Postgraduate data
This page provides data for MPhil, PhD and other postgraduate courses*, including:
- MPhil applications, offers and admissions
- PhD applications, offers and admissions
- other postgraduate course applications, offers and admissions
- destinations of MPhil students
- destinations of PhD students
- destinations of other postgraduate students
*Please see the explanatory notes under admissions and destination information for details of what is included in the 'other postgraduate courses' categories.
For details of a particular Master of Philosophy (MPhil) programme please choose from the list below.
Information is provided about the types of postgraduate degrees that are offered at the University.
You may also like to visit the Graduate Admissions website.
Admissions information
MPhil applications, offers and admissions
Data is shown for the academic year of course entry (i.e. 2009-10 relates to all those applying to start in Michaelmas 2010, Lent 2011 or Easter 2011). Home, EU and overseas data is shown as percentages of the counts of each category.
| Applications | Offers | Admissions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % |
| 2009-10 | 6,870 | 16.6 % | 16.2 % | 67.2 % | 2,510 | 25.9 % | 17.3 % | 56.7 % | 1,446 | 31.7 % | 20.0 % | 48.3 % |
| 2008-9 | 5,575 | 18.0 % | 15.4 % | 66.6 % | 2,281 | 26.9 % | 15.9 % | 57.2 % | 1,282 | 34.1 % | 18.4 % | 47.5 % |
| 2007-8 | 5,513 | 16.5 % | 14.6 % | 68.9 % | 2,133 | 26.2 % | 16.2 % | 57.6 % | 1,261 | 31.8 % | 18.2 % | 50.0 % |
PhD applications, offers and admissions
Data is shown for the academic year of course entry (i.e. 2009-10 relates to all those applying to start in Michaelmas 2010, Lent 2011 or Easter 2011). Home, EU and overseas data is shown as percentages of the counts of each category.
| Applications | Offers | Admissions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % |
| 2009-10 | 3,615 | 21.8 % | 17.8 % | 60.4 % | 1,391 | 31.7 % | 20.6 % | 47.7 % | 889 | 41.4 % | 23.4 % | 35.2 % |
| 2008-9 | 3,209 | 21.1 % | 17.8 % | 61.1 % | 1,407 | 31.0 % | 20.0 % | 49.0 % | 918 | 41.0 % | 21.8 % | 37.3 % |
| 2007-8 | 3,248 | 19.2 % | 17.2 % | 63.5 % | 1,321 | 28.2 % | 20.1 % | 51.8 % | 871 | 37.0 % | 21.2 % | 41.8 % |
Other postgraduate course applications, offers and admissions
The 'other postgraduate' admissions category includes visiting students and the MMath (formerly known as CASM) and LLM plus graduate diplomas, some postgraduate diplomas and the MSc, MLitt and MRes degrees.
Data is shown for the academic year of course entry (i.e. 2009-10 relates to all those applying to start in Michaelmas 2010, Lent 2011 or Easter 2011). Home, EU and overseas data is shown as percentages of the counts of each category.
| Applications | Offers | Admissions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % | Count | UK % | EU % | Overseas % |
| 2009-10 | 1,486 | 14.1 % | 27.0 % | 59.0 % | 651 | 19.8 % | 32.0 % | 48.2 % | 340 | 17.6 % | 38.5 % | 43.8 % |
| 2008-9 | 1,306 | 13.1 % | 24.0 % | 62.9 % | 578 | 17.1 % | 29.9 % | 52.9 % | 316 | 14.6 % | 34.8 % | 50.6 % |
| 2007-8 | 1,391 | 11.1 % | 23.6 % | 65.3 % | 569 | 17.8 % | 31.6 % | 50.6 % | 283 | 15.2 % | 39.9 % | 44.9 % |
Destinations information
Destinations of MPhil students
Destination data is derived from the national "Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Longitudinal Survey" undertaken by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
More information about student destinations after graduation is available on the Careers Service website.
MPhil students: known destinations
Percentage of graduating MPhil students who responded to the survey.
