Supporting Our Diverse PGT Student Body — What the Findings from the National Pre-arrival Academic Questionnaire Have Told Us So Far

Across the sector, more institutions are starting to implement pre-arrival questionnaires which can provide valuable information about incoming students’ prior study experience, and study expectations and concerns. This information can be used to support the onboarding process of new students and the first few months, help them settle in. 

The very first national level entry survey undertaken was the 11 university Postgraduate Experience Project funded by HEFCE as part of the Postgraduate Support Scheme designed to reenergise the UK domiciled declining PG taught market. The project formalised the Entry to Study Survey (now called the Pre-arrival Academic Questionnaire). Postgraduate taught includes PG Certs/​Diplomas, Master’s and other PGT courses.

The PAQ was proactively designed to be an equitable reflective activity for students to get them thinking about their upcoming studies (e.g. prior learning experiences, expectations, concerns on entry) as well as providing key information for staff and departments within a university enabling more focused bespoke support for the incoming cohort. It not only highlighted the differences between different student characteristics but also responses by type of institution. The lead of the project, Dr Michelle Morgan continued to undertake the PAQ within the institutions she has worked at both at undergraduate and postgraduate taught levels. 

However, there has been no systematic approach implemented across the sector for any level of higher education study since the Postgraduate Experience Project. However, in February 2025, the University of East London, Advance HE and JISC were awarded an Office for students Innovation fund grant to run a national 2.5‑year pilot.

For the first time, we now have inter-institutional data from across both undergraduate and postgraduate taught levels of study which is really informing us about similarities but importantly, the differences. 

So what is the pilot telling us across the 5,548 undergraduate and 2,285 postgraduate taught completions in Phase one? And how can we use the data to help develop bespoke support appropriate to each level of study?

Below are just a few of the top-level findings that can impact on the onboarding process.

Applicants visiting a university via open and applicant days can be an important activity in getting a feel for an institution. Universities invest a lot of time and money holding these events. What becomes clear from the PAQ is the high number of respondents who visited no university or just one before making their choice and starting (see Table 1). For UG’s, 29% visited no universities and 21% visited just one. For postgraduate taught this was substantially higher with 71% visiting none and 16% visiting just one. 

When asked for the reasons, for undergraduates, studying closer to where they lived was the most cited reason with 36%, and for postgraduate taught it was they were an international student but looked at the university online with 64%. Use of social media to look at the institution was 18% for UGs and 26% for postgraduate taught, and in both cases, this was highest amongst Non-UK respondents. For both levels of study, 8% cited they could not afford to visit any. 

When reasons for doing the course were examined, the top five reasons cited by undergraduates were study and career focused. For postgraduate taught, it was career and employment focused (see Table 2).

However, when examined by PGT domiciled status, apart from both UK and Non-UK citing to follow career ambitions, motivations slightly differed (see Table 3). Both cited wanting to progress in their current career and improve their employment prospects but for Non-UK PGTs, developing professional networks was the second most important motivation. For UK PGTs, there was more focus on developing specialist skills and broadening skills. The importance for each reason was higher for postgraduate taught respondents. This is understandable as undergraduates have a longer course duration to consider this than postgraduate taught do. 

When age at postgraduate taught level was examined, following career ambitions was first across five of the seven age groups. For those 46 years and above it was developing specialist skills. In second place, for those up to 30 years, it was developing networks whereas for those 31 to 40 it was about wanting to develop specialist skills. For those above 46, it was progressing in their current career. This highlights the differences between students who have come direct from undergraduate study, and those who are older and at various stages in their career.

Assumptions can be made that it will be undergraduate students who may have higher levels of concerns on entry across three support areas — finance, study, and personal and mental health ‑than postgraduate taught. When the top ten concerns are explored by level of study, there are many similarities in terms of concern (see Table 4). The top three concerns are the same and cover the key areas of concern. Finance is major concern as this enables accessibility to study. However, what is notable is how much higher the levels of concern are amongst postgraduate taught respondents compared to undergraduates. 

