Professional Doctorates Provide Access to Research Degrees for Under-Represented Groups
The Professional Doctorates Survey, which was run jointly by UKCGE and University Alliance, has now closed and we wish to thank all participants for their time. We can reveal some initial findings ahead of the full survey report, which will be published in autumn 2025.
We are pleased to announce that the survey gained 73 responses — a 46% response rate across UK and Ireland. This provides us with a substantial picture of the professional doctorates landscape as it now stands.
The results also show that 77% of the institutions surveyed offer research professional doctorates, while only 18% offer taught professional doctorates – a clear indication that most of the institutions consider the professional doctorate to be a research degree.
Meanwhile, 45% said that enrolments have increased and only 26% said they have decreased over the last five years, which means that the professional doctorate continues to be attractive. 52% said they are planning to increase the number of research professional doctorate programmes in the future.
Finally, 33% respondents said that professional doctorates have improved the rate of participation amongst under-represented groups. This indicates that they are a useful tool for increasing overall engagement in doctoral research.
We wish to thank everybody who took the time to respond to the survey. We will be distributing the full report this autumn – sign up to our monthly email (The Postgraduate) to keep up-to-date with UKCGE news and events.