, and the 4-item Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire – Revised (SBQ-R (Linehan & Nielsen, 1981 )) to capture suicidality.

Demographic characteristics

Participants self-reported age in years, gender (coded for this study as female versus male/another identity), ethnicity (coded as White versus non-White), UK citizenship ( versus non-UK citizenship), disability status (not including mental health problems), and lifetime prevalence of mental health problems (coded as pre-existing mental health problems up to and including during undergraduate studies versus onset during postgraduate study).

Occupational characteristics

Participants were asked to self-report their PhD study mode (fulltime versus part-time), funding (full, partial or self-funded), year of study, and past or planned fieldwork ( versus none). Participants estimated how many hours per week on average they spent engaged in PhD study, teaching activities, and any other employment. These were summed to create weekly average of hours spent in occupational activity.

Psychological factors

Impostor thoughts were measured using the 20-item Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS (Clance, 1985 )), and perfectionistic standards ( i.e. high expectations for oneself) and discrepancy ( i.e. the degree to which one thinks they fail to meet these expectations) using the 8-item Short Almost Perfect Scale (SAPS (Rice et al., 2014 )).

Social factors

The social variables captured were loneliness ( i.e. the subjective sense of deficiency in one’s social relationships), and multiple group memberships ( i.e. the degree to which one perceives they have ties and relationships with multiple social groups). Loneliness was measured using the 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell et al., 1978 ). Multiple group memberships was captured using a 4-item self-report scale derived from the Exeter Identity Transition Scale (Haslam et al., 2008 ).

Relational factors

The relational qualities of the supervisory relationship were measured using the 41-item Questionnaire on Supervisor–Doctoral student Interaction (QSDI (Mainhard et al., 2009 )). Two dimensional scores were used; agency (influence and leadership) and communion (proximity and cooperativeness).

All analysis was conducted in SPSS (version 26.0). Bivariate associations between putative predictor variables, attendance behaviours and attrition intention were examined using t-test and chi-square models. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to test predictors of attendance behaviours and attrition intention in four separate models. Attendance behaviours and attrition intention were specified as binary categorical dependent variables in these models. Mental health symptom scores were added as predictors first, before then entering the demographic, occupational, psychological, social and relational factors in turn as separate blocks. Variables not showing bivariate associations with attendance behaviours and attrition intention were not entered. Hochberg’s correction was applied for multiple testing in the final models (Menyhart et al., 2021 ). These models met the requisite assumptions of the independence of errors and absence of significant multicollinearity. Moreover, with the exception of two standardised residuals in the presenteeism model and one in the attrition intention model, all standardised residuals were under 2.5. Cook’s distances and DFbetas all under 1, suggesting, showed no significant impact of unusual cases on any model. The Box-Tidwell test was used to confirm that the relationship between the logit (log-odds) of the outcome and each continuous predictor was linear. All interactions between the predictors and their logits were non-significant, with the exception of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and supervisory agency and communion (QSDI) in one model respectively. However, these interactions were not highly significant (p ≥ 0.03) and the sample size is large, therefore, we considered the assumption of non-linearity to be satisfied (Wuensch, 2021 ).

Sample characteristics

Respondents were aged on average 30.74 (SD 8.82) years and 2205 (65.8%) were female. Overall, 1749 (52.2%) respondents identified as White British and 2114 (63.2%) as UK residents. In total, 1059 (31.8%) respondents reported having been given a diagnosis of a mental health disorder during their lifetime, and another 919 (27.6%) reported experiencing mental health problems with no formal diagnosis. The majority of students were fulltime ( n  = 2536, 81.4%) and had full ( n  = 2036, 65.4%) or partial funding ( n  = 413, 13.3%). Eight-hundred and thirty-four PGRs were in their first year (26.9%), 846 (27.3%) in their second, 756 (24.4%) in their third, 422 (13.6%) fourth, and 144 (4.6%) in the fifth year of PhD studies. A significant minority of students reported past ( n  = 767, 24.8%) or planned ( n  = 303, 9.8%) fieldwork. In total, 1069 (31.9%) PGRs reported taking non-planned/holiday absence in the past month and 1697 (50.6%) taking no absences. Overall, 1694 (50.5%) PGRs reported presenteeism in the past month, and 1201 (35.8%) reported none. In addition, 455 (13.6%) of PGRs had taken mental health-related intermission and 2604 (77.7%) had not ( i.e . had rated this statement as false or not sure). Finally, 1097 (32.7%) of PGRs had considered ending their PhD studies for mental health-related reasons and 1963 (58.5%) had responded false or not sure. Ninety-seven PGRs (3.1%) in current continuation were removed from the dataset before analysis, for attendance behaviours and attrition intention were thought not to be equivalent in this context.

Bivariate associations

Bivariate associations (Tables 1 and 2 ) demonstrated that past month absenteeism and presenteeism, having taken mental health-related intermission, and reporting mental health-related attrition intention, were all significantly associated with having a disability (Table 1 ), and with significantly greater depression, anxiety, suicidality, impostor thoughts, perfectionistic discrepancy, loneliness, and reduced supervisory communion (Table 2 ). Past month absence and intermission were associated with significantly reduced weekly occupational activity hours, whereas past month presenteeism and attrition intention were associated with more hours (Table 2 ). Absenteeism and presenteeism, and attrition intention, but not intermission, were significantly associated with younger age (Table 2 ) and being female (Table 1 ). Only absenteeism was associated with reduced perfectionistic standards, and only presenteeism and attrition intention were associated with higher standards (Table 2 ). Presenteeism, intermission and attrition intention were associated with being White (Table 1 ) and reduced perception of multiple group memberships (Table 2 ). Absenteeism was more likely for non-White and non-UK citizens (Table 1 ). Taking intermission and reporting attrition intention were more likely for UK citizens and people with more recent-onset mental health problems (Table 1 ). Presenteeism did not differ according to UK citizenship or pre-existing mental health problems (Table 1 ). Absenteeism, intermission and attrition intention, but not presenteeism, were associated with past or planned fieldwork (Table 1 ), and with reduced supervisory agency (Table 2 ). Full-time PGRs were more likely to report absenteeism and presenteeism, whereas a part-time mode was associated with taking intermission, with no association between study mode and attrition intention (Table 1 ). Absenteeism and presenteeism, and attrition intention, were more likely for fully funded PGRs and less likely for self-funded students (Table 1 ). Taking intermission was less likely for fully funded PGRs, and more likely in partial or self-funded modes (Table 1 ).

Multivariate predictors of attendance behaviours and attrition intention

The hierarchical logistic regression models (Table 3 ) showed that the predictor blocks explained significant variance in attendance behaviours and attrition intention, with some exceptions. First, social factors did not explain significant variance in any model, although this was marginal for the intermission model, in which loneliness was a significant predictor of intermission likelihood. Secondly, psychological and relational predictors did not explain significant variance in presenteeism or intermission. With respect to significant individual predictors when all blocks had been entered, past month absence (Table 3 , model A) was significantly predicted by greater depression, younger age, non-female gender, White ethnicity, UK citizenship, not having a disability, not being self-funded, reduced weekly occupational hours, no fieldwork, and reduced supervisory agency. Past month presenteeism (Table 3 , model B) was significantly predicted by greater depression and anxiety, being non-female and non-disabled, not being fully-funded, greater occupational weekly hours, and greater perfectionist standards. Having taken mental health-related intermission (Table 3 , model C) was significantly predicted by greater anxiety, pre-existing mental health problems, more years of PhD study, reduced impostor thoughts, and greater perfectionistic discrepancy and loneliness. Mental health-related attrition intention (Table 3 , model D) was predicted by greater depression and suicidality, being non-White, pre-existing mental health problems, more years of PhD study, reduced communion in the supervisory relationship, and not taking mental health related-intermission. All odds ratios reflected small size effects. The majority of individual predictors were significant at the respective Hochberg corrected alpha level (Table 3 ).

This study aimed to test mental health symptoms, and demographic, occupational, psychological, social and relational factors as predictors of PGR attendance behaviours (absenteeism, presenteeism, mental health-related intermission) and attrition intention. Our study, using cross-sectional data, shows that demographic and occupational factors are significant predictors of PGR attendance behaviours (absenteeism, presenteeism, mental-heath-related intermission) and attrition intention. This was evident across all models (bivariate and multivariate), though specific demographic and occupational factors differed in their patterns of prediction. Psychological, social and relational factors had less predictive validity, but made significant contributions to some models. The largest effects according to individual odds ratios were for demographic and supervisory relationship characteristics, and additionally for mental health-related intermission as a predictor of attrition intention.

