Graduate education in Britain was studied through structured interviews with approximately 800 full-time students, postal questionnaires from about 230 part-time students, interviews with university staff, and postal questionnaires from about 2,300 past graduate students. Students were questioned concerning their reasons for their choice of graduate education, the form of their studies, and their financial, social, and other problems. The staff shared their views of graduate education, their ideas for reforming it, and other topics, including their own careers. Retrospective views concerning graduate studies and information about careers were obtained from past graduate students. Additional topics of study include sources of conflict between the aims of the students and of the staff, the extent to which universities make adequate provision for graduate students, how studies are supervised, and the role of graduate students in the university. The failure of many courses to provide satisfactory alternatives to research is analyzed, along with students' finances, and policies and costs involved in higher education. The history of graduate education in Britain, the purpose of postgraduate study, perspectives on research students in academia and the world outside, and proposals for improving postgraduate education are also considered. (SW)