Postgraduate study - what are the options?
UWE has a thriving community of postgraduate students and offers both taught and research programmes in a wide range of disciplines. Courses vary in length depending on the qualification and the mode of study. Some build on previous study, others are open to graduates of any discipline.
Taught Master's degrees
- A taught Master's degree usually involves a nine month taught element and a three month research project so is likely to take 12 months to complete full-time.
- The award may be a MA (Master of Arts), MSc (Master of Science) or MBA (Master of Business Administration).
- It may involve a detailed study of a particular aspect of your academic discipline.
- It may be vocational and accredited by a professional body.
- It may be a conversion course developing your knowledge and skills in a new subject.
Postgraduate Certificates and Diplomas
- These often represent the initial stages of a taught Master's degree, the Certificate requiring fewer credits than the Diploma.
- They normally take 9 to 12 months to complete full-time.
Short courses
- A short course enables you to develop new skills or enhance and update existing skills without committing yourself to long-term study.
- Some courses are aimed at the absolute beginner, while other courses are designed to further develop existing skills.
Research degrees
- The PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) and MPhil (Master of Philosophy) are research degrees with little or no taught element.
- They take a minimum of two or three years to complete and often longer.
- The PhD is a higher academic qualification than an MPhil, but you don't need to take an MPhil first before going onto a PhD.
