Building on Success: Faculty scores strongly in postgraduate research experience survey
National Postgraduate Research Experience Survey reveals strong Faculty results in Supervision and Research Skills Development categories.
The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) is a national survey, run every two years, coordinated by AdvanceHE. It provides postgraduate researchers with an opportunity to share feedback on their experience – highlighting what works well and suggesting areas for improvement.
The Faculty of Social Sciences is pleased to celebrate some extremely strong results from the survey, particularly in the ‘Supervision’ category. As a Faculty, we achieved a 96% positive response in this category, with all four schools scoring above 95%. Since the previous PRES, all four schools have made significant gains in this category.
The Faculty has also performed well in the 'Research Skills Development' category, with a score of 92% positive and large increases for three out of four Schools since the last PRES.
Head of Graduate School and Deputy Pro Dean for Research and Innovation, Professor Derek Edyvane said of the results:
I am thrilled with these strong category results, which demonstrate the delivery of high-quality doctoral-level training that supports skills development and underpins the career aspirations of our PGRs.
“It is vital that our Faculty builds on this success and continues to take action to further enhance the experience for our postgraduate researchers.”
“The findings of the PRES also identify areas for development that need to be addressed and we will continue to respond with action to ensure we create an environment where our postgraduate researchers can thrive.”
Next steps
In response to these results, the senior leadership team is working on an action plan of further changes, which will be presented in March 2026 to the Programmes and Quality Group of Graduate Board.
We extend our sincere thanks to all postgraduate researchers who contributed their experiences to the survey.
