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 2023 and 31 July 2024.

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. 

Please note that only Postgraduate Taught (master's) students' data is available in this section. There is no data available for Postgraduate Research (PhD) students.

How the data is presented: 

All data presented here has been subject to HESA rounding methodology in order to reduce the risk of identifying individuals from published figures. In short, the rounding methodology involves rounding all figures to the nearest 5 individuals and suppressing percentages derived from base sizes of fewer than 22.5 individuals. This may result in the information for some departments being unavailable, and in some cases, totals of 99% or 101%.

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

Graduate Outcomes tabs

Overall destinations

Destination of master's leavers from the Graduate Outcomes survey (Home, EU and Overseas)

In 2024:

  • 73% had entered employment;
  • 14% had engaged in a course of study, training or research;
  • 4% were unemployed and looking for work;
  • 1% were doing something else;
  • 2% were taking time our to travel (this does not include short-term holiday);
  • 2% were self-employed/freelancing;
  • 0% were in voluntary/unpaid work for an employer;
  • 3% were running their own business;
  • 1% were developing a creative, artistic or professional portfolio;
  • 0% were caring for someone (unpaid);
  • 0% were retired.

Bar chart showing the results of the PGT collection of the new Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) for 2024 in comparison with 2023 and 2022 results:

Destination of doctoral leavers from the Graduate Outcomes survey (Home, EU and Overseas)

In 2024:

  • 85% had entered employment;
  • 4% had engaged in a course of study, training or research;
  • 4% were unemployed and looking for work;
  • 3% were doing something else;
  • 0% were taking time our to travel (this does not include short-term holiday);
  • 1% were self-employed/freelancing;
  • 0% were in voluntary/unpaid work for an employer;
  • 2% were running their own business;
  • 1% were developing a creative, artistic or professional portfolio;
  • 0% were caring for someone (unpaid).

Bar chart showing the results of the PGR collection of the new Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) for 2024 in comparison with 2023 and 2022 results:

Industry sectors

Comparison of industry sectors entered by master's leavers (Home, EU and Overseas)

In 2024:

  • 0% entered agriculture, forestry and fisheries;
  • 0% entered mining and quarrying;
  • 8% entered manufacture;
  • 3% entered electric, gas and water;
  • 1% entered construction;
  • 3% entered wholesale and retail trade;
  • 1% entered transport and storage;
  • 0% entered accommodation and food services;
  • 10% entered information and communications;
  • 16% entered financial and insurance;
  • 0% entered real estate;
  • 20% entered professional, scientific and technical activities;
  • 1% entered admin and support services;
  • 4% entered public admin and defence;
  • 7% entered education;
  • 11% entered human health and social works;
  • 1% entered arts, entertainment and recreation;
  • 9% entered other services;
  • 5% were not coded.

Bar chart showing the industry sectors entered by postgraduate taught (master's) students surveyed in the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2024, in comparison with 2023 and 2022 results.

Comparison of industry sectors entered by doctoral leavers (Home, EU and Overseas)

In 2024:

  • 0% entered agriculture, forestry and fisheries;
  • 0% entered mining and quarrying;
  • 7% entered manufacture;
  • 1% entered electric, gas and water;
  • 1% entered construction;
  • 1% entered wholesale and retail trade;
  • 0% entered transport and storage;
  • 0% entered accommodation and food services;
  • 11% entered information and communications;
  • 3% entered financial and insurance;
  • 0% entered real estate;
  • 18% entered professional, scientific and technical activities;
  • 0% entered admin and support services;
  • 4% entered public admin and defence;
  • 36% entered education;
  • 8% entered human health and social works;
  • 0% entered arts, entertainment and recreation;
  • 6% entered other services;
  • 4% were not coded.

Bar chart showing the industry sectors entered by postgraduate research (PhD) students surveyed in the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2024, in comparison with 2023 and 2022 results.

Master's by department

Please note that the Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students in the below departments were surveyed and responded in sufficient quantity to present here. Missing departments where 'no data available' is stated, is due to a low response rate.

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

  • Data not available

BIOENGINEERING

BUSINESS SCHOOL

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

CHEMISTRY

CIVIL ENGINEERING

CLINICAL SCIENCE

  • Data not available

COMPUTING

EARTH SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

LIFE SCIENCES

MATERIALS

  • Data not available

MATHEMATICS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MEDICINE

  • No data available

NATIONAL HEART AND LUNG INSTITUTE (NHLI)

PHYSICS