When these findings are compared to the Postgraduate Experience Project (2013–16) which contained very similar options, the top ten are concerns are not dissimilar but levels are much lower (see Table 5). It is important to note that UK respondents in this study, which would have made up a large sample of all respondents, would have mostly graduated under the undergraduate £3,000.00 a year fee regime. In 2016, only one year would have graduated under the £9,000.00 a year one so Student Loan debt levels would not be so high as they are now.

With the digital age upon us and especially post Covid19, assumptions are made that students in schools, colleges and universities have become digitally experienced ​‘learners’. However, we know from the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report: Building a world-class curriculum for all led by Professor Becky Francis, that there is a lack of consistency of digital skills being taught in school and college. The findings in the PAQ has also found that traditional materials rather than digital are what are primarily used thus highlight the importance of Bridging the gap between secondary, further and higher education. Although students live and socialise digitally, does this transfer to their preference about learning material across all levels of higher education study? When this is examined by level of study, a clear pattern emerges (see Figure 1). For both undergraduate and postgraduate taught, hard copy material and handwritten notes are the preference. For Postgraduate taught, downloadable materials are much higher than for undergraduates. This correlates with how they previously accessed information. Universities are under pressure to be sustainable, but this shows why it is so important to understand the learning resource needs that enable students to learn, absorb and succeed. 

At university, feedback methods have widened in recent years and the key methods are highlighted in Figure 2. The main student preference is face to face individually. As Professors Holley, Garnham and Beckingham argue in their blog Stop inducting students into a system that doesn’t fit them ​“the most striking message from the PAQ is not a demand for innovation, flexibility, or cutting-edge digital tools. It is far simpler: students are used to and want human teaching, human feedback, and human connection”. These findings that students particularly value in-person connection is reinforced in the HEPI and Technology One’s report What Matters Most? 20 years of the student experience.

We know from numerous reports including the  UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Research on the measurement of loneliness  and Cognitive testing of loneliness by the Office for National Statistics that loneliness is prevalent in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) research showed that 33% of Britons aged 16 to 29 reported feeling lonely ​“often, always or some of the time”.

But what is the pattern though that we are seeing amongst new undergraduate and postgraduate taught entrants starting university? 

When examined by domicile status, and level of study, Non-UK UG and PGT reported higher levels of ​‘some of the time’ and ​‘Often’ across the four questions compared to UK UG and PGTs (see Table 6). All cited Lacked companionship the highest.

Female ​‘Often’ responses was higher across both levels of study than Males but postgraduate taught levels for both Female and Males were lower than for undergraduates. 

We know that student attendance in recent years, especially since the pandemic, has worsened both in school, college and higher education. This in turn can impact on Equality of access and outcomes in higher education in England. The PAQ asked respondents about their prior study levels of attendance. As Figure 3 highlights, UK undergraduate and postgraduate taught 100% levels reported were lower than for Non-UK. The majority of respondents cited attendance of between 80–99%.

The top three reasons cited for attendance below 100% for undergraduates were: I experienced a lot of illness (60%) followed by Istruggled with my mental health and wellbeing (32%) then I had long commute and relied on public transport  (20%). For postgraduate taught they were: Istruggled with my mental health and wellbeing (20%) being cited first, followed by I experienced unforeseen issues (16%) then I experienced a lot of illness (13%) and I thought I could do well without attending (13%). 

One challenge that we know is currently impacting on students in study at university is the increasing need to undertake paid work as highlighted in the recent Unite Students Applicant Index report. This was not cited by postgraduates in the PAQ as impacting on attendance. 

Declaration of disabilities amongst undergraduate and postgraduate taught applicants and students have increased in recent years as UCAS and the Higher Education Statistics Agency HE student enrolments by HE provider and disability marker  data highlights. As expected, the PAQ found that UK domiciled students across both levels of study were notably more likely to declare a disability than Non-UK domiciled. Interestingly, at the institution leading the PAQ project, it found that new students were more willing to declare a disability via the PAQ than formally via the application process and on enrolment. 

The PAQ has provided a wealth of data that UKCGE will continue doing a deep dive into which will inform upcoming blogs and workshops. This data starts the conversation on how we can better support postgraduate taught students to thrive and succeed in, through and out of their postgraduate study journey in the UK.