Postgraduate tables: how to read them

The Guardian's online university tables attract around 17m hits a year from around the world, and among those prospective students must, we suspect, be many who are looking to study at postgraduate level. Our new tables are for them.

Postgraduate study covers a range of very different courses and we have felt it most useful to limit our tables to master's degrees, including MBAs and qualifications such as the postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE).

Doctoral research degrees (PhDs) are very different. For anyone interested, the key criterion will be the department's research rating. Tables based on the latest research assessment exercise (RAE 2008) are on our website.

The tables are compiled in association with EducationGuardian.co.uk by Campus Pi, an applied research department at Brunel University, which also compiles our university guide.

Readers can compare universities against the following criteria and rank them if they wish.

Number of postgraduate students

Full-time and part-time study are often very different, and the balance of provision can vary widely between departments with similar overall numbers.

Percentage of postgraduate students from outside the UK

Depending on the subject, this may indicate the international standing of a university. Overseas students may be reassured by the presence of fellow visitors to the UK, but they may also want to able to learn with Brits.

Expenditure per student

We do not publish the actual figures. This score is marked out of 10 in bands to allow for comparisons. Spending on medical students is always going to be higher than on historians, for instance. Spending per student is based on combined figures for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, including central academic services. It does not include the costs of academic staff, as these are already counted in the staff/student ratio. The amount of money is divided by the number of students given as full-time equivalents, so numbers of part-time students are converted to full-time equivalents.

Staff/student ratio

This is based on combined figures for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in each subject.

Completion rates

For full-time postgraduate students and part-time postgraduate students.

Tuition fees

For UK/European Union students and overseas students. These figures are compiled by Mike Reddin, who publishes an annual survey (www.public goods.co.uk). However, fee data is not provided at subject level, so the figures are general guidelines only.

With regard to data provided by Hesa, please note that Hesa does not accept responsibility for any conclusions derived from the data by third parties.

15/07/2009