Discipline Deep Dive - UK Science & Engineering PGR

• Science & Engineering is by far the most popular discipline area for UK PGR.

• International interest is growing, most notably from North American audiences.

• There is a greater level of female interest than we see progress to enrolments.

• Cancer Biology is now the most popular area of research.

In our PGT deep dive, we found that Science & Engineering was the most popular discipline area and experiencing strong growth from all audiences. At PGR level, it holds only one of those distinctions.

Recently released HESA data shows that Science & Engineering is by far the most popular area of UK research. In 22/23, Science & Engineering accounted for 35% of all doctoral enrolments in the UK, almost double the next most popular discipline area (Arts & Humanities with 18%). This is, however, 2% down on the share of enrolments that it had in the 18/19 academic year, and that is not a one-off, there has been a subtle but consistent trend away from Science & Engineering over those 5 years.

Our Share of Search data from Q3 2024, however, appears to show that that trend away from Science & Engineering may have finished.

Overall, interest in Science & Engineering has not grown nor fallen in the past 12 months, but that stability varies between audiences. Domestic interest is still falling (-3%) but international audiences saw steady year-on-year growth during Q3 (+2%).

With all that said, it is worth noting that these trends are (and have been) relatively negligible, that Science & Engineering still has by far the largest Share of Search of any discipline in UK PGR, and that we’re unlikely to see a major shift in the PhD landscape anytime soon.

With international interest in UK postgraduate study having been in flux in recent months, it’s worth delving into the make-up of each audience to begin to understand how they might be affected.

Like we produced in the Science & Engineering PGT deep dive, below we have a chart comparing the Share of Search from each Science & Engineering audience to the audiences for all UK PGR.

The main things to note are that:

• Asia is the largest audience and accounts for 46% of all UK PGR searches but only 42% of all Science & Engineering searches.

• Similarly, African Share of Search for Science & Engineering courses is 3 percentage points (pp) less than their Share of Search for all UK PGR.

• North American audiences (+6pp) and European audiences (+1pp) account for a larger proportion of total Science & Engineering searches.

But what does this mean for the sustainability of its audience?

In recent months, we’ve seen a trend of various traditionally popular research destinations imposing restrictive policies for international students. That has seen some audiences – most notably Asian and African – start to more seriously consider Europe and China as PhD study destinations. But how has this affected the Science & Engineering field in the UK?

In Q3, we saw Asian (-7pp) and African (-4pp) interest in UK PGR down year-on-year – effectively meaning that these audiences are becoming slightly more likely to seek PhDs outside of the UK.

Their interest in Science & Engineering, however, is seeing a much more positive trend with both of these audiences seeing a rise in interest for UK study (+2pp and +1pp respectively). Similarly, interest from Europe (+3pp) and North America (+18pp) is also growing for UK Science & Engineering, suggesting that the UK’s reputation for STEM research is standing it in good stead despite recent policymaking.

So, we know that the international audience is healthy, but who exactly are they – and their domestic counterparts – and what are they looking for?

The first thing to note is that the Science & Engineering audience is relatively young compared to that of all UK PGR.

The average age of the Science & Engineering audiences is around 4 years younger than that of the audience for all UK PGR. This difference is slightly more pronounced for prospective domestic students (around 7 years) than internationals (around 3 years), and the age brackets vary quite drastically between each audience.

The largest proportion of the Science & Engineering audience are those aged 25-34 (48%) though it is worth noting that around 25% are aged under 25.

The international audience follows this pattern closely, with those aged under 35 accounting for the vast majority of interest and minimal interest from those aged 45+. Domestic audiences, however, see a much more even split of interest across all age ranges, with the largest proportion being those aged under 25 (40%) and a similar proportion aged 35+ (37%).

The HESA data that we referenced in the introduction also revealed that enrolments have been moving towards a more even gender split. During the 2018/19 academic year, only 37% of Science & Engineering enrolments were female. By 2022/23 that was up to 40%.

But Pulse data suggests that there is still a way to go before the percentage of female enrolments matches the percentage of female interest. In Q3 2024, those interested in Science & Engineering were slightly more likely to be female (51%). That was true for both domestic and international audiences.

As we found with PGT, it therefore appears that there is a significant section of the Science & Engineering audience that are not progressing through from initial interest to enrolment. A section that could yet be tapped into.

Unsurprisingly (given the equipment often required), the Science & Engineering audience are 14pp more likely to seek on campus opportunities than the audience for all UK PGR. They are also 8pp more likely to seek full-time research.

They are slightly more likely to list Career progress (+3pp) and Subject interest (+3pp) interest as motivations while being less likely to see Challenge as a motivating factor (-5pp). In terms of concerns, they are more likely to list Confidence (+5pp) as a detractor.

The most popular specialisms have changed quite a bit in the last 12 months.

In Q3 2023, Microbiology was top of the pile but a notable fall in interest sees it sit 5th this year. Instead, Cancer Biology takes the top spot, followed by Neuroscience, Mechanical Engineering, and Molecular Biology.

The Share of Search drops a little after these top 5 specialisms, though we have seen significant growth for two further Engineering specialisms, Biological and Electrical. Conversely, the aforementioned Microbiology sees the largest year-on-year fall, with interest dropping by a third.

This page is intended to be a snapshot of the current size and shape of UK PGR Science & Engineering audiences based on thousands of data points drawn from actively searching audiences across our platforms. If there's something else you think it should cover, something that isn't clear or something you have a question about, please let us know.

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