With respect to demographic and occupational characteristics, absenteeism was predicted in the multivariate model by being White and a UK citizen. One interpretation of this is that ethnically diverse and international students take fewer absences because they feel under greater pressure to be present and to succeed in their PhD research (Litalien & Guay, 2015 ); pressure that may be both socio-cultural and bureaucratic as related to visa status. Not taking absences may in turn contribute to distress, for non-White and non-UK citizens were found to be more likely to consider terminating their studies early for mental health reasons. More years of PhD study predicted greater likelihood of mental health-related intermission and attrition intention, even when controlling for current symptoms. Current findings suggest that demographic factors play a greater role in predicting attendance behaviours and attrition intention, compared to their seemingly smaller role in predicting PGR mental health symptoms versus psychological, social and relational factors (Berry et al., 2021b ). It may be that demographic vulnerabilities have especially profound influence on behavioural outcomes. For example, socio-demographic characteristics influence the extent to which people experience stigma and discriminatory behaviours within academic institutions (Berry et al., 2021a );, factors that in turn influence academic disengagement (Casad et al., 2019 ). The associations with having a non-mental health disability were surprising. In the multivariate models, being disabled predicted reduced absenteeism and presenteeism, whereas in the bivariate associations, people with a disability reported greater presenteeism. This may reflect that the degree of flexibility provided by doctoral study, for example in working hours and locations, allows people with disabilities to work when best suits them, which reduces their absenteeism. With respect to presenteeism, mental health symptoms may be an additional explanatory factor. It might be that people with a disability report greater presenteeism mainly due to elevated mental health symptoms, and once these symptoms are covaried, this association reverses because this group can flexibly arrange their PhD study time around other health issues. This fits with the finding that PGRs feel less able to take absences for mental health compared to physical health reasons (Berry et al., 2021a ).

Overall, mental health symptoms predicted greater absenteeism, presenteeism, intermission and attrition intention. Depression consistently predicted all outcomes except intermission, with anxiety predicting greater likelihood of presenteeism and intermission, and suicidality predicting greater likelihood of presenteeism and attrition intention. These findings support previous studies demonstrating that mental health problems result in greater absenteeism and presenteeism (Berry et al., 2021a ), intermission (González-Betancor & Dorta-González, 2020 ), and intention to discontinue doctoral study (Castelló et al., 2017 ; Hunter & Devine, 2016 ). The predictive validity of depression is consistent with evidence that it predicts poor attendance and educational engagement, more so than anxiety and especially when persistent (Abu Ruz et al., 2018 ). That all symptoms predict presenteeism is intuitive, because presenteeism is defined as working when bothered by physical or psychological problems (Bouwmans et al., 2015 ). Regarding attrition intention, it seems likely that the co-influence of depression and suicidality here is related to hopelessness being implicated in both these problems (Beck et al., 2006 ; Labelle et al., 2013 ), and presumably in considering discontinuing PhD studies, especially in the absence of anticipated success. This aligns with qualitative data from the present sample that suggests suicidal ideation can occur in the context of PhD failure concerns, with suicide considered by some PGRs as potentially a more favourable hypothesised outcome than not completing their PhD (Authors, 2021). A previous study found that only the unique symptoms of anxiety, excluding those shared with depression, predicted educational attrition (Gorman et al., 2020 ). In the present study, this relationship was not observable for attrition intention, but anxiety alone uniquely predicted taking mental health-related intermission. It could be that anxious avoidance is the best predictor of taking intermission, with little independent role for symptoms of depression or suicidality. Alternatively, as current data are cross-sectional, the directionality of associations is not clear and it is possible that PGRs who have previously taken mental health-related intermission are then more anxious.

Whilst social factors were bivariately associated with attendance behaviours and attrition intention, loneliness and multiple group memberships contributed little to the prediction of attendance behaviours, with the exception of loneliness predicting mental health-related intermission. This is difficult to reconcile with prior research that suggests important roles for social and relational factors, albeit non-synonymous yet overlapping with those measured here. For example, it has been suggested that doctoral persistence is largely shaped by social interactions with peers and supervisors (Bean & Tinto, 1988 ; Litalien & Guay, 2015 ). Research evidence has additionally found that sense of belonging reduces attrition intention (van Rooij et al., 2019 ), and that the perceived institutional climate predicts time spent in absenteeism and presenteeism, and presenteeism severity (Berry et al., 2021a ). It could be that social factors indirectly influence behavioural outcomes and attrition intention via symptomatology. If this is the case, social interventions should still reduce absenteeism, presenteeism, and mental health-related intermission and attrition intention, through improving symptoms. This is in keeping with the resilience protection model of doctoral completion (McCray & Joseph-Richard, 2020 ), which suggests that complex inter-relations between personal, environmental, professional and institutional factors influence successful completion.

Psychological factors showed little predictive validity for attendance behaviours and attrition intention, other than that PGRs with higher perfectionistic standards were more likely to engage in presenteeism. This contradicts a previous study which found perceived competence to be the central factor in explaining PhD attrition (Litalien & Guay, 2015 ). However, this previous study did not control for mental health symptoms. It could be that associations between psychological factors and attendance behaviours and attrition intention are again indirect via associations with mental health symptoms. Lower supervisory agency and communion respectively predicted greater absenteeism and mental health-related attrition intention, which is in keeping with evidence that supervision quality is associated with intent to discontinue PhD studies (van Rooij et al., 2019 ). Our findings therefore caution against the seemingly prevailing view that PGR wellbeing and success are determined by students’ individual competencies, with more limited roles for supervisory and institutional characteristics and actions (Sverdlik et al., 2018 ). Indeed, supervisors with PGRs who discontinue early due to mental health problems might benefit from specific attention as to the sense of communion characterising their supervisory relationships, and training and initiatives to help enhance this where necessary.

Finally, absenteeism and presenteeism were not predictive of attrition intention, yet mental health-related intermission did appear to be significantly protective. It could be that an intermission period enables PGRs to put into place supports to help scaffold their mental wellbeing, which helps them to feel able to continue their doctorate to completion. It may also be that PGRs who have not taken intermission reflect those who feel unable or unwilling to take a period of intermission, and are perhaps then more likely to consider discontinuing their studies completely. It is clear that in workplaces there are variable ‘absence cultures’, which encourage or discourage presenteeism (Ruhle & Süß, 2019 ). PGRs too endorse the existence of different absence cultures, enacted in individual supervisory relationships and at wider lab or department levels; influencing the extent to which PGRs feel able to take absences (Berry et al., 2021a ). The current findings would suggest that absence cultures that create or reinforce reticence to take mental health-related intermission may actually increase attrition intention. It is important to consider, nonetheless, that intermission typically results in loss of income for fully-funded students, whereas absenteeism and presenteeism usually do not. Moreover, we acknowledge that current participants do not include PGRs who have discontinued their studies. Consequently, we do not know the nature of the association between having taken mental health-related intermission and later attrition. Nonetheless, intention to leave is considered one of the strongest predictors of attrition (Ertem & Gokalp, 2019 ), making it is plausible that mental health-related intermission protects against mental health-related attrition.

Limitations and future directions

There are important limitations to note. The data used are cross-sectional. Therefore, regression analyses test whether associations modelled between variables are consistent with theorised directions of effects, and do not test the directionality or causality of these associations. Moreover, models tested include a large number of variables, which makes the unique contribution of individual covariates difficult to interpret (Kraha et al., 2012 ). In addition, the metric of the predictor variable influences the size of the odds ratios presented, for the odds ratio reflects the change in odds associated with a one-unit increase in the exposure (Szumilas, 2010 ). Therefore, odds ratios may be closer to one for symptoms, and psychological and social factors, because the unit of measurement is small compared to the size of any meaningful change. Whilst the Box-Tidwell test results for continuous predictor linearity were acceptable (Wuensch, 2021 ), it is possible that there was a slight degree of non-linearity that may have caused underestimation of effects of these predictors (Long, 2008 ). The risk of this with respect to depression and anxiety seems low, as these variables were significant in most models, yet it could be the case that the supervisory relationship is an even more powerful predictor of attendance behaviours than observed here.

The sample from which current data were derived is a self-selecting sample of UK PGRs and therefore, the generalisability of findings is constrained. This is a common challenge to research on PGRs, for their representation in epidemiological research is poor and they are often undifferentiated from other populations of students. We note that, overall, the sample is predominantly female, White, identified as UK citizens, and had full PhD funding in place. Efforts to engage male PhD students, those from minority ethnic backgrounds and those not of UK citizenship, without full funding, should be made to ensure greater representativeness of these groups. More specifically, the current sample reflects only current PGRs and not those who have discontinued their studies. Therefore, attrition intention and predictors thereof may actually correspond to PGRs who are less likely to actually terminate their PhD studies early. Future research should test longitudinal predictors of attendance, intermission, and attrition intention, and attrition itself. Finally, we have tested the specified predictors in these models independently, however, it seems likely that they interact. We would anticipate that psychological and social factors are mediated by their association with mental health symptoms, and that social and relational factors in addition are mediated by psychological factors, for example, supervisory relationships likely impact on PGRs’ perceived competence (Litalien & Guay, 2015 ).

There are several clear policy recommendations of the current study. Policy should mandate supervisor training regarding mental health disclosures and supporting students with the enablement of reasonable adjustments to mitigate the impact of mental health problems on their PhD engagement and attendance; supporting them with mental health-related intermission when necessary. Such training should additionally support supervisors to form effective relationships with PGRs, in which there is appropriate guidance, direction, proximity and support; whilst scaffolding the PGR to develop a sense of their own self-agency as an emerging researcher. Finally, institutions should be asked to ensure access to interventions for mental health symptoms, which are appropriate for and accessible to PGRs, and that help mitigate the impact of perfectionistic thinking. Moreover, institutions should be expected to examine their structures and processes and consider how these may promote connectedness, with the provision of social initiatives to increase social support and reduce loneliness.

