More than 260,000 postgraduate students graduate every year, and the range of qualifications is huge, with more than 22,000 courses available. While universities don’t seem keen on dropping courses – probably due to the small student numbers needed to run them – more are being added every year.
The latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that postgraduate qualifications (excluding postgrad PGCE) accounted for 32% of all higher education qualifications obtained in 2014/15. In terms of delivery, 10% of these are research-based and 90% are taught.
The greatest percentage increase in first-year postgraduate student enrolments between 2013/14 and 2014/15 was in agriculture and related subjects (29%), with courses in areas as diverse as farm management, pig farming, rural tourism and bovine reproduction.
The greatest decrease in first-year postgraduate numbers was in veterinary science (9%), though some universities seem to be bucking the trend with the introduction of specific courses such as clinical animal behaviour, veterinary epidemiology and veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia, which are new this year at the University of Edinburgh.
A more recent growth area, not mentioned in the study, is data analysis, with experts including Martin Lewis proclaiming it as the graduate job for pay and long-term opportunities – and higher education establishments seem to be listening. This year alone, the University of Stirling launched a data science for business MSc, which aims to provide students with “a deep understanding of the industrial and scientific relevance of advanced analytics and their application in strategic and operational decision making” and the University of Salford has introduced a cyber security, threat intelligence and forensics MSc, which provides students with “the skills to carry out in-depth computer and network investigations and training in the techniques used for detecting and responding to cyber crimes and cyber war activities”. At the University of Edinburgh, four of the 18 new postgraduate offerings are related to data science, statistics and operational research.
Another growth area is conservation and the environment, with more than 160 different options already available. The University of Salford has just added an MSc in wildlife conservation to its roster of courses, which is said to be recruiting well above target, as well as an MA in wildlife documentary production, which is open to science students and graduates with a degree in media, particularly film and video production.
Students have previously received a talk from Sir David Attenborough, many of their final films have won international awards, and ex-students are now working for the BBC Natural History Unit and independent production companies.
