Understanding postgraduate progression: why data matters more than ever
With domestic enrolments falling and competition rising, data-driven insight is key to postgraduate recruitment.
When it comes to postgraduate recruitment, the landscape is shifting fast. As someone who works closely with universities across the UK, I’ve seen how the pressures on both students and institutions are changing the way we think about progression.
At Jisc, we’ve been working with strategic planners and recruitment professionals to understand these changes and respond with the right tools. That’s why we developed Discover progression: undergraduate to postgraduate. It’s a dashboard suite designed to help you see where your postgraduate students are coming from - and where they’re going.
Tracking progression: the real differentiator
One of the biggest challenges in postgraduate recruitment is visibility. Institutions often struggle to track where their undergraduate students go next, or where their postgraduate entrants originally studied. Discover progression solves this by doing something no institution can do alone: linking undergraduate and postgraduate records across the entire HESA dataset.
Using a sophisticated matching system, refined over several years, we can connect individual domestic and international student journeys with a high degree of accuracy. This allows you to see where students move to for postgraduate study, where they came from if they joined your institution, and what subjects they’re switching between. It also provides rich demographic insights, helping you identify where to focus campaigns and tailor support services to better reach and engage your target student groups. It’s a unique capability that unlocks insights you simply couldn’t access otherwise.
Domestic and international challenges in postgraduate recruitment
The UK postgraduate market is undergoing significant change. Increasingly, graduates are opting to enter the workforce directly after completing their undergraduate degrees, a trend driven by the rising cost of living and growing concerns around student debt. Universities are also investing more in employability initiatives, which makes the decision to delay further study even more appealing.
HESA data shows that UK-domiciled enrolments in taught postgraduate courses fell by around 9% between the 2021/22 and 2023/24 academic years. This marks a clear and sustained decline following the pandemic-era surge, when many students turned to further study amid economic uncertainty. The drop reflects the shift in graduate priorities, intensifying financial pressures, and a more competitive landscape for postgraduate recruitment.
But for many students, postgraduate study is still a strategic move. Whether it’s about career progression, professional accreditation or research ambitions, the motivations are there. The challenge for recruitment teams is to understand who those students are and how to reach them.
International students already studying in the UK are a key part of that picture. With fewer barriers around visas and language, they’re well placed to continue their academic journey here. Many use postgraduate study as a route to the Graduate Route visa, although the recent decision to reduce its length to 18 months from January 2027 may change the equation.
We’re also seeing the impact of policy changes on international recruitment. The removal of the dependant visa for taught postgraduate students has already had a dramatic effect. Meanwhile, domestic enrolments are also under pressure.
A more competitive postgraduate market
At the same time, the market is becoming more competitive. With undergraduate fees frozen for years, many institutions have expanded their postgraduate portfolios to generate income. Around half now offer a January intake, and some have added a spring start too. That means more choice for students and more pressure on recruitment teams to stand out.
How discover progression supports smarter recruitment
This is where discover progression comes in. It’s more than a dashboard. It’s a strategic lens that helps you understand where your next cohort is likely to come from. By analysing undergraduate-to-postgraduate pathways, you can identify high-conversion feeder courses and focus your campaigns where they’ll have the greatest impact.
It also helps you segment your audience based on real behaviour, not assumptions. That means more tailored messaging, better engagement and a clearer return on investment. Whether you’re targeting internal students or external prospects, you’ll be able to build campaigns that reflect how students move through the system.
What the discover progression dashboard offers
Discover progression is built on multiple years of linked HESA student data. Thanks to our advanced matching system, it lets you:
- Track undergraduate qualifiers who move into postgraduate study
- Identify where students progress to within or beyond your institution
- Benchmark gain or loss of postgraduate entrants across the sector
- Analyse key characteristics of those who do or don’t progress
- Explore complementary subjects aligned with postgraduate pathways
Getting started is easy. If you have a Heidi Plus account, simply subscribe to discover progression and begin exploring the dashboards right away.
Co-designed with sector experts
What makes this tool unique is how it was developed. We co-designed it with professionals from the University of Sheffield, City University, Middlesex University, Bangor University, Falmouth University and Queen Mary University of London. Their insight helped us shape something that’s intuitive, insightful and genuinely useful for real-world planning.
Join our showcase and see it in action
In a market this complex, data-driven insight isn’t a luxury - it’s essential. Discover progression gives you the clarity you need to make smarter decisions, build stronger campaigns and support students on their next step.
If you’re ready to see discover progression in action, join our online showcase on 19 November 2025, 12:00–13:00.
This free session will be delivered by our data analytics product team, and feature guest speaker Nick Hamilton-Brain, marketing account manager, University of Northampton.
They’ll share how their institutions use discover progression to optimise marketing and recruitment budgets and boost postgraduate enrolment. The session includes a Q&A, so bring your questions.
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