Conclusions

This study has identified a number of risk factors for absenteeism, presenteeism, and mental health-related intermission and attrition intention among UK PGRs. The most consistent predictive associations were that sociodemographic factors and mental health problems predicted attendance problems, intermission and attrition intention. Psychological and social factors made smaller and less robust contributions to the prediction of attendance and attrition intention, yet there appeared a role for perfectionism and loneliness in greater chance of presenteeism and taking intermission. Supervisory relationship quality appeared to reduce the likelihood of absenteeism and considering PhD attrition. Current findings emphasise the need to provide appropriate prevention and intervention initiatives for PGRs with mental health problems, including enhancement of social connectedness and supervisory relationship quality. Such initiatives should have dual benefits of reducing PGR mental health problems and scaffolding positive PhD attendance and completion intention.

Data Availability

The dataset related to this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Berry, C., Niven, J.E. & Hazell, C.M. Predictors of UK postgraduate researcher attendance behaviours and mental health-related attrition intention. Curr Psychol 42 , 30521–30534 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04055-1

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Published : 08 December 2022

Issue Date : December 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04055-1

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Domestic students squeezed out as UKRI PhD support contracts

Overall decline in number of doctoral candidates winning support masks even sharper drop among uk-domiciled applicants.

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The number of PhD students winning UK research council funding has fallen sharply in recent years, according to data that shows that domestic candidates are increasingly being squeezed out by international applicants.

Figures obtained by Times Higher Education show that UK Research and Innovation funding councils supported 5,580 doctoral starters in 2021-22, down 18.4 per cent on the 2018-19 total of 6,835. Figures for 2022-23 indicate an even sharper drop – down 28.3 per cent to 4,900, although UKRI said that this tally could increase as research organisations submit further details of new recruits.

The declines are particularly steep among British students. In 2018-19, UKRI supported 4,815 doctoral candidates from the UK alone, but by 2021-22 this had fallen by 29 per cent, to 3,420. The 2022-23 figure provided, 2,840, indicates a 41 per cent drop over five years.

Total UKRI-funded doctoral candidates commencing studies by academic year

The shifts coincide with UKRI’s decision to extend full PhD studentships to international students, which came into effect in 2021-22. The previous year, when they were eligible for fees-only awards, 345 students from outside the UK and the European Union started publicly funded PhDs in the UK. This then tripled to 1,020 in 2021-22 and, according to the 2022-23 data, 1,055.

While international students made up 6 per cent of UKRI-backed starters prior to the policy change, they now represent 22 per cent. Meanwhile, the UK proportion has fallen from 70 per cent in 2018-19 to 58 per cent in the latest data. The share of EU students has fallen also, from 21 per cent – 1,420 students – in 2018-19, to 16 per cent – 780 students – in 2022-23.

UKRI, which funds about one in five of the estimated 105,000 doctoral students in the UK, caps the proportion of international PhD students it funds at 30 per cent.

Daniel Rathbone, deputy executive director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, said the decline in UKRI-backed PhD starters was troubling given the UK’s ambitions to find an additional 150,000 researchers and technicians by 2030, as outlined in its 2021 R&D People and Culture Strategy .

“To meet the government’s ambitions to be more research-intensive, the UK will need a substantial increase in researchers. It is worrying, therefore, to see the number of students starting UKRI-funded PhDs has fallen in recent years,” said Dr Rathbone.

“We would urge the government to make sure that UKRI has the necessary funding for PhD studentships, and for students to be well supported during their studies.”

The data, which was provided following a Freedom of Information request, shows that the declines in the number of UK PhD students supported were particularly pronounced at certain research councils. At the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the UK total was down to 1,445 in 2021-22, and 1,150 in 2022-23, compared with the 2018-19 figure of 1,980. At the Medical Research Council, the number of UK students supported has almost halved from 325 in 2018-19 to 195 in 2021-22 and 180 last year.

The data is also likely to raise further concerns over PhD funding provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which announced in September that it would cut the number of doctoral students it supports by a quarter , to 300 a year. In 2018-19, it supported 1,010, of which 660 were from the UK, while the 2022-23 data puts the overall total at 660, with 355 of these from the UK.

“Anyone who cares about the arts and humanities should be concerned about these figures,” said Andrew McRae, dean of postgraduate research at the University of Exeter .

“With only 355 places to UK arts and humanities applicants in 2022, and with more cuts to come, I wonder how long I can reasonably look talented undergraduates in the eye and encourage them to take on the additional debt repayments that will come with a master’s loan, in the hope of getting a foothold on the academic ladder.”

Professor McRae said that while he was “broadly supportive of an internationalised field of [postgraduate researchers] being supported by UKRI”, opportunities for domestic students were now “seriously constrained” and further reflection may be needed.

“We risk seeing some research areas becoming non-viable,” Professor McRae added. “I’m not seeing any coordinated thinking about the future academic staffing and research base for UK universities.”

In its recent publication, A New Deal for Postgraduate Research , UKRI said that it would keep its support for international students “under review”. In a statement, it said that 2018-19 was a “particularly high year for doctoral enrolments in the UK”.

“UKRI continues to work with the sector to monitor the rate of doctoral studentships and consider how best to invest public money that ensures students are appropriately supported and we can meet the government’s ambitions,” UKRI said.

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1 in 5 PhD students could drop out. Here are some tips for how to keep going

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Doctoral students show high levels of stress in comparison to other students, and ongoing uncertainty in terms of graduate career outcomes can make matters worse.

Before the pandemic, one in five research students were expected to disengage from their PhD. Disengagement includes taking extended leave, suspending their studies or dropping out entirely.

COVID-19 has made those statistics far worse. In a recent study , 45% of PhD students surveyed reported they expected to be disengaged from their research within six months, due to the financial effects of the pandemic.

Many factors influence whether a student completes their doctorate. They include supervision support (intellectual and pastoral), peer support (colleagues, friends and family), financial stability and good mental health.

In our recently published book The Doctoral Experience Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities – which we edited with contributions from PhD students – students outlined their experiences of doing a doctorate and shared some useful strategies for how to keep going, and ultimately succeed, in the doctoral journey.

A deeply personal journey

Completing a doctorate involves much more than generating knowledge in a specific discipline. It is a profoundly transformational process evolving over a period of at least four years — and often longer.

This entails personal questioning , development in many areas of life, and often a quite significant personal and intellectual reorientation. The PhD brings with it high expectations, which in turn creates high emotional stakes that can both inspire and derail students. This is coupled with coming to see and think about the world very differently — which for some can be a daunting prospect, as all previously held assumptions are thrown into disarray.

Such a profoundly existential process can itself engender anxiety, depression and trauma if students are not equipped with the self-care strategies that enable resilience.

Read more: PhD completion: an evidence-based guide for students, supervisors and universities

Every chapter in our book, written by a different student, emphasises the need to engage in deep thinking and planning regarding their personal goals, strengths and weaknesses, and ways of working before starting the PhD.

This is important preparatory work to ensure any challenges that arise are surmountable.

In her chapter, Making Time (and Space) for the Journey, AK Milroy writes she learnt to

[…] analyse and break down the complicated doctoral journey into a manageable, achievable process with clear tasks and an imaginable destination.

She writes this includes involving family and friends in the process because

[…] it is paramount to ensure these people understand the work that lies ahead, and also that they too are being respected by being included in the planning.

Relationships were, above all, a critical component of the experience for many of the student writers. The supervisory relationship is the most obvious one, which Margaret Cook describes as the student undertaking a form of academic apprenticeship.

Read more: Ten types of PhD supervisor relationships – which is yours?

The student authors also identify strategies for the “thinking” part of the research process once enrolled. These include acknowledging that the free and creative element of mind-wandering and downtime are as legitimate as the focused, task-oriented work of project management, such as preparing checklists and calendars.

AK Milroy calls these “strategic side-steps”.

Peter Mackenzie, who researched regional jazz musicians, went a step further to connect with his participants.

I felt like an outsider but once I started to play with the guys on the bandstand that night at the Casino, I sensed a different level of appreciation from them. After playing and taking on some improvisations, I could feel the group relax. I was no longer an outside musician. Even better, I wasn’t seen as an academic. I was one of them.

Struggling with self doubt

The task of writing, of course, cannot be ignored in the long doctoral journey.

Drafting and redrafting, jettisoning ideas and arguments along the way, is acknowledged as a core component of the doctoral learning process itself, and the many attempts are not proof of failure.

Gail Pittaway writes about extending networks beyond one’s supervisors and university to collaborate with those in the discipline nationally and internationally.

This can be productive and lead to co-written articles and editing special issues of journals, which can positively influence the PhD thesis.

[…] by developing confidence in sharing ideas, seeking peer review feedback and editorial advice from a wider range of readers as some of these sections are submitted for publication, the writing of the thesis is encouraged and energised.

Many of the student authors acknowledge questioning, self-doubt and fear of the unknown are central to creating and performing research. While this might be frightening, they say it should be embraced as this is where innovation and novelty can arise.

Charmaine O'Brien writes about how transformative learning is dependent on this period of complexity and not-knowing. While “failure to make experience conform to what we already know is threatening because it destabilises a sense of how we know the world, and ourselves in it, resulting in psychological ‘dis-ease’”, staying with it – and having supportive supervisors – ensures the student becomes a doctoral-level thinker.

Read more: Mindfulness can help PhD students shift from surviving to thriving

Lisa Brummel writes of extending requirements of occupational health and safety into her own life. This takes forms such as family, friends and exercise, assisting with work-life balance and good mental health.

