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Proportion of privately educated graduates taking postgrads increasing

Published: Thursday, 04 March 2010   Category: Postgraduate Study

Recent university leavers looking for postgraduate study options may be interested to hear that the proportion of privately educated students who progress through their first degree to a postgraduate course is growing in comparison to those from state schools.

Research from the London School of Economics used data from hundreds of thousands of students with the most striking finding being the small but growing gap between postgraduate participation of otherwise similar private and state school students.

In 2002 it was noted that students from independent schools were no more likely to carry on postgraduate education than those from state schools once grades and subjects were accounted, the Times Higher Education reports.

But in 2008 private school students were two per cent more likely to be on a postgraduate course six months after graduating than their state school counterparts.

Within the report the authors wrote: "This report provides further evidence for the importance of improving enrolment on to degree courses of those students from non-privileged backgrounds in the first place."

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