A national subject profile for materials: Views of graduates and materials teaching staff

The UK Centre for Materials Education, on behalf of the UK Higher Education Academy, has undertaken a year-long review of the current state of teaching and learning of materials programmes in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). The aim was to establish a national subject profile for the materials discipline, providing a snapshot of current materials teaching in the UK. Part of the study involved a survey of all the UK HEIs who provide significant levels of materials teaching to allow us to quantitatively map the variety of materials degree programmes and obtain the views of those who teach materials and the current challenges they face, in order to identify possible future developments in teaching the materials discipline. A parallel survey of recent materials graduates who have remained in the profession was also undertaken to establish their motivation for choosing to study the discipline, their views of the materials curriculum they studied and its relevance to their chosen career. A decline in materials student numbers, and students facing more external pressures, are perceived as being the two most important challenges faced by academic staff teaching materials programmes. A large majority of materials graduates are happy with the content of their degree programme and its relevance to their career.