Types of Postgraduate Course

Masters courses

MA masters course can allow you to extend your knowledge of a specific area of interest, or to explore new topics unrelated to your first degree.ost masters courses last one or two years full-time. Part-time options are available at some institutions.

The masters degrees you will most commonly come across are:

• MA – generally arts, social sciences or business
• MSt - generally arts, social sciences or business, common at Oxford
• MSc – science and technology disciplines (MS in the USA)
• MRes – research techniques, often as a precursor to a PhD/DPhil programme
• MBA – management and business, usually after a few years of business experience
• MPhil – includes a substantial piece of individual research
• Subject-specific degree titles such as MEd, MEng

Professional qualifications

Some postgraduate courses lead directly to a professional qualification required for entry into a particular career. Examples include the PGCE or PGDE for teaching and the GDL for law. However, there are a whole series of other further study options which could be classified as vocational, ranging from six-week courses in computer skills through to the PhD or DPhil in Clinical Psychology, necessary to work as a Clinical Psychologist.

Find out more about study routes into specific career areas in sectors and occupations.

Doctoral degrees

A PhD (known as a DPhil in Oxford) usually requires three or more years' full-time research, involving in-depth study of a specific field, the results of which are presented as a thesis of 50,000+ words. In some countries, including the USA, doctoral students begin their course with a programme of taught modules before beginning doctoral research in year 2 or 3, making the overall length of a PhD much longer than the 3-4 year average in the UK. Examples of typical PhD lengths in countries often applied to by Oxford students: UK 3-4 years, USA 5-7 years, Canada 4-5 years, France & Germany 3-4 years (post-masters), Netherlands 4 years (post-masters).

Most PhD students join an existing research group in a university department under the guidance of one or more supervisors. In the UK there are a growing number of Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs, also known as Doctoral Training Programmes DTPs) funded by UK research councils and offering four year programmes with a focus on interdisciplinary topics and formal training in research methods.

Research masters

Many taught masters courses contain an element of research via an extended dissertation on a specific topic. Research masters courses offering training in research methods and the opportunity to explore a topic in depth are also available at some institutions. The most common of these degree titles are MRes and MPhil, and these are often seen as a precursor to more extended doctoral level research.

The Careers Service regularly runs sessions introducing further study and on writing applications for postgraduate study: check the Term Planner to find the dates of this term's sessions.

Related pages

• Why study further
• Postgraduate Study in the UK
• Postgraduate Study in the USA
• Postgraduate Study in Other Countries

• TargetPostgrad
• Prospects: Postgraduate Study
• FAQs about postgraduate study - A guide to asking the right questions about taught postgraduate study.
• Vitae - Advice and information for those considering doctoral research.
• Find a Masters - extensive advice and information on masters courses.
• Find a PhD - extensive advice and information about doctoral study.