After all, two of the most significant resources PhD students possess to do the work required are their physical and mental capacity.

Finally, students must love their topic. Without an innate fascination for the field in which they are researching, this often tumultuous intellectual, emotional and personal journey may derail.

In the four-plus years spent doing a doctoral degree, any range of major life events can occur. Births, deaths, marriages, separations and divorces, illnesses and recovery, are all possible. Being willing to seek help and knowing who to ask can be the difference between completing and collapsing.

There is no pleasure without pain in the doctoral journey, but with the right frame of mind and supportive supervisors, the joys certainly outweigh the suffering.

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Graduate outcomes, by degree subject and university

Employment and earnings of higher education graduates broken down by graduate characteristic, subject studied and university attended.

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These experimental statistics use graduate outcome data to look at employment and earnings of higher education graduates 1, 3, 5 and 10 years after graduation.

They use the same information as the statistics published on 4 August 2016 . They concentrate on data for 2009 graduates (those who completed their degree at the end of the 2009 academic year) 1, 3 and 5 years after graduation.

These statistics provide further breakdowns by:

• graduate characteristics (including gender and ethnicity)
• subject studied
• university attended

Complete our second survey to feedback on these experimental statistics (SFR60) .

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New report warns that an excessive focus on university drop-out rates conflicts with other important priorities

• 7 January 2021
• By Nick Hillman

As students prepare for the new term, the Higher Education Policy Institute is publishing a report on non-continuation (or ‘drop-out’) rates.

A short guide to non-continuation in UK universities  (HEPI Policy Note 28) by Nick Hillman, HEPI’s Director, looks at the scale of the problem, including showing that the UK has the lowest drop-out rate of any OECD country. It also considers which students are most at risk of not completing their courses and what changes could usefully be implemented to reduce non-continuation rates further.

Nick Hillman, the Director of HEPI and the author of the new report, said:

Dropping out from higher education is receiving more focus than ever before. Policymakers and regulators are increasingly judging institutions by their non-continuation rates. There is even a chance that funding could be closely linked to student retention in future. It is good that people are discussing the issue in greater detail, not least because some students are more prone to dropping out than others – including Black students, part-time students, poorer students and commuter students. But it is nonetheless ridiculously easy to draw the wrong conclusions from the data. Not all instances of dropping out are bad. There can be good reasons why a student cannot or should not continue with their course. Moreover, the UK already has the lowest drop-out rate in the developed world. Cack-handed attempts to reduce this further could actually disincentivise the recruitment of disadvantaged students. It could also disrupt the Government’s own well-received plans to promote more flexible lifelong learning options. The best way to help students who are considering leaving but would benefit from completion is not heavy-handed regulation but instead to spread best practice. Among our proposals are targeted interventions for at-risk groups, measures to encourage a greater sense of belonging among students and non-stigmatising re-entry routes for those who leave but then want to start afresh. We also recommend exit interviews for early leavers, so that lessons can be learned when things do go wrong, and looking afresh at maintenance support to ensure students have enough income to live safe and stable lives.

Notes for Editors

The Higher Education Policy Institute was established in 2002 to help shape the higher education debate with evidence. It is the UK’s only independent think tank devoted to higher education. HEPI is a non-partisan charity funded by higher education institutions and other organisations that wish to see a vibrant policy debate.

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8 big differences between the US and UK PhD experience

And one important similarity. 

Helen Robertson

Credit: Malte Mueller/Getty

And one important similarity.

11 March 2020

Malte Mueller/Getty

In 2019, I took a risk by moving halfway around the world as a postdoctoral researcher in molecular evolution.

Since then, I’ve been struck by how different the grad school experience is here at the University of Chicago in the US, compared with my time at the University College London in the UK, where I completed my PhD in 2017.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

1. UK grad school interviews are shorter and more lab-specific

In the UK, you’re likely to apply directly to a lab for an advertised project or one that you develop with your supervisor.

In the US, the application process is more centralized. You usually apply to a school instead of a lab. Some programs even require you to take a standardized Graduate Entry Program test, though this seems to be on the decline .

Grad school interviews in the US tend to be longer. They can involve a series of interviews, tours, and faculty events over a number of days.

2. In the US, a work-life balance is harder to achieve

I’ve been surprised by how all-encompassing a US doctorate can be. Even after the first year of teaching, the number of seminars, journal clubs, and university-related activities make the US PhD experience very grad school-centric.

I was fortunate during my UK-based PhD to approach it more like a full-time job than a continuation of my masters year. There were intense periods that required late nights in the lab, but I had time to pursue other interests , which provided some balance and made me more productive at work.

Of course, it’s difficult to generalize about working patterns. Demanding schedules are not wholly dictated by the country you’re studying in. A recent study found that 76% of surveyed grad students spent more than 41 hours a week on their project.

3. It takes longer to complete a PhD in the US

Probably the best-known difference is the time it takes to complete a PhD.

UK PhD programs tend towards three years in length, although it’s increasingly getting closer to four years – a trend that might soon be reflected in funding arrangements .

It’s a different story in the US, where, according to the Survey of Earned Doctorates , students take an average of 5.7 years to graduate.

4. UK PhD fees tend to be lower

Fees err on the more expensive side in the US, as they do for undergraduate degrees – although this isn’t always true for international students.

US PhD fees, coupled with the longer study time, means that the costs associated with grad school are generally higher than in the UK, even before living costs are considered.

If you have a funding body attached to your project, it will likely pay your tuition fees as part of its finance package. But this flags a major difference between the two countries: funding and scholarships.

5. Many US students need to apply for their own funding

From my understanding, most advertised science-based PhD projects in the UK are attached to funding, which covers tuition fees, bench costs, and living expenses. The tax-free PhD stipend set by all UK Research Councils is £15,285 (approximately US$20,000), although other funding bodies pay more.

In the US, there is no national funding level – your level of financial support will be dictated by your school or lab. This means there is generally much more encouragement for US PhD students to apply for their own funding than there is in the UK.

This is good experience for a future scientific career, but if you have to work additional hours to supplement scholarships, you’ll ultimately end up with less time for your project.

6. US PhD programs are more structured

This is particularly true in the first year for US PhDs, which includes lectures, exams, and lab rotations. Only at the end of the first year, after passing your qualifying exam, do you have the opportunity to pick the lab you’re going to pursue your PhD research in.

In the UK, I started in the lab that I spent the duration of my studies in. This meant no structured classes or rotations in my first year, and I began my own research right away.

PhDs that are run through a Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) – centres that manage the Research Council-funded PhD degrees – are increasingly popular in the UK, and include classes and rotations during the first year, but often without the frequent exams and coursework that characterize grad school in the US.

7. There is more focus on defending your thesis in the UK

Writing my thesis was the final hurdle of my UK PhD experience. It gave me the opportunity to document my ideas, successes (and failures), and the context of my project. I defended my thesis in a closed session with two examiners: one internal to my institution, and one external.

From what I’ve seen, finishing a doctorate in the US is less focused on a thesis. Instead, your committee determines that you have completed sufficient work and skill attainment to warrant your defense. Only then can you write your thesis, and defend it in a public session.

In the UK, it’s unlikely you’ll know your examiners well, but a US PhD defense is assessed by the same thesis committee that have known you for the duration of your studies.

8. Teaching is an added bonus in the UK

My UK PhD funding set no teaching requirements: instead, I was free to teach labs and mark coursework at the discretion of my supervisor. And I was paid for any teaching hours I did.

Teaching requirements in the US vary from school to school. For some students, working as a teaching assistant is necessary to pay fees and living expenses – particularly if you don’t have comprehensive funding.

There might also be minimum teaching requirements for the duration of your PhD in the US. In this respect, the time commitment and financial compensation of teaching is very institution-specific.

One important similarity: The lab you join will determine your experience

Despite the differences in structure and requirements between UK and US PhDs, one thing that is common to them all is that, ultimately, your PhD is going to be shaped by the lab you decide to join.

If have a positive working environment and appropriate guidance and support from your supervisor, and you’re interested in and motivated by your thesis topic, then your grad school experience will likely be rewarding.

And that’s true regardless of the country you’re studying in.

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Who drops out of the Ph.D.?

Aside from the fact that doing a Ph.D. seems to put you at a greater risk of being anxious or depressed than other occupations, some students may also face the question: will I ever finish my thesis at all ? This post digs into research about doctoral attrition and completion, and what factors seem to make dropping out more likely. Do not give up!… unless you really want to.

Image by Siggy Nowak from Pixabay

About 10 years ago, when I left my job in the telecom industry to pursue an academic Ph.D., I started pursuing my other secret dream: being a psychologist. I enrolled in an online masters program on Psychology research. However, several months into the program, it was clear that this was not going to be a piece of cake. I was behind on the readings, some of the concepts in the courses were incomprehensible to me (not surprising, since my background was in Engineering), and I had some unpleasant online interactions with my peers when seeking help about these issues. My morale started to falter, and I started wondering: should I cut my losses and focus on my other main project (the doctoral degree that I had started in parallel)? Or was it better to drop out of the Ph.D. and pursue the shorter, maybe more manageable masters degree?

Dropping out of the PhD: the problem of attrition

If you ever faced this kind of thoughts, you are not alone. Not at all . In the research literature about students dropping out of doctoral programs (or “attrition”, as they call it), very often the ballpark of 40–60% attrition rate is mentioned 1 . Imagine you are in a classroom with your peer Ph.D. students. Look to the person on your left. Look to the person on your right. According to the statistics, only one or two of you will ever finish the Ph.D.

