Postgraduate Research Experience Survey: Student Guide Frequently asked questions

We're keen to make sure postgraduate students have the best possible experience while studying at the University of Bedfordshire. To do that we need to know what you think we are doing well and what we can do better. If you're thinking about taking part this year, these are the answers to some of the questions students often ask:

What is it?

The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is a national survey conducted by institutions across the UK and globally. The survey takes around 15 minutes to complete online. PRES 2025 opens 7^th April 2025 and will close 16 May 2025.

Who is eligible to take part?

Your personal survey invite will be sent to all PGR students who have completed registration for the current academic year and have been a PGR student for a minimum of 3 months.

Any PGR student who is not in good financial standing, is currently interrupted from their studies, or has been recently awarded will not receive an invite.

Any PGR student who is not in good financial standing, is currently interrupted from their studies, or has been recently awarded will not receive an invite.

Why should I take part?

The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is your chance to tell us your thoughts about your course. The results help us compare how we are doing with other institutions, to make changes that will improve what we do in future and to keep doing the things that you value. This will help improve the experience of students like you in the future.

What changes were made after the 2023 PRES feedback?

After the 2023 PRES feedback, we introduced several new initiatives to help our PGR students develop into independent researchers. Those included:

• New training sessions ‘Framing Your Research: Creating and Using Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks’, ‘Finding a Conference That Is Right for You’, and ‘Peer Reviewing and Dealing with Peer Reviews’.
• More training has been introduced in 2025. This includes a session on how to write a discussion in a thesis and develop your contribution to knowledge (Findings to Analysis to New Knowledge: Discussion Chapter), how to organise your drafts (Keeping Files in Order), and a suite of sessions on responsible use of AI.
• The first fully funded PGR student-only overnight research retreat took place in May 2024 with 26 attendees. Due to the success and popularity of this event further retreats are planned for 2024/25.
• PGR student research conference December 2024, organised by students with support from the Head of Research. There were 50 attendees, 17 presentations, 10 posters, and 10 participants in the 3-minute thesis competition with Amazon vouchers prizes for the two winners.
• First day of induction in October and March is now held in person and includes a social event for new and current students and supervisors.
• Monthly training newsletters advertising Researcher Development Training Programme sessions, training provided by Research Institutes, and external events.

What does it cover?

PRES concentrates on your course and includes:

• Supervision
• Resources
• research culture
• progress and assessment
• responsibilities
• support
• research skills and professional development
• opportunities
• overall experience
• motivations

What happens to the results?

Your feedback is important. Over one hundred universities and colleges take part in the UK and globally. This means we can compare your experience against similar postgraduates at other institutions to see if we are supporting your learning as we should. We use the findings to improve our courses and the learning experience for future students.

Is it anonymous?

Your survey response is confidential to the team processing the results and no reporting outside of this team will identify any individual. Any results communicated to academic staff will be anonymised.

The survey asks that any comments you make should not identify yourself or any specific members of staff.

What do I need to do?

You will receive an email with a link to the questionnaire when the survey opens. Simply click on the link and complete the online form. The survey will be open for 3-6 weeks.

Where can I find out more?

For additional information about PRES as a national survey please visit Advance HE: Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES)

If you are unsure about anything to do with the UoB PRES survey once it has launched you will be able to address any questions or queries to the RGS for attention of Kim Burrows.