What do Masters graduates do? 2006

• Overall
• Subjects studied
• First destinations
• Types of work
• Further information
• Masters degrees in depth - by subject group

Overall

In 2004, 40,175 masters degrees were awarded to UK-domiciled graduates by UK universities. Of them, 69.1%, or 27,775, gave information to the survey.

Slightly more people chose to study Masters degrees full-time, 21,740, or 54.1%, opting for this mode of study.

20,610 women and 19,565 men took Masters degrees, with women making up 51.3% of the graduating population.

Subjects studied

5,355 graduates reached Masters level in business studies in 2004, giving it 13.3% of the population and helping it to maintain the position of most popular subject. 2,585 computer science Masters were awarded, or 6.4% of the total, and 5.9% were achieved in subjects allied to medicine - equating to 2,350 Masters graduates.

A more complete breakdown of the subjects studied is shown below.

Table One: Most popular subjects of UK-domiciled masters graduates from 2004

First destinations

69.1% of masters graduates were in work in the UK 6 months after graduating. Another 9.2% of masters graduates were combining work and study - meaning just under four in five masters graduates - 78.3% - from 2004 were working at the start of 2005. (See Figure One).

Of the remainder, 7.7% of masters graduates had gone on to study further in the UK, and 2.9% had gone overseas to start their careers in work or study. 3.8% were unavailable for work or study - mainly travelling - and 4.8% were unemployed - a jump from the 2004 figure of 3.7%.

Figure One: Survey responses of UK-domiciled masters degree graduates from 2004

Types of work

Of the graduates from 2004 who replied to the survey, 21,680 entered work in the UK.

Just under a quarter of masters graduates, 23.7%, were working in management positions six months after completing their course - this clearly reflects the importance of MBAs, and equates to 5135 masters graduates entering management. 11.3%, or one in nine, were working in education, largely as lecturers in further or higher educations, and as teachers in secondary schools. A significant number, 11.2%, were working in general professional occupations, mostly concentrated in general research roles.

Table Two below shows the types of work that the whole masters group went into. It is significant to note that relatively few masters graduates went into work that would be considered 'non-graduate'.

Table Two: Types of work undertaken by UK-domiciled masters degree students graduating in 2004 and working in the UK

In terms of employment sectors, 9.6%, or 2,160, of employed masters graduates from 2004, went to work in central, regional or local government, 7.4%, or 1,670, into higher education and another 7.4%, or 1,665, went to work in hospitals.

Another very significant sector for masters graduates from 2004 was social work and welfare, which attracted 1,145 employees - or 5.1% of the total number of UK-domiciled masters graduates who were working in the UK.

Further information

• What did masters graduates do? - first destinations of masters graduates from 2003
• What do doctoral graduates do? - analysis of the first destinations of PhD graduates from 2004

Masters degree study in depth - by subject group

• Arts and humanities
• Biological sciences
• Biomedical sciences
• Business and management
• Physical sciences, engineering and IT
• Social sciences

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