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A survey of almost 700 students revealed that the hike in university tuition fees could hinder demand for postgraduate courses.

The online survey carried out by The Student Room found that only 41% of students would do a postgraduate course even if they had to pay £9,000 a year for their first degree, while 29.9% said they would not have, or will not, continue studying if they had to pay the higher rate for their undergraduate course.

The research showed that more than half of the participants (66 percent) said the biggest barrier to doing a post grad was that they are too expensive, with 51 percent saying they were put off by a lack of funding options, whereas 21.9% claimed they would have had enough of studying.

Besides financial constraints, 15% of students felt that they weren’t doing a postgraduate course because they did not know enough about them to make a proper decision.

Jamie O’Connell, Marketing Director of The Student Room warned that the increased cost of a degree, resulting in large debt, is bound to get people rethinking whether to proceed getting a postgraduate degree. She also advised that more light should be shed on whether or not students should progress to obtaining postgraduate degree.

“Just as the UK HE sector and government are strengthening the information available to UG applicants to help ensure they make informed decisions, so to there needs to be clearer information provided by institutes as to what tangible benefits their students get from studying postgraduate qualifications,” the Marketing Director said. “For example there is belief shown here that studying a postgraduate qualification improved career prospects, depending on the sector that is not always the case and universities need to be transparent about this.”

The study that included 672 participants also revealed that student loyalty was low when it came to choosing a post grad course with only 20% saying they would stay at the same university they did their undergraduate course at and 47% stating they would consider studying abroad in the US and Canada.

However, almost three in four (73.2 percent) agreed they felt studying to postgraduate level increases their chances of securing a job.

Jane Penrose, Director, Postgraduate Studentships said the survey highlighted the need for universities to be practical in setting postgraduate fees to “to ensure that postgraduate study remains both an attractive and viable option in the UK.”

“It’s good to see that there continues to be a clear appetite for postgraduate study, and a recognition of the benefits it brings – which makes it all the more important for the UK to ensure that obstacles don’t turn students’ enthusiasm sour, and that the excellence of the UK’s postgraduate offerings remains a positive and practical choice for students,” Penrose said.