Postgraduates

The data

This data represents all postgraduates who graduated between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2020.

Where does the data come from?

The guidelines for carrying out this survey come from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Under the new survey the level of data for PhD graduates has increased. The data below is for postgraduates who completed their course between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2020.

What can I find in this section?

In this section you can view the overall postgraduate destinations statistics below or you can look at individual destinations data by Imperial department by using the 'By department' tab below. You can also browse through case studies of previous Imperial students and their career paths to date.

Text only tables

View text-only tables of the overall destinations data in the graphs below.

If you have any enquiries about destinations of Imperial students, please email us.

Graduate outcomes tabs

Overall destinations

Graph 1: Overall destinations of postgraduate taught (Master's) students from the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2018-20

PG Taught students overall destinations 2018-20

The bar chart above shows the results of the postgraduate collection of the Graduate Outcomes Survey for 2020, in comparison with the 2019 and 2018 results.

In 2020, 0.45% were caring for someone (unpaid); 1.2% were developing a creative, artistic or professional portfolio; 1.15% were doing something else; 19.15% were engaged in a course of study, training or research; 68.45% were in paid work for an employer; 0.05% were retired, 2.55% were running their own business; 1.45% were self-employed/freelancing; 0.65% were taking time out to travel (this does not include short-term holidays); 4.05% were unemployed and looking for work and 0.85% were in voluntary/unpaid work for an employer.

Graph 2: Overall destinations of postgraduate research (PhD) students from the Graduate Outcomes Survey

PG Research students overall destinations 2018-20

The bar chart above  shows the results of the postgraduate collection of the Graduate Outcomes Survey for 2020,  in comparison with 2018 and 2019 results.

In 2020, 1.3% were caring for someone (unpaid); 0.9% were developing a creative, artistic or professional portfolio; 0.9% were doing something else; 3.1% were engaged in a course of study, training or research; 85% were in paid work for an employer; 2.85% were running their own business; 2% were self-employed/freelancing; 0.2% were taking time out to travel (this does not include short-term holidays); 3.75% were unemployed and looking for work.

Industry Sectors

Graph 2a: Comparison of industry sector entered for postgraduates of taught (Master's) courses

PG Taught sectors 2018-20

The bar chart above shows the industry sectors entered by postgraduate taught (Master's) students  surveyed in the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020, in comparison with 2018 and 2019 results.

Graph 2b: Comparison of industry sector entered for postgraduates of research (PhD) courses

PG Research sectors 2018-20

The bar chart above shows the industry sectors entered by postgraduate research (PhD) students surveyed in the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020, in comparison with 2018 and 2019 results.

Master's by department (2018-20)

Please note that students in the below departments were surveyed and responded in sufficient quantity to present here. Missing departments are due to a low repsonse rate.

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

BIOENGINEERING

  • Bioengineering ‌- text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

BUSINESS SCHOOL

  • Business School - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

  • Chemical Engineering - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

CHEMISTRY

  • Chemistry - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

CIVIL ENGINEERING

  • Civil Engineering - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

CLINICAL SCIENCE

  • Clinical Science - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

COMPUTING

  • Computing - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

EARTH SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

  • ‌Environmental Policy  ‌- text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

LANGUAGES, CULTURE AND COMMS

LIFE SCIENCES

  • Life Sciences - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

MATERIALS

  • Materials - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

MATHEMATICS

  • Mathematics - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MEDICINE

  • Medicine ‌- text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

NATIONAL HEART AND LUNG INSTITUTE (NHLI)

PHYSICS

  • Physics - text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

PUBLIC HEALTH

  • Public Health  ‌- text-only tables for Master's employment/further study destinations [pdf]

SURGERY AND CANCER

  • Surgery and Cancer  ‌- text-only tables for Master's  employment/further study destinations [pdf]

PhDs by department (2018-20)

Please note that students in the below departments were surveyed and responded in sufficient quantity to present here. Missing departments are due to a low repsonse rate.

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

BIOENGINEERING

  • Bioengineering - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

BUSINESS SCHOOL

  • Business School - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

CHEMISTRY

  • Chemistry - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

CIVIL ENGINEERING

  • Civil Engineering - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

CLINICAL SCIENCES

  • Clinical Sciences - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

COMPUTING

  • Computing - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

DYSON DESIGN ENGINEERING

EARTH SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

LIFE SCIENCES

  • Life Sciences - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

MATERIALS

  • Materials - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

MATHEMATICS

  • Mathematics - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MEDICINE

  • Medicine ‌- text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

NATIONAL HEART AND LUNG INSTITUTE (NHLI)

PHYSICS

  • Physics - text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

PUBLIC HEALTH

  • Public Health ‌- text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]

SURGERY AND CANCER

  •  ‌- text-only tables for PhD employment/further study destinations [pdf]