Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2011 - Higher ...

PRES 2011 Results – September 2011
Foreword
The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), along with the Postgraduate Taught Experience
Survey (PTES), are part of the Higher Education Academy’s distinctive services allowing higher education
institutions (HEIs) to collect feedback from their postgraduate students in a comprehensive and userfriendly
manner. The surveys have become an increasingly valued tool across the UK higher education
sector and are unique data sources on the postgraduate experience, with the (2010) Smith report for the
Department of Business, Innovation and Skills noting that they are “the main source of information about
students’ motivations” 1 .
This report on the 2011 survey, marks the fourth year that PRES has run, meaning that we now have
valuable trend data to provide insights into the nature of the postgraduate experience over time as well
as to situate individual years’ results within a wider, more robust context. There has been a rise in
participation over the four years both in the number of HEIs running the survey and the number of
students responding, with PRES 2011 seeing a 20% increase in the number of HEIs and nearly 13,000
more respondents since 2009. Not only does this mean that the 2011 survey is built on a more
comprehensive dataset than previous years, but also that more postgraduate research students than ever
before have had the opportunity to give feedback on their experiences. This year PRES and PTES between
them have collected the views of almost 70,000 students, meaning that the surveys are unparalleled
within Europe in their scope and breadth.
PRES is now entering year two of its alternate-yearly cycle, meaning that, rather than the survey running
again next Spring, 2011-12 will be an enhancement year allowing HEIs the space to analyse, interpret and
act upon their results. The Higher Education Academy will continue to provide support to the sector in the
form of events and resources, and will work with individual institutions to help them to use PRES for
enhancement. The HEA remains committed to this important area and looks forward to continuing to
work with HEIs to improve the postgraduate experience.
Thanks are due to all the HEA colleagues who have contributed to this report: in particular, to Gosia
Turner for undertaking the analysis, and to Professor Chris Park and Dr Pam Wells for their input into and
comments on earlier drafts. In addition, we are grateful to Dr Rachel Segal for her input on PRES, and the
HEA’s work on student surveys more generally.
Any colleagues wishing to know more about PRES can contact the team at surveys@heacademy.ac.uk or
keep up to date via the HEA’s website at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/pres.
Craig Mahoney
Chief Executive
Higher Education Academy
1 Smith et al. (2010), p.37.
2