Postgraduate rise

The numbers of students gaining postgraduate qualifications rose 17 per cent last year compared with 1994/95, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. 105,500 students gained postgraduate qualifications, more than 70 per cent through taught courses other than postgraduate certificates of education; 7.3 per cent of women studying full-time got firsts in 1996 compared with 6.8 per cent in 1995. The figures for men were 8.8 and 8.5 per cent respectively.