Course satisfaction among postgraduate taught students has reached its highest level since records began, despite a year of disruption across the UK sector.

A total of 86 per cent of respondents to (PTES) 2025 said they were satisfied with their course, with improvements seen across most disciplines, student groups and modes of study.

This marked a fourth successive year of improvement and a rise of two percentage points on last year. Satisfaction levels have now climbed eight percentage points since 2021’s historic low of 78 per cent, a year heavily affected by the pandemic.

The increase is partly attributed to rising satisfaction levels among distance learning students, who have traditionally reported lower perceptions of course quality than their on-campus peers. An increase in satisfaction greater than the sector average for distance learners has put them on a par with other groups this year, although authors cautioned that this could partly be down to methodology changes. 

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Shona Quin, Advance HE’s research executive and author of the report, said the rise was “particularly encouraging given the challenges the sector continues to navigate”. 

“One in 10 institutions achieved overall satisfaction of 90 per cent or more, demonstrating what can be achieved,” she added.

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However, “gaps in satisfaction between student groups persist and, in many cases, little or no progress has been made in closing these gaps”, the report says.

Although satisfaction levels for students with declared disabilities rose 2 percentage points year-on-year to 79 per cent, this was still below the levels reported by students without a declared disability, of 88 per cent.

“While increased satisfaction for students with a disability, for example, is extremely important, the fact that it remains nine percentage points lower than satisfaction for students without a disability should remain a cause for concern in the sector,” the report says.

The cost-of-living crisis remains a “significant concern” for many postgraduate students but “there are signs that the impact may be easing slightly”, the report adds. When asked to what extent cost-of-living concerns have negatively impacted their studies, 17 per cent responded not at all – up from 15 per cent last year – and the number who say it is impacting them “a lot” fell from 27 to 23 per cent.

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The number of students considering leaving their courses remained consistent, at 16 per cent. The most common reason given for considering leaving was difficulty balancing study with other commitments, reported by one in five respondents. The second most commonly selected reason was financial concerns (13 per cent), followed by mental health or emotional problems (12 per cent).

“Despite record levels of overall satisfaction in 2025, this is not a panacea,” Quin told 51�Թ�. “The proportion of students who have considered leaving remains unchanged from 2024 after several years of improvement. While this is still the lowest level recorded in PTES, it does highlight that challenges such as students’ difficulties balancing study with other commitments can be hard to resolve.”

Some 28 per cent of students most affected by cost-of-living concerns say they have considered leaving their course, and only 67 per cent find their workload manageable, compared with 12 per cent and 80 per cent respectively among their less affected peers.

“While there is no easy answer for supporting students under financial pressure, it is vital that institutions are mindful of the pressure that many students are under, and the implications this may have for their engagement with their courses,” the report says.

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com