Benchmarking the Postgraduate admissions process

This article reports the main findings of a benchmarking study on the postgraduate admission process of higher education institutions. The project has involved three departments at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), eight specialist master’s programs within the Manchester School of Management (MSM), and five other universities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong, and Spain. The work was undertaken as part of a European Union Leonardo da Vinci-founded project. The first four steps of the benchmarking process have been completed, namely the selection of the subject and the partners, and the collection and analysis of data. While the process is not yet complete it is felt that important lessons are worth reporting. These include the applicability and feasibility of benchmarking to higher education, and the suitability of the various types of benchmarking, in particular internal benchmarking to this environment.