Abstract

The Postgraduate Experience Project (PEP) is one of 20 projects funded by the HEFCE PSS which is a £25 million publicly-funded programme. The scheme aimed to test ways of supporting progression into taught postgraduate education in England. It aimed to ensure the continued success of taught postgraduate provision by working with universities and employers to stimulate participation by students who would not otherwise progress to this
level. The 20 projects supported more than 2,800 students and involved a range of support activities including financial and pastoral support, mentoring and networking, curricula change, funded studentships, work placements and a variety of bursary and loan schemes. The PEP was the largest consortium that has been funded by HEFCE and comprises 11 universities (9 English, 1 Welsh and 1 Scottish) that are geographically dispersed across the UK. The collaborative partners included the Universities of Brighton, Coventry, Edinburgh, Kingston, Lincoln, Manchester Metropolitan, Portsmouth, Plymouth, South Wales, Teesside and Wolverhampton. Business and industry leaders and Higher Education (HE) specialists were also involved. The PEP entitled “Investigating the expectations and attitudes towards postgraduate taught (PGT) STEM study, and post study outcomes from the perspective of students, universities and employers to support and sustain PGT growth in the UK: A collaborative project” started in January 2014 and the headline, descriptive findings were reported at a National Dialogical Conference at Kingston University (KU) on 14th and 15th July 2015. This report presents the institutional findings for the University of Lincoln. Scholarships were awarded to 48 students on STEM Masters courses at the University of Lincoln and the report includes their opinions of study. The overall findings, from aggregate sample of the 11 participating institutions, will be presented in the PEP Final Report.