That’s a hard pill to swallow.

Of course, this is just a general approximation. The numbers vary quite a bit from university to university, and across the different disciplines: in one study, students in science and technology were 50% more likely to complete their Ph.D.’s than health sciences ones, and more than twice as likely compared to doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences 2 . This is probably due to many social, economic and cultural factors that are quite different in each discipline (rather than the inherent difficulty of the subject). Furthermore, even getting to these numbers is quite hard, since very often the researchers running these studies (and the doctoral programs themselves) don’t have a good way to know if a student has actually dropped out, or is just unusually quiet.

There is also the issue of when will you drop out. Several studies mention that dropping out of a Ph.D. is more probable in the first two years 1 , 2 . This is probably due to the students coming to the doctorate with a certain image or expectation of what doing research looks like, and academic research life not living up to those expectations – leading to disillusionment and dropout. To avoid this, in certain areas like biomedical research, students spend some time at the beginning of the doctorate rotating around different labs to get a better sense of what working in research looks like… only sometimes this also backfires, when labs start competing fiercely for the best students, so that some labs show a “friendly façade” during rotation, and a much harsher reality once the student incorporates to the lab for real 3 .

So, it is clear now: if about half of the doctoral students actually drop out of the Ph.D., probably many more have at least considered quitting. Indeed, I’d wager that you are quite lucky if you have not thought of abandoning the Ph.D. so far.

Factors for attrition

Now that we know this is a quite common problem, what are the factors related to greater chances of dropping out (or persisting until completion)? Looking into the research on this issue, I found five factors that appear quite often 4 :

• Kind of funding : Where you get the money from to do your Ph.D. is one of the most studied variables in relation to doctoral students dropping out. While the details vary from country to country and from one discipline to another (which determines what options are available to you), in general having no funding is associated with the highest rates of dropout (between 2.5 and six times more likely to drop out than the other options) 2 . Scholarships or research assistantships seem associated with lower dropouts 5 . While details differ across studies, it seems that the more your money source is aligned with your Ph.D., the better (e.g., if you have a scholarship that lets you freely choose your research topic, or your salary comes from a research project fully aligned with that topic). Conversely, if you are doing your Ph.D. part-time (because you took a completely unrelated job to pay your bills, or if you took a part-time lectureship at the university), you might be setting yourself up to have a harder time finishing your doctorate 6 .
• Marital status : Interestingly, married doctoral students (or those in a long-term relationship) are much less likely to drop out of a Ph.D. 5 . For example, in one study in Belgium, researchers found that married students were about four times less likely to drop out than unmarried ones 2 . As we saw when looking at depression and anxiety , it seems that this kind of close social (and, maybe, economic) support is very helpful to persist in the long journey of the doctorate.
• Career prospects . Quite logically, if you think that you will easily find a job once you have the doctorate under your belt, you will be more likely to persist until completion 5 . And vice-versa: once you stop believing that you have good career opportunities after finishing the Ph.D, dropping out seems much more likely 1 .
• Relationship with the supervisor . Rivers of ink have been poured trying to explain the influence of supervisors, and their relationship with students, in doctoral attrition. The issue appears in most qualitative accounts of doctoral student dropouts, but so far it has been quite difficult to quantify (e.g., well-advised students also drop out sometimes 3 ). Reviews of this area indicate that a positive student-supervisor relationship is associated with completing the Ph.D. 1 . But what makes a relationship positive? that’s harder to say… the advisors being “available”, having frequent interactions, having a sense of cooperation, understanding, and trust. Others also mention a non-hierarchical relationship, with clear expectations, or the advisor not being over-involved in their own research agenda 5 . Being an advisor myself, I find some of this advice wonderfully vague, but I will dig deeper into the topic of supervision styles, in a later post.
• Candidate “preparedness” is another factor that pops-up quite frequently, both in the sense of prior academic achievement (e.g., whether you passed your masters with very high grades), but also in terms of other personal characteristics of the doctoral student. For instance, in one study researchers found that students that passed the masters with very high distinction were two to eight times more likely to complete the Ph.D. than students that had their masters with lower grades 2 . However, not every review agrees that academic achievement is a critical factor in Ph.D. attrition 3 . Other reviews also mention students’ personal characteristics, such as their motivation to do the Ph.D. (if the motivation is high, and is about learning or personal improvement, chances of completion seem to be higher), students’ time on task, not having negative personal issues, etc. 5

OK, so far things seem logical. If we are alone, we are not academic over-achievers, or we have to get an unrelated job to make ends meet, we will generally have a harder time during the dissertation – and more chances of being faced with the dilemma of abandoning it.

But… what is the right answer?

A contrarian view of Ph.D. dropout

Most of the research I’ve seen around this topic describes dropping out as a big problem, a waste of time and resources for everyone involved (students, supervisors, universities, society). And, don’t get me wrong, I totally see how it is a problem that should not be dismissed lightly. However, I cannot help but think that we are seeing only one side of the coin: that of the institutional success, and the student as a human resource . We could also be a bit more empathetic and look at students as a human beings , and their experience: what if dropping out is the better option for this particular student, as a person, at this point in time? In one paper, a doctoral student explains:

‘‘I discussed withdrawing with family and my significant other; they just wanted me to be happy and, given the treatment that I received [from my advisor] for months, it seemed like the clear choice’’ 3

The quote reads like a really well thought-out, meditated decision, after enduring a toxic situation – regardless of the resources “wasted”.

Plus, are they really wasted? We may be forgetting that, even if you do not have a paper calling you “Ph.D.”, it is quite probable that you learned a few useful things during this journey, however incomplete: you learned to read scientific papers, you learned how your kind of research is really made, you learned to write and to argue a bit better, and probably you also practiced your critical thinking (which seems in short supply these days). I wouldn’t call that a total waste.

So yes, you should consider carefully before starting a Ph.D. (or accepting to supervise one). But, if the decision was made in good faith, forget about the funding, forget about the time “wasted”… they are sunk costs 7 . Rather, ask yourself: am I (or is this person) going to be an effective, convinced, purposeful researcher, if I continue my doctoral training under these conditions and in this place? If the answer is no, then maybe quitting isn’t a such bad idea. Heck, there is even research that suggests that, if you are at the point where you could decide by tossing a coin, you would be better off making the change right away! 8

If you are facing this conundrum, evaluate your environment and your daily experience carefully, and talk about it with family and close friends. But the decision is only yours. Yet, I can give you a general rule of thumb, from what I’ve seen in the academic world so far: if you think you are not “smart enough”, or you have any other argument for why you will never succeed at this that smells even remotely of impostor syndrome , I’d say you can make it (believe me, I’ve seen some really un-smart people get doctorates). If, on the other hand, your lab environment is toxic, your economic or social situation is really bad, or you feel deeply unhappy every day you do research, maybe it is time for a re-evaluation.

You can do it, if you want to endure (or -gasp!- enjoy) the process.

Coming back to my own personal case, I did drop out of the Psychology masters, to focus on my Ph.D. And I don’t regret it one bit. Indeed, even after focusing my attention on the Ph.D., a researcher could have told me that my chances were still not terribly optimistic: I was single, I was completely self-funded, my masters grades were not exactly glowing, and I had no idea whether the doctorate would bring me incredible job opportunities.

Oddly enough, not only I managed to finish my Ph.D.; I actually consider that year one of the happiest, most fulfilling of my life.

Am I an outlier? Maybe yes. Was I extremely lucky? Probably so. However, in some of the latest readings I did for this post, I found an alternative, reasonable explanation. But this post has gotten quite long already. You can find out more about this other strand of doctoral education research, in the next post of the series on doctoral dropout .

Have you ever considered dropping out of your Ph.D.? can you think of other factors that made you stay (or abandon it)? Do you think there is a right moment to quit the doctorate? Let me know in the comments section below!

New to the blog? Read more about…

Common problems and challenges in doing the PhD, from mental health (e.g., depression or anxiety) or productivity challenges , to writing or dropping out of your PhD .

Mental health and wellbeing tips and advice : common mental health symptoms in the PhD , tips to avoid dropping out of the doctorate , the importance of sleep , holidays or advice from positive psychology to keep yourself motivated during the PhD.

PhD productivity tips and advice : from the classic Pomodoro technique , to avoiding to-do list overwhelm , dealing with multiple projects and priorities , staying productive and motivated , how I manage my daily tasks or how I do my weekly reviews .

PhD-specific tools , like the CQOCE diagram to conceptualize your PhD, the NABC method to structure your research presentations, or the process I use to write scientific papers or make big career decisions .

Supervision tips and advice , about giving feedback on student papers , or supporting a sense of progress in your doctoral students .