| Year | Graduating students | Respondents | Respondents % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 1,011 | 730 | 72.2 % |
| 2009-10 | 1,073 | 721 | 67.2 % |
| 2008-9 | 1,181 | 788 | 66.7 % |
MPhil students: destinations summarised by year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduating MPhil students that responded.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Employment | 383 | 48.6 % | 368 | 51.0 % | 403 | 55.2 % |
| Further study | 360 | 45.7 % | 284 | 39.4 % | 267 | 36.6 % |
| Still seeking employment or work | 27 | 3.4 % | 36 | 5.0 % | 34 | 4.7 % |
| Travelling or unavailable for work | 18 | 2.3 % | 33 | 4.6 % | 26 | 3.6 % |
MPhil students: further study destinations summarised by type of study and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduating MPhil students who responded to say that they were undertaking further study.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Further study - degree by research | 278 | 77.2 % | 234 | 82.4 % | 203 | 76.0 % |
| Further study - degree by taught course | 63 | 17.5 % | 33 | 11.6 % | 43 | 16.1 % |
| Further study - legal training | 13 | 3.6 % | 16 | 5.6 % | 21 | 7.9 % |
| Further study - teacher training | 6 | 1.7 % | 1 | 0.4 % | None | None |
MPhil students: employment destinations summarised by employment sector and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduating MPhil students who responded to say that they had entered employment.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment sector | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Accountancy and tax | 10 | 2.6 % | 5 | 1.4 % | 8 | 2.0 % |
| Actuarial and insurance | 3 | 0.8 % | 3 | 0.8 % | 5 | 1.2 % |
| Arts and recreation | 9 | 2.3 % | 3 | 0.8 % | 5 | 1.2 % |
| Banking and investment | 32 | 8.4 % | 52 | 14.1 % | 45 | 11.2 % |
| Communications business | 12 | 3.1 % | 7 | 1.9 % | 8 | 2.0 % |
| Health | 16 | 4.2 % | 9 | 2.4 % | 10 | 2.5 % |
| IT sector | 10 | 2.6 % | 10 | 2.7 % | 12 | 3.0 % |
| Legal | 2 | 0.5 % | 2 | 0.5 % | 10 | 2.5 % |
| Management consulting | 23 | 6.0 % | 19 | 5.2 % | 51 | 12.7 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: business | 14 | 3.7 % | 23 | 6.3 % | 14 | 3.5 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: technical | 9 | 2.3 % | 5 | 1.4 % | 9 | 2.2 % |
| Other service industries | 34 | 8.9 % | 38 | 10.3 % | 27 | 6.7 % |
| Other/insufficient data | 64 | 16.7 % | 50 | 13.6 % | 56 | 13.9 % |
| Public service | 43 | 11.2 % | 29 | 7.9 % | 29 | 7.2 % |
| Publishing and media | 16 | 4.2 % | 9 | 2.4 % | 21 | 5.2 % |
| Research - science | 10 | 2.6 % | 9 | 2.4 % | 19 | 4.7 % |
| Research - social science/humanities | 15 | 3.9 % | 21 | 5.7 % | 22 | 5.5 % |
| Social, community and charity | 17 | 4.4 % | 20 | 5.4 % | 12 | 3.0 % |
| Teaching/lecturing | 44 | 11.5 % | 54 | 14.7 % | 40 | 9.9 % |
Destinations of PhD students
Destination data is derived from the national "Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Longitudinal Survey" undertaken by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
More information about student destinations after graduation is available on the Careers Service website.
PhD students: known destinations
Percentage of graduating students who responded to the survey.
| Year | Graduating students | Known destinations | Known destination % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 934 | 648 | 69.4 % |
| 2009-10 | 971 | 679 | 69.9 % |
| 2008-9 | 875 | 569 | 65.0 % |
PhD students: destinations summarised by destination and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduating students that responded.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Employment | 517 | 90.9 % | 602 | 88.7 % | 581 | 89.7 % |
| Further study | 17 | 3.0 % | 30 | 4.4 % | 17 | 2.6 % |
| Still seeking employment or work | 17 | 3.0 % | 25 | 3.7 % | 27 | 4.2 % |
| Travelling or unavailable for work | 18 | 3.2 % | 22 | 3.2 % | 23 | 3.5 % |
PhD students: further study destinations summarised by type of study and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduate students who responded to say that they were undertaking further study.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Further study - degree by research | 278 | 77.2 % | 234 | 82.4 % | 203 | 76.0 % |
| Further study - degree by taught course | 63 | 17.5 % | 33 | 11.6 % | 43 | 16.1 % |
| Further study - legal training | 13 | 3.6 % | 16 | 5.6 % | 21 | 7.9 % |
| Further study - teacher training | 6 | 1.7 % | 1 | 0.4 % | None | None |
PhD students: employment destinations summarised by employment sector and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduate students who responded to say that they had entered employment.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment sector | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Accountancy and tax | 2 | 0.4 % | 2 | 0.3 % | 2 | 0.3 % |
| Actuarial and insurance | 2 | 0.4 % | 2 | 0.3 % | 2 | 0.3 % |
| Arts and recreation | 4 | 0.8 % | 4 | 0.7 % | 6 | 1.0 % |
| Banking and investment | 14 | 2.7 % | 13 | 2.2 % | 11 | 1.9 % |
| Communications business | 3 | 0.6 % | 1 | 0.2 % | 3 | 0.5 % |
| Health | 22 | 4.3 % | 16 | 2.7 % | 21 | 3.6 % |
| IT sector | 20 | 3.9 % | 17 | 2.8 % | 24 | 4.1 % |
| Legal | 5 | 1.0 % | 8 | 1.3 % | 2 | 0.3 % |
| Management consulting | 9 | 1.7 % | 21 | 3.5 % | 21 | 3.6 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: business | 12 | 2.3 % | 12 | 2.0 % | 10 | 1.7 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: technical | 22 | 4.3 % | 29 | 4.8 % | 25 | 4.3 % |
| Other service industries | 14 | 2.7 % | 23 | 3.8 % | 15 | 2.6 % |
| Other/insufficient data | 38 | 7.4 % | 43 | 7.1 % | 50 | 8.6 % |
| Public service | 14 | 2.7 % | 18 | 3.0 % | 11 | 1.9 % |
| Publishing and media | 2 | 0.4 % | 3 | 0.5 % | 9 | 1.5 % |
| Research - science | 183 | 35.4 % | 234 | 38.9 % | 191 | 32.9 % |
| Research - social science/humanities | 68 | 13.2 % | 72 | 12.0 % | 60 | 10.3 % |
| Social, community and charity | 2 | 0.4 % | 7 | 1.2 % | 7 | 1.2 % |
| Teaching/lecturing | 81 | 15.7 % | 77 | 12.8 % | 111 | 19.1 % |
Destinations of other postgraduate students
The 'other postgraduate' destinations category includes the Cambridge Graduate Course in Medicine, postgraduate certificates and diplomas and the MBA, MEd, LLM, MMath and MSt degrees.
