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Posted on: 16/05/2012 11:05.
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What is Postgraduate Study?

Postgraduate study can be a Masters course, a postgraduate diploma or certificate, or a doctoral degree, such as a PhD. Qualifications are either gained through taught courses or research.

Taught Courses

Masters courses (MA, MSc. etc) are usually one year full time courses or two years part time. They may be clearly connected to your Batchelor's degree, for instance allowing you to specialise in a certain area, or a preparation for a specific career eg Human Resource Management or IT.

Vocational Courses

These can lead to qualifications such as diplomas, certificates or Masters, and their content relates to particular types of work such as Journalism, Teaching, Law etc. They often last for one year on a full time basis, but options for part time study do exist.

Research Qualifications

A PhD is the highest level qualification gained through research. It takes at least three years to complete full time and can be done over a longer period part time. You will undertake original reaesrch and will work largely independently, under the guidance of a supervisor.

Research Masters last for one or two years. Many students begin a research Masters with the intention of continuing to a PhD straight afterwards.

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