See, for example, Bair, C. R., & Haworth, J. G. (2004). Doctoral student attrition and persistence: A meta-synthesis of research. In Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 481–534). Springer. ↩︎

Wollast, R., Boudrenghien, G., Van der Linden, N., Galand, B., Roland, N., Devos, C., … Frenay, M. (2018). Who Are the Doctoral Students Who Drop Out? Factors Associated with the Rate of Doctoral Degree Completion in Universities. International Journal of Higher Education , 7 (4), 143–156. ↩︎

Maher, M. A., Wofford, A. M., Roksa, J., & Feldon, D. F. (2017). Exploring Early Exits: Doctoral Attrition in the Biomedical Sciences. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice . https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025117736871 ↩︎

Please be aware that most of this evidence is from correlational studies, so it is hard to know if these factors are the causes of the dropout, or (more probably) symptoms of a different underlying cause (or causes). ↩︎

Rigler Jr, K. L., Bowlin, L. K., Sweat, K., Watts, S., & Throne, R. (2017). Agency, Socialization, and Support: A Critical Review of Doctoral Student Attrition. Paper Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Doctoral Education . Presented at the University of Central Florida. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED580853.pdf ↩︎

Gardner, S. K., & Gopaul, B. (2012). The part-time doctoral student experience. International Journal of Doctoral Studies , 7 (12), 63–78. Retrieved from http://informingscience.com/ijds/Volume7/IJDSv7p063-078Gardner352.pdf ↩︎

Arkes, H. R., & Blumer, C. (1985). The psychology of sunk cost. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 35 (1), 124–140. ↩︎

Levitt, S. D. (2016). Heads or tails: The impact of a coin toss on major life decisions and subsequent happiness (Working Paper No. 22487). Retrieved from National Bureau of Economic Research website: https://www.nber.org/papers/w22487 ↩︎

Luis P. Prieto

Luis P. is a Ramón y Cajal research fellow at the University of Valladolid (Spain), investigating learning technologies, especially learning analytics. He is also an avid learner about doctoral education and supervision, and he's the main author at the A Happy PhD blog.

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• PhD Study in the UK – A Guide for 2024

The United Kingdom is home to some of the world's oldest and most respected universities, but there's more to PhD study than age and reputation. Thankfully, British research programmes are also innovative and world-leading, with a modern approach to doctoral training and generous funding available to students from all backgrounds.

This guide covers everything you need to know about studying a PhD in the UK in 2024. We've explained how British PhD programmes work, what they cost (and how to pay for them) as well as advice on How to apply for a PhD in the UK.

Why study a PhD in the UK?

We're celebrating international students in the UK by supporting the #WeAreInternational campaign .

UK universities carry out research in all major subject areas but recent years have seen increasing investment in priority areas such as AI, Machine Learning and related fields such as Health Science and Bioinformatics.

Alongside this, the UK Government is working to attract and support talented international researchers with the launch of a three-year post-study work visa and the extension of PhD studentships to overseas students .

Here are a few reasons to consider a PhD in the UK this year:

• Historic universities – the British university system dates back to at least the eleventh century and has nurtured some of the most important developments in western science, medicine, art and philosophy.
• Global reputation – A British PhD commands respect around the world as the hallmark of the ability to conduct rigorous research and scholarship at the cutting edge of a student's field.
• Innovative training and support – UK universities increasingly deliver PhDs within structured doctoral training programmes, offering additional opportunities for academic and professional development that equip candidates for a range of careers.
• A wide range of funding options – The UK invests heavily in doctoral training, with studentships from dedicated Research Councils as well as a government doctoral student loans system and a range of support for international candidates .
• Priority research areas – On top of all the support the UK already provides for PhD study, additional funding is currently being made available for pioneering work in AI and related fields.
• New post-study work visas – A Graduate Route visa is available to international students completing a PhD from summer 2021 onwards. It allows you to stay in the UK and work (or seek work) for up to three years.

PhDs in the UK

The UK is a member of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This means its qualifications follow the format of the Bologna process. A doctorate in the UK is a third-cycle qualification. It usually takes between three and four years to complete a UK PhD.

This guide focuses on how PhD programmes in the UK are structured including assessments, examinations and supervision.

The British PhD follows a format that's recognisable around the world (partly because many parts of the world have copied the British PhD format!).

At its core, a UK doctorate is an independent research qualification. Right from the beginning, the focus is on your own individual research project with the ultimate aim of producing an original thesis that contributes to the understanding of your field.

Unlike in some countries (such as the USA ), there isn't any formal taught components for a UK PhD. You probably will have some additional training and development opportunities during your doctorate (such as teaching undergraduates , attending conferences and publishing papers ) but your performance in these won't affect your final degree result.They will help you hone your skills and knowledge to increase your employability prospects though!

UK doctoral degrees

Most UK universities award their academic doctorates as PhD qualifications. However, some institutions award a DPhil instead. The two degrees are effectively the same; in fact, they even stand for the same thing ('PhD' is an abbreviation of the Latin philosophiae doctor , whereas 'DPhil' is an abbreviation of the English 'doctor of philosophy'). Rest assured that, for all intents and purposes, a DPhil is the same as a PhD.

Other UK doctoral degrees do differ. Some universities award specialised professional doctorates in particular subjects. Examples include the Doctor of Engineering (Eng.D), Doctor of Education (EdD) or the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) . These tend to include more practice-based research and reflection, being designed for experienced professionals.

The length of a UK PhD (or other doctorate) is fairly standard. You'll normally be expected to spend a minimum of three years researching towards your thesis, with most universities allowing students to extend for a fourth year if necessary. Around six to eight years are normally allowed for part-time PhDs.

The UK academic year runs from September to June , but the lack of formal teaching on British doctoral programmes means that PhD students can, in principle, start at any point in the calendar year. Be aware that your university may prefer a September start where possible, however, in order to line up with induction and orientation.

Supervision

At the start of your degree, you'll be partnered with at least one PhD supervisor . They will be an expert in your specialism with some relevant experience of the kinds of material you intend to research and the methods you expect to use. It's their job to guide your project and provide advice on the best direction for your research as you progress. Your supervisor will also support your professional development as a researcher and – potentially – as a future academic.

It's actually common for students in the UK to have two supervisors :

• Your primary supervisor provides expert academic advice on the best direction for your project and offers feedback on drafts and other work in progress. This person is sometimes referred to as a 'director of studies'.
• Your secondary supervisor provides more pastoral support and general mentoring. They may not be as closely in your research but will help with professional development and training.

Sometimes the split in supervisor roles and responsibilities isn't as clear as this, with some students being co-supervised by two academics who both offer academic advice and more general support.

PhD structure

The UK PhD is traditionally a pure research degree, with no taught classes and assessments (other than your final oral examination – see below). You will normally begin with a literature review of existing work in your field, before moving on to gathering your own quantitative or qualitative data, textual evidence or other materials and eventually writing up your findings as a PhD thesis .

Some UK PhD students begin by registering for an MPhil before completing a PhD upgrade at the end of their first year (this is a short oral exam, based around a chapter draft or similar).

Some UK universities also offer a more structured PhD with timetabled training and development activities. This is most common for PhDs funded by the UK Research Councils which take place within dedicated Doctoral Training Centres.

Submission and examination

At the end of your PhD you will submit a written thesis detailing your findings and the conclusions you have drawn from them. The length of a UK PhD thesis varies by subject. Dissertations in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences tend to be between 60,000 and 100,000 words. Dissertations in STEM subjects are shorter, as much of the information is conveyed through graphs and data tables.

At least one of your supervisors will read your PhD in full before you submit it and offer constructive feedback to help improve your thesis.

Your PhD will then be submitted for oral examination in a process known as a viva voce (Latin for 'living voice'). A UK PhD viva usually involves two examiners: one 'internal examiner' from within your university and one 'external examiner' from another institution. Both will read your thesis in advance and then question you about it. It is your job to 'defend' your findings and conclusions in order to prove the value of your research and confirm the PhD is your own work.

Unlike in other European countries , where the viva is often a public defence, UK PhDs are usually examined in a 'closed room' setting. Your supervisor is not usually present but should be available before and after the exam.

Immediately following your viva your examiners will recommend a PhD result for you. This may involve passing (with or without some corrections to your thesis) or other outcomes that may require additional research and / or resubmission (it's rare to completely fail your PhD after reaching the viva stage).

If you’re interested in studying in the UK then we’ve covered everything you need to know including what they cost (and how to pay for them as an international student ) as well as advice on how to apply for a PhD in the UK .

Think you’re ready to find the perfect project for you?

Search our database of PhD programmes in the UK .

The seven UK Research Councils provide government studentships for PhD research in different subject areas. Our simple guide explains how this funding works, what you can get and how to apply successfully.

You may be able to get a PhD loan of up to £27,892 for a UK doctorate from Student Finance. Our guide explains eligibility, applications and repayments.

Our guide explains the best ways to fund international PhD study in the UK, with information on all the main scholarships available to you.

Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) or Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs) provide UK Research Council funded PhD studentships to postgraduate students

Our postgrad newsletter shares courses, funding news, stories and advice

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Why are university drop out rates in the United Kingdom relatively low?

The drop out rates for America and Germany in University are similar at about 30%. I believe a common explanation for both is that there is not enough screening for the people who go into college.

However, googling tells me that in the UK it is about 5% ish. Why is their dropout rate so low?

