PGR Voice Survey headline results
Here’s what you told us in this year’s PGR Voice survey
Thank you to everyone who completed the PGR Voice Survey, which ran between 2 May and 9 June 2023.
The survey closed with an overall response rate of 47% (1657 responses). We heard from PGRs at all stages of their programme across the University, giving us an in-depth and representative insight into the PGR experience.
What you told us
Overall the results are positive, with the majority of PGRs reporting that their experience has been good (44.6%), excellent (27.5%), or satisfactory (19.9%).
74% of respondents told us that the research culture in their department is positive or very positive, and 92.9% said that their doctoral programme had fully or partially matched the expectations they had when starting the programme.
73.6% of those still in their tuition fee paying period expect to submit during this timeframe.
The strongest results were in the Supervision section - 58.5% of students rated their supervision as excellent and 25.8% as good, with qualitative feedback in this area being particularly positive.
The key area identified for further improvement was Training and Development, which received less positive responses than other sections - most PGRs assessed the overall offer as good (46.7%) or satisfactory (26.7%). PGRs told us training can be difficult to navigate, with gaps in some areas. This was reflected in the closing section also, as the most popular response when we asked which area the University should focus on to most improve the PGR experience.
The biggest difference between the experiences of different groups of students was for PGRs with disabilities, who reported a less positive experience in several areas of the survey.
Next steps
Currently the University PGR Committee is conducting in-depth analysis of the institutional results, including benchmarking with the University of Manchester, who we co-created and delivered this survey with. Detailed results will be shared with professional service teams and academic departments.
The University and your department will then develop an action plan to address results and target improvements in response to your feedback. We will keep you informed about these developments, and will share updates on our progress over the next academic year.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your feedback - it is extremely important to us, and we commit to using it to enhance the experience of all PGRs at Sheffield.
Still have questions about PGR Voice, or the survey results?
You can email the PGR Voice Team on pgrvoice@sheffield.ac.uk.