University of Chichester

Postgraduate and Further Study

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Introduction to Postgrad Study

Postgraduate courses include certificates, diplomas, professional qualifications and higher degrees. These are discussed in detail by Prospects at www.prospects.ac.uk/links/pgstudy. The main distinction is between taught and research programmes:

Taught programmes:

  • Are for certificates, diplomas or Masters degrees, and can include a professional qualification
  • Can be for academic or vocational subjects
  • Have a lot in common with undergraduate courses but include more independent study

Research programmes:

  • Can be for Masters or doctoral degrees
  • Have more independent study than taught courses
  • Are like an extended and more detailed dissertation

When thinking about postgraduate study it is important to bear in mind that:

  • There is not a central application system for most postgraduate courses (the exception is for some vocational subjects). You will usually need to find courses and apply for them independently
  • Organising funding for the course is usually your responsibility; only a few professional courses have any mandatory funding
  • Applying for postgraduate courses and arranging funding can be a long process. For an approximate time scale see: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/PGStudy and choose the appropriate link

It is difficult to generalise about the reasons for doing postgraduate study as everyone will come to it with different circumstances, motivations and aspirations. Some reasons might be to specialise in a particular field, to study for personal interest, to convert to a different field or to study a vocational subject. Postgraduate study is most likely to be an investment for you if you have thought specifically about what you hope to achieve from it, how you see it fitting in with your long term aims and if it is practically possible for you to actually do more studying.

Work and further study

While career opportunities might not always be behind a decision to do postgraduate study, whether the qualification will make you more employable will probably be something you will want to consider.

This is not straightforward because it will depend on your circumstances and the courses you are looking at. The following general points are probably worth considering however:

  • A postgraduate qualification can be a usual route into a few careers. Teaching and social work are two examples
  • For many career areas postgraduate study is one of several ways of entering. Alternatives could be learning on the job or through internal training. For more information about entry requirements for various jobs have a look at Prospects' occupational sheets
  • A traditional academic postgraduate qualification will probably not compensate for a lack of 'hands-on' work experience and is unlikely to be enough for an employer on its own
  • Your transferable skills (communication, IT, team work, numerical, problem solving and so on) are valuable to employers and you will need to be able to give examples of them from study and outside
  • One of the characteristics of postgraduate study is flexibility. You do not need to do it straight after your undergraduate course and courses can be full-time, part-time or through distance learning. A break between courses, or studying part-time, could give you time to develop work experience and transferable skills, or to find out more about an employment sector

The effect of postgraduate study on employment in general is difficult to assess as everyone will come to it with different experience and reasons for wanting to do it. However, it is worth considering all your options - including how you could progress without postgraduate study, how you could combine work and study and how you could demonstrate and develop transferable skills.

Finding and Applying for Courses

With the exception of a few vocational subjects, applications are made directly to the universities running the courses. For some courses (particularly vocational ones) there may be closing dates. You will need to check this for any you are interested in, as well as checking each application procedure. Early applications give you a better chance of being considered for courses and are necessary if you want apply for any available funding (see the finance section below).

There are a number of websites that you can use to search for postgraduate courses and you may find it beneficial to use several different databases in your research. The most detailed information will then be available from specific universities or higher education institutions. For an interactive map of higher education institutions in Britain see this link courtesy of the University of Wolverhampton: http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/ukinfo/.

The main UK course databases are:

  • Prospects: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pgdbase. Most courses are included in this database but you may need to try several search words to ensure you find everything. An alternative is to us the print version that is held in Careers at Bishop Otter Campus. It has an extensive indexing system
  • Hobsons: www.postgrad.hobsons.com. Again you may want to try several different search combinations to find everything on there that is relevant for you
  • UCAS: www.ucas.com . Although it's mainly for undergraduate courses the UCAS search facility is a powerful tool. It can be useful to identify institutions with relevant departments and then link to these directly to look for postgraduate courses
  Prospects Postgraduate Directory

These may also be useful:

  • www.studylink.com (in conjunction with The Guardian). Search courses in Australia, Europe, India, Singapore and USA
  • www.findamasters.co.uk search for taught and research opportunities in the UK
  • www.jobs.ac.uk search under the 'studentships' option for an extensive list of PhD opportunities
  • www.findaphd.com search for research and PhD opportunities

Other courses

In some circumstances you may want to look at courses at further education colleges. A couple of useful links are below.