• united-kingdom

• 8 Also, drop out from what? Undergraduate university programs? High schools? –  Wolfgang Bangerth Commented May 11, 2023 at 17:55
• 13 Giving a single number is unlikely to provide meaningful information. The "drop out rate" for an undergraduate math program at UCLA is probably much lower than for a math program at some community colleges in the US. The drop out rate for a Bachelor math program at an arbitrary German university is probably higher than for many (though certainly not all) other subjects at the same university. The drop out rate for a Master's program in math at a German university will typically be much lower than for a Bachelor's program. –  Jochen Glueck Commented May 11, 2023 at 18:21
• 1 I am wondering how changes of program a counted in those statistics. I know a considerable number of people who realized within the first year or so that they can probably slog through their degree in A, but that they would be happier with a related degree in B instead (e.g. physics to engineering). In Germany that would mean simply dropping A and enrolling in B (often no more work than filling out some paperwork), usually transferring some or even most credits. Technically those people dropped out of the program, but not really of the system. –  mlk Commented May 12, 2023 at 7:58
• I see Google hits showing rates from <1% at Oxford/Cambridge to >30% at some other places. Does it average to 5%-ish? Maybe. Does that count any institutions comparable to US community colleges? No clue... –  Jon Custer Commented May 12, 2023 at 15:06
• I searched in general, rather than for top schools. I think top schools for all places would agree, except on those which there is no thing as top schools (Eg: Germany) –  Cantor Dust Drachen Commented May 12, 2023 at 16:36

The comparison between the dropout rates for British and German universities is a topic I have talked about with many collegagues familiar with both systems. The core reason seems to be that what is deemed an acceptable dropout rate in the UK is much, much lower than in Germany.

This then leads to all kinds of different actions and policies that lead to the actual dropout rates being so much lower.

British universites that can afford to be picky are usually very selective, and will only admit students they are confident will do well. On the other hand, for many subjects (eg math, CS), German universities will admit almost anyone with Abitur, and then just sort them out in the first year.

British universities tend to offer quite a bit of support for (weaker) students. How much and the nature varies - most universities couldn't afford the immense attention paid to individual students at Oxbridge, but there is bound to be some effort. I've never heard of comparable attempts at German universities.

Lest I give the impression that I consider the British approach superior, UK universities that cannot afford to be that picky in admissions will just lower the standards to the point where almost everyone they do admit will pass (with whatever support they can offer). German professors tend to have much more latitude to only let those pass they deem worthy.

• 2 A friend of mine who attended a Swiss university said something about how they are legally required to accept everyone who meets the entry requirements. To not have crazy class sizes, the first year exams are very hard, and a lot of students are weeded out ("drop out"). Maybe that applies to Germany too? –  Allure Commented May 12, 2023 at 3:27
• 2 @Allure here ist the question that yields the answers concerning the "weeding out" system in Germany. academia.stackexchange.com/questions/183700/… –  Sursula Commented May 12, 2023 at 6:56
• 10 Regarding the last paragraph: I am not particular familiar with the British system, but after all I have heard the main reason for this is that students are treated as paying customers in Britain (as well as in the US) that you want to retain for money, while in Germany, the benefits of retaining bad students are much smaller. –  Wrzlprmft ♦ Commented May 12, 2023 at 7:09
• 1 +1 Maybe, though, could you add a few examples which kind of support British universities (other than Cambridge and Oxbridge) offer for weaker students? –  Jochen Glueck Commented May 12, 2023 at 8:53
• 4 Having worked at German universities I can attest to most of this: In Germany funding programs are often attached to enrollment numbers, not necessarily graduation numbers. There are no enrollment-tests for many degrees and enrollment is usually free, so many people enroll first and then realize it's not what they want or not what they're good at. –  Falco Commented May 12, 2023 at 12:39

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Education & Science

Higher education in the UK - Statistics & Facts

Oxford retains top spot, grades, subjects and debt, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Number of students enrolled in the United Kingdom 2009-2022

Share of population aged 30-34 that are university graduates in Europe 2023

Share of population aged 15-64 that are university graduates in Europe 2023

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Universities with the highest number of students in the UK 2021/22

Educational Institutions & Market

Percentage of undergraduate degrees awarded each grade in the UK 2011-2022

Education Level & Skills

Number of higher education institutions in the UK 2016-2022

Further recommended statistics

• Premium Statistic Number of students enrolled in the United Kingdom 2009-2022
• Premium Statistic University applicants in the United Kingdom 1994-2022
• Basic Statistic Percentage of undergraduate degrees awarded each grade in the UK 2011-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of university enrolments in the UK 2021/22, by subject
• Premium Statistic Leading EU countries studying in the UK 2021/22
• Premium Statistic Leading non-EU countries studying in the UK 2021/22
• Basic Statistic Average annual salary of graduates and non-graduates in England 2007-2022

Number of students enrolled in higher education in the United Kingdom from 2009/10 to 2021/22 (in millions)

University applicants in the United Kingdom 1994-2022

Number of university applicants in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2022 (in 1,000s)

Percentage of first degree qualifiers obtaining each classification in the United Kingdom from 2011/12 to 2021/22

Number of university enrolments in the UK 2021/22, by subject

Number of university enrolments in the United Kingdom in 2021/22, by subject group

Leading EU countries studying in the UK 2021/22

Leading European Union countries of origin for higher education students studying in the United Kingdom in 2021/22

Leading non-EU countries studying in the UK 2021/22

Leading non-European Union countries of origin for higher education students studying in the United Kingdom in 2021/22

Average annual salary of graduates and non-graduates in England 2007-2022

Average annual salary of graduates and non-graduates in England from 2007 to 2022 (in 1,000 GBP)

Universities

• Basic Statistic Leading U.K. universities ranked by the Complete University Guide 2024
• Basic Statistic Number of higher education institutions in the UK 2016-2022
• Premium Statistic Universities with the highest number of students in the UK 2021/22
• Premium Statistic Annual expenditure of universities in the UK 1993-2022

Leading U.K. universities ranked by the Complete University Guide 2024

The Complete University Guide's top twenty universities in the United Kingdom in 2024, by overall score (max = 1000)

Number of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom from 2016/17 to 2021/22

Universities with the highest number of students in the United Kingdom in 2021/22

Annual expenditure of universities in the UK 1993-2022

Annual expenditure of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom from 1993/94 to 2021/22 (in billion GBP)

Student Finance

• Basic Statistic Government spending on higher education in the UK 2009-2024
• Basic Statistic Average student loan debt in the UK 2000-2023
• Basic Statistic Outstanding debt of student loans in the UK 2013-2023
• Premium Statistic Tuition fees as a share of higher education income in the UK 2008-2022

Government spending on higher education in the UK 2009-2024

Public sector expenditure on tertiary education in the United Kingdom from 2009/10 to 2023/24 (in billion GBP)

Average student loan debt in the UK 2000-2023

Average student loan debt on entry to repayment in the United Kingdom from 1999/00 to 2022/23, by country (in 1,000 GBP)

Outstanding debt of student loans in the UK 2013-2023

Outstanding debt of student loans in the United Kingdom from 2013/14 to 2022/23, by country (in billion GBP)

Tuition fees as a share of higher education income in the UK 2008-2022

Income from tuition fees as a share of all Higher Education Institution income in the United Kingdom from 2008/09 to 2021/22

International Comparisons

• Premium Statistic International student share of higher-ed population worldwide in 2022, by country
• Basic Statistic Higher education spending per student worldwide by country 2020
• Basic Statistic Degrees earned in higher education U.S. 1950-2032
• Basic Statistic Share of population aged 15-64 that are university graduates in Europe 2023
• Basic Statistic Share of population aged 30-34 that are university graduates in Europe 2023
• Basic Statistic Share of population that are university graduates in the EU 2002-2023, by age
• Premium Statistic Number of degree graduates in the EU 2021, by field of study

International student share of higher-ed population worldwide in 2022, by country

Countries with the largest amount of international students as a share of the total higher education population in 2022

Higher education spending per student worldwide by country 2020

Expenditure on higher education per student in OECD countries worldwide in 2020 (in U.S. dollars)

Degrees earned in higher education U.S. 1950-2032

Number of higher education degrees earned in the United States from 1950 to 2032 (in 1,000s)

Share of those aged between 15 and 64 with tertiary educational attainment in Europe in 2023, by country

Share of those aged between 30 and 34 with tertiary educational attainment in Europe in 2023, by country

Share of population that are university graduates in the EU 2002-2023, by age

Share of those with tertiary educational attainment in the European Union from 2002 to 2023, by age group

Number of degree graduates in the EU 2021, by field of study

Number of tertiary education graduates in the European Union in 2021, by broad field of study

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Universities With Highest and Lowest Dropout Rates

A new report from Debut Careers reveals the UK universities with the highest and lowest student dropout rates.

See what you could study at uni

6 in every 100 (6.3%) - that's how many students drop out of university in the UK on average. With drop-out rates amongst UK students rising, perhaps there is a need to look closer into the divide - and that’s what the team at Debut Careers have done.

Looking into dropout rates of over 140 of the country's higher education institutions, they can reveal the universities with the highest and lowest percentage of students who have dropped out of their courses.