Destination data is derived from the national "Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Longitudinal Survey" undertaken by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
More information about student destinations after graduation is available on the Careers Service website.
Other postgraduate courses: known destinations
Percentage of graduating students who responded to the survey.
| Year | Graduating students | Respondents | Respondents % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 846 | 713 | 84.3 % |
| 2009-10 | 866 | 679 | 78.4 % |
| 2008-9 | 1,028 | 787 | 76.6 % |
Other postgraduate courses: destinations summarised by year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduating students that responded.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Employment | 640 | 81.3 % | 597 | 87.9 % | 632 | 88.6 % |
| Further study | 122 | 15.5 % | 58 | 8.5 % | 55 | 7.7 % |
| Still seeking employment or work | 11 | 1.4 % | 12 | 1.8 % | 16 | 2.2 % |
| Travelling or unavailable for work | 14 | 1.8 % | 12 | 1.8 % | 10 | 1.4 % |
Other postgraduate courses: further study destinations summarised by type of study and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduate students who responded to say that they were undertaking further study.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Further study - degree by research | 66 | 54.1 % | 25 | 43.1 % | 21 | 38.2 % |
| Further study - degree by taught course | 47 | 38.5 % | 14 | 24.1 % | 24 | 43.6 % |
| Further study - legal training | 9 | 7.4 % | 18 | 31.0 % | 9 | 16.4 % |
| Further study - teacher training | None | None | 1 | 1.7 % | 1 | 1.8 % |
Other postgraduate courses: employment destinations summarised by employment sector and year
Destinations are expressed as a percentage of the number of graduate students who responded to say that they had entered employment.
| 2008-9 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment sector | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % | Destination count | Destination % |
| Accountancy and tax | 3 | 0.5 % | 2 | 0.3 % | 1 | 0.2 % |
| Actuarial and insurance | 5 | 0.8 % | 4 | 0.7 % | 5 | 0.8 % |
| Arts and recreation | 4 | 0.6 % | 2 | 0.3 % | 3 | 0.5 % |
| Banking and investment | 29 | 4.5 % | 31 | 5.2 % | 28 | 4.4 % |
| Health | 16 | 2.5 % | 4 | 0.7 % | 4 | 0.6 % |
| IT sector | 9 | 1.4 % | 8 | 1.3 % | 13 | 2.1 % |
| Legal | 36 | 5.6 % | 29 | 4.9 % | 65 | 10.3 % |
| Management consulting | 17 | 2.7 % | 21 | 3.5 % | 43 | 6.8 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: business | 21 | 3.3 % | 15 | 2.5 % | 15 | 2.4 % |
| Manufacturing, utilities, power: technical | 1 | 0.2 % | 1 | 0.2 % | 2 | 0.3 % |
| Other service industries | 13 | 2.0 % | 16 | 2.7 % | 23 | 3.6 % |
| Other/insufficient data | 28 | 4.4 % | 39 | 6.5 % | 29 | 4.6 % |
| Public service | 25 | 3.9 % | 36 | 6.0 % | 40 | 6.3 % |
| Publishing and media | 3 | 0.5 % | 6 | 1.0 % | 4 | 0.6 % |
| Research - science | 11 | 1.7 % | 2 | 0.3 % | 2 | 0.3 % |
| Research - social science/humanities | 5 | 0.8 % | None | None | 5 | 0.8 % |
| Social, community and charity | 4 | 0.6 % | 4 | 0.7 % | 2 | 0.3 % |
| Teaching/lecturing | 410 | 64.1 % | 375 | 62.8 % | 348 | 55.1 % |
| Communications business | None | None | 2 | 0.3 % | None | None |