Vocational courses

Specific bodies coordinate course information and applications for some vocational courses. Some of these have closing dates for applications - the current ones will be published on their websites. For vocational courses it is particularly important that you can provide evidence of your interest and enthusiasm in the subject.

Teaching

  • If you are thinking of qualifying as a schoolteacher you will need to look at the Graduate Teacher Training Registry's website: www.gttr.ac.uk. It has a complete listing of courses and applications can be made online
  • Information about the different training routes available can be found on the Training and Developement Agency for Schools' website: www.tda.gov.uk
  • Courses for teaching in the post compulsory sector are listed at the Lifelong Learning UK website: http://www.standardsverificationuk.org/2902.htm
  • For more details about applying for teaching see the applying for teacher training page on this website

Social work

  • Applications for professional postgraduate qualifications in social work are made through UCAS: www.ucas.com. Courses are also listed on the UCAS site

Nursing

  • Applications to nursing conversion courses are made to UCAS www.ucas.com.

Physiotherapy

  • The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists' website www.csp.org.uk lists all approved first degrees and MSc conversion courses for those with a relevant undergraduate degree
  • Applications for postgraduate conversion courses are usually made directly to the institution offering the course, but check each course for details

Law

  • The Central Applications Board www.lawcabs.ac.uk coordinates all applications for the full time Common Professional Examination (CPE) and Legal Practice Courses (LPC). Lists of courses are published on the website
  • Graduates from non law subjects are required to take the CPE course and then the LPC, graduates from law courses take the LPC
  • Applications for part-time courses should be made directly to the institutions concerned

Business

  • The Association of MBAs www.mbaworld.com has a list of accredited courses. Their website also has more general information about business courses

Journalism

  • Entry into journalism can be directly to an employer training scheme or, more usually, via a pre-entry qualification. Either way you will probably follow a course that is accredited by either the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) or the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC)
  • Accredited courses include Masters degrees and shorter pre-entry courses and are run at universities and further education colleges
  • For details of accredited courses see www.nctj.com and www.bjtc.org.uk. Applications are made directly to the universities or further education colleges

Dentistry

  • The Peninsula Dental School runs a four year degree course for science graduates and healthcare professionals to train as dentists. More information: www.pms.ac.uk/dentistry/
  • More information about dentistry as a career is available from the British Dental Association: www.bda-dentistry.org.uk

Funding postgraduate study

There are several ways of financing UK based postgraduate study. They are:

  • Self funding: may include using savings, working part-time and/or taking out a loan
  • Research Councils: each of the eight Research Councils fund particular subject areas and make awards to some students
  • Institutional funding: specific university departments may be able to offer funding to some students, usually as part of research or teaching assistantships
  • Charities, trusts and foundations: make partial awards to some students who fit eligibility criteria (see Funder Finder below)
  • Employer funded: possible for some professional courses (currently teaching, social work and some NHS courses) or as part of professional development

It is worth considering all funding possibilities. The main points to bear in mind are:

  • Most postgraduates self fund: Prospects point out that of approximately 500,000 postgraduate students in 2002/03, just 10,000 received a Research Council grant. Some would have been funded in other ways, but it is clear the majority self fund
  • Postgraduates are not eligible for loans from the Student Loans Company. The main loan options are: Career Development Loans www.direct.gov.uk/cdl (not all courses are eligible); professional loans if it is a course leading to a professional qualification; and private bank loans
  • Applying for Research Council funding is competitive. Applications are always made through the university department you are applying to, not independently to the councils
  • Most charities, trusts and foundations have strict eligibility criteria and then applications are competitive. Students at Chichester have access to the Funder Finder database on the network. The program asks a series of questions and then matches your answers to the eligibility criteria for the charities, trusts and foundations listed, giving you any relevant contact details. From the start menu Funder Finder is under 'Teaching Applications' then 'Careers'

Prospects go into more details about the various funding options at: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Fundstudy.

Funding for students with disabilities

Funding for international students

  • Non-EEA students pay higher fees to study at UK institutions. Research Councils do not make awards to international students
  • For a comprehensive guide to funding see the international students page at: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Fundstudy


Additional links

Most links have been included in the relevant text on this page. Some additional links are included below:

www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/University (shortened url) - Dirct Gov's page about postgrad study.

www.open.ac.uk - The Open University, offering taught and research courses by distance learning.

www.rcuk.ac.uk - the Research Councils UK website has links to the eight research councils and the separate websites then have information about what and who they fund

Overseas postgraduate study

For information about international postgraduate study see the work and study abroad page on this website.

Page updated: November 2006