What shapes student intentions? The interplay between policy, social and personal factors in postgraduate education

ABSTRACT The Master’s Loan Scheme in England was initially designed to support widening access to postgraduate education. However, the general increase in the average fees has posed a risk of reducing these schemes’ effectiveness in promoting social mobility, especially for debt adverse students. We use a multidisciplinary framework to build a model of postgraduate intentions to review the Fast Forward (FF) Master Scheme at the University of Greenwich in the UK. This framework underpinned the development of an online survey for this observational study. The results suggest that the FF allowed some graduates who, without the FF intervention, would have disregarded undertaking postgraduate taught studies (PGT) to consider studying for a PGT degree. Many of these graduates are from previously under-represented communities in the sector. We found that financial concerns could deter some students, but the intervention design allowed students to consider PGT study when they had a positive undergraduate experience. Alleviating the credit constraint may not be enough to widen access at the PGT level. Better information about PGT courses, more flexible delivery of PGT, and employment support, such as mentorship and work experience, and social and personal factors considerations could help widen access to PGT studies.