UK Universities With Lowest Dropout Rates 

• The University of Cambridge (1% dropout rate)  
• The University of Oxford (1.2% dropout rate)  
• Royal College of Music (1.5% dropout rate)  
• Courtauld Institute of Art (1.6% dropout rate)  
• The University of Bath | Royal Academy of Music (1.7% dropout rate)  
• University of Bristol | Durham University | University of Exeter | Royal Veterinary College | St George's, University of London  (1.9% dropout rate)  
• Glasgow School of Art | University of St Andrews  (2.1% dropout rate)  
• London School of Economics and Political Science  (2.4% dropout rate)  
• University of Birmingham  (2.5% dropout rate)  
• University of Sheffield  (2.7% dropout rate)

UK Universities With Highest Dropout Rates 

• London Metropolitan University (18.6%dropout rate)  
• The University of Bolton (15.4% dropout rate)  
• University of Bedfordshire (15.2% dropout rate)  
• University of the Highlands and Islands (14% dropout rate)  
• University of Suffolk (13.6% dropout rate)  
• SRUC  (12.9% dropout rate)  
• Middlesex University  (12.6% dropout rate)  
• Plymouth College of Art  (12.5% dropout rate)  
• University of Wolverhampton (12.2% dropout rate)  
• University of Abertay Dundee  (12.1% dropout rate)

London Metropolitan University has the highest dropout rates in the UK at a huge 18.6%, while the University of Cambridge has the lowest. The more ‘prestigious’ and well-known institutions seem to sit at the top of the league, with a certain degree of stability evident.

The research, from  student careers service, Debut Careers , also shows the dropout rates by subject. Their insights reveal that computer sciences are the subjects which suffer from the highest dropout rate at 9.8%, with medicine, dentistry and veterinary science being the subjects which see the lowest, at just 1.5%.

There could be many reasons for a student to drop out of education. No matter your background or university choice, the sudden change in lifestyle can sometimes be too much to cope with. For many, it can be an overwhelming shift.

Whatever the reason you may have for considering dropping out, it's important to look into your options. If you are beginning to feel withdrawn or see grades slipping, take a moment to address these and question why, considering what your next steps could be. It could be that instead of dropping out altogether, you could transfer to a new course or uni .

Keep in mind that support is out there and talking to someone is always a great help. After all, most students who need support don't tend to ask for help.

Usmann Qureshi, Client Success Manager from Debut Careers, believes that while leaving an undergraduate course does limit some opportunities, it opens many doors to other exciting ones:

  “Leaving an undergraduate course before completion does rule out some opportunities, but opens up many others.

“When we speak with candidates, they are often really surprised at the companies with opportunities that are still available to them for Higher/Degree apprenticeships.

“The apprenticeship levy has changed the landscape. Not only is there a much bigger incentive for employers to bring on apprentices, but the data suggests they are often much better value. Retention rates are roughly double that of graduates and often the employee can contribute positively much earlier on.”

Ten Year Difference in Dropout Rates

The research also looked into the difference in dropout rate by subject between 2007/08 and 2017/18. From this, we can see that every subject has seen a reduced dropout rate over time. Combined subjects have reduced their dropout rate by 23.8%, while physical sciences have dropped by 12.7%. Medicine, dentistry and veterinary science saw the smallest drop of 1.4%, followed by education, which had a reduction of 3.4%. 

Does this show that the decision of attending university is becoming a much more thought-about choice? Are institutions doing more to keep their students happy or is it that the alternative options of internships and schemes are being taken advantage of instead? If there is such a need to improve student retention, maybe measures such as more student advisors were put into place in recent years?

Regardless of the reasons for dropout rates, the most important solution to this problem is to address any worries in a timely manner and know that there are numerous options today. There are so many support systems, and it's crucial that you make use of them; from recruitment companies to internships, schemes, work experience and much more, there are so many avenues you may have not explored if your first choice was university study.

Often, you won’t know that university wasn't right for you until you get there and stand in the lecture hall. Sometimes it just won't work out and the reality isn't quite what you expected. And guess what? That's more than ok. It's not an easy position to be in, but don't worry, you're not the only one.

-  Best university cities for different types of students

-   How to reach out for mental health support at uni

You can see the full research and more advice and guidance into future career and education options from Debut Careers in their career insights here .  

There are loads of excellent courses available for you to study at unis across the UK

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Revealed: These are officially the Russell Group unis with the highest dropout rates in 2024

6.2 per cent of students at Queen’s University Belfast don’t finish their degrees

Surely at some point every student has sobbed from the stress of studying their subject, collapsed onto the carpet with a load of crisps, and contemplated putting an end to their suffering by dropping out. But how many students at Russell Group unis actually had the guts to admit defeat and become a dropout in 2024?

As part of The Guardian’s “The best UK universities 2025 – rankings” this year, The Guardian gathered data on what percentage of freshers make it through to second year. So, this info doesn’t factor in how many students defer the rest of their degrees to another year – a thing which some unis encourage struggling students to do instead of dropping out.

Dropout rates at Russell Group unis are generally quite low. There are 87 UK unis on The Guardian’s league table which have higher drop out rates than any Russell Group uni.

Oxford and Cambridge are the Russell Group unis with the lowest dropout rates in 2024. According to the data The Guardian had, just 1 per cent of Cambridge students give up on their degrees. Perhaps it’s so much effort to get into Oxbridge that people are too scared to drop out if they hate it.

Queen’s University Belfast has the highest drop out rate of any Russell Group uni. A massive 6.2 per cent of students didn’t finish their degrees. Who knows what they do to students over there?

So, here is every Russell Group uni ranked by the percentage of freshers who don’t make it to second year, from highest to lowest:

24. University of Cambridge – 1.0 per cent drop out

23. University of Oxford – 2.0 per cent drop out

I suppose if you’ve gone through the effort of memorising a whole textbook for your Oxford interview, you’re less likely to leave (Credit: Francesca Gunner)

22. Durham University – 2.5 per cent drop out

21. University of Edinburgh – 2.9 per cent drop out

=19. University of Bristol – 3.4 per cent drop out

=19. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 3.4 per cent drop out

18. University College London (UCL) – 3.6 per cent drop out

17. University of Warwick – 3.7 per cent drop out

=15. University of Manchester – 3.8 per cent drop out

=15. University of Exeter – 3.8 per cent drop out

Maybe some freshers see how uninspiring the buildings at the main Exeter campus look and decide to go home? (Credit: Francesca Gunner)

=12. University of Leeds – 4.0 per cent drop out

=12. University of Birmingham – 4.0 per cent drop out

=12. University of York – 4.0 per cent drop out

11. University of Liverpool – 4.1 per cent drop out

=9. University of Nottingham – 4.3 per cent drop out

=9. University of Sheffield – 4.3 per cent drop out

8. Imperial College London – 4.4 per cent drop out

=6. Queen Mary University of London – 4.7 per cent drop out

=6. Newcastle University – 4.7 per cent drop out

5. University of Southampton – 4.9 per cent drop out

4. University of Glasgow – 5.3 per cent drop out

=2. King’s College London – 5.5 per cent drop out

=2. Cardiff University – 5.5 per cent drop out

1. Queen’s University Belfast – 6.2 per cent drop out

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UK: record enrollment, graduation rates reflect commitment to advancing Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 13, 2024) — It’s a simple, but powerful formula: more students succeeding at higher rates means a more skilled, healthy and educated workforce to meet Kentucky’s needs.

By those measures, University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto told members of the Board of Trustees on Friday, UK is making “historic strides in its mission to advance the state in terms of the numbers of students we are educating, retaining and graduating.”

“We know that what our students do here — and how successful they are at UK — will determine, in large measure, whether we are successful in advancing Kentucky,” Capilouto said. “Our mission — now more than at any time in our history — is to open our doors as wide as possible to more and more students, who will shape the future of this state. These numbers reflect our commitment to that ideal. These numbers reflect that we are Kentucky.”

Here are the details:

• For the first time, UK’s preliminary fall enrollment is over 36,000 students — 36,161 — about a 7% increase over last year. Of that number, 25,774 are undergraduates, a 7.5% increase over the previous year.
• The first-year class of 6,571 is also a record high and a little more than a 2% increase over last year’s class.
• In addition, 1,162 transfer students represent the largest number of transfers in more than a decade and about a 16% increase over last year.
• A record 18.8% of UK’s first-year students come from underrepresented backgrounds as defined by state policymakers and more than 17% of the overall enrollment does as well, according to preliminary figures; 26.1% of UK’s first-year class is first-generation.
• Even as the number of first-year Black students declined from last year by about 60 students, according to preliminary numbers, the number of undergraduates and overall number of Black students increased as did the numbers of Hispanic students and those identifying as two or more races.
• UK’s six-year graduation rate is now more than 71% — another record that places the university among the top 100 public, four-year institutions in America, based on the most recent data. UK’s four-year graduation rate is now a little more than 60% — almost 30 percentage points higher than it was 15 years ago. Preliminary retention — the percentage of students returning for their second year at the university — also is a record 87.3%.
• Another modern record is the number of degrees and certificates awarded by UK — 9,545 for 2023-24, according to preliminary numbers.

Finally, the university’s efforts to utilize innovative programs to propel student success also are paying off.

UK Invests — a first-of-its-kind program that debuted last year — provides access to low-risk investment accounts to every student, with opportunities for students to earn money for developing healthy habits. In the first year of the program, more than 20% of students have opened an account.

The retention rate of those students who were in their first year was about 92%, compared to a little more than 84% for those who did not participate. First-year students with UK Invests accounts also had higher GPAs — 3.3 compared to 3.0 who did not participate. More importantly, these gains are seen across levels of incoming student preparation.

Already this fall, more than one-third of new first-year students have opened UK Invests accounts.

“We exist to advance this state in everything that we do. And we are united in our focus on that mission,” Capilouto said. “The enrollment numbers represent one chapter in the story we are writing about what we are doing to honor that vision and achieve our mission. We don’t intend to stop. There are still too many chapters to write, too many stories to tell, so much more to do for our students, their families and this state whose name we bear.”

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.   

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