Tips for postgraduate studies in the UK
Quality education: (L-R) Glasgow Bruneian students Liew Chee Hau, Abdul Mahadir Hj Abdul Hamid, Nurul Fakhriah Abu Hasrah and Nur Nisrinah Haji Awang Yusof. Picture: Smita Wimmer
Monday, February 4, 2008
BRITISH universities have an excellent reputation for postgraduate programmes. They pride themselves for ground-breaking research, and students are therefore taught by leading authorities in their respective fields. They also offer quality student life.
All of the universities participating in the Study in UK Education Fair at the Empire Hotel tomorrow have a very broad and strong portfolio of postgraduate programmes.
For research degrees, it is crucial that students have an idea of the area they are interested in so that the visiting universities can identify an appropriate supervisor. Most students undertake postgraduate studies either to enhance their current knowledge, or they are looking at career change and entering a new field.
Unlike some other countries, most UK Masters programmes are of one year duration. Other strengths of a UK Masters programme include tight controls on quality of education, direct relevance of the programme to business and industry, and international recognition and respect.
There are two types of courses: those that are designed to deepen the student's knowledge, and conversion programmes that introduce the student to a new subject (for example an engineer needing to pick up management skills). The awards are MSc, MA, MBA, LLM, MRes. The MA and MSc programmes will include some training in research methods and for certain areas, students can choose to collect their data and research material from Brunei.
Entry requirements vary from course to course — for certain courses, the students need to have a degree that is directly relevant to the programme they wish to pursue, whereas for conversion courses, students need to have a different background. For example, students with an accounting background cannot enter a conversion course in Accountancy. For Masters courses, most universities require the student to have a good Honours degree (usually 2:1 and above).
Some courses, especially vocational programmes, also ask for work experience. Hence a new graduate in Education for example cannot enter a course on Education Leadership as the student has no prior experience to draw on.
Postgraduate courses also require a high proficiency in English Language. This can be demonstrated by either having a degree that was taught in English, or IELTS score of 6.5 or 7.
It is highly advisable that students who did their first degree a number of years ago do a refresher course on English to ensure they can cope with a very demanding programme.
Research courses involve an in-depth study of a particular field, enhancing world-wide knowledge of that field. This study requires intellectual independence, time-management skills, passions for the subject and self-discipline. Research awards are Master's degrees (MPhil) or Doctorates.
A student looking for a research based postgraduate course should seek an appropriate supervisor. Factors to consider are their areas of research, their work that has been published, their reputation and their international profile.
The opening hours of Study in UK Education Fair are 1pm to 6pm. High ranking universities, with strong research strength such as Bath, Reading, Southampton, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool will be participating in the exhibition.
Students considering their postgraduate options should bring certificates of their past qualifications, their brief CV and details of any additional training undertaken when they visit the exhibition.
The Brunei Times
All of the universities participating in the Study in UK Education Fair at the Empire Hotel tomorrow have a very broad and strong portfolio of postgraduate programmes.
For research degrees, it is crucial that students have an idea of the area they are interested in so that the visiting universities can identify an appropriate supervisor. Most students undertake postgraduate studies either to enhance their current knowledge, or they are looking at career change and entering a new field.
Unlike some other countries, most UK Masters programmes are of one year duration. Other strengths of a UK Masters programme include tight controls on quality of education, direct relevance of the programme to business and industry, and international recognition and respect.
There are two types of courses: those that are designed to deepen the student's knowledge, and conversion programmes that introduce the student to a new subject (for example an engineer needing to pick up management skills). The awards are MSc, MA, MBA, LLM, MRes. The MA and MSc programmes will include some training in research methods and for certain areas, students can choose to collect their data and research material from Brunei.
Entry requirements vary from course to course — for certain courses, the students need to have a degree that is directly relevant to the programme they wish to pursue, whereas for conversion courses, students need to have a different background. For example, students with an accounting background cannot enter a conversion course in Accountancy. For Masters courses, most universities require the student to have a good Honours degree (usually 2:1 and above).
Some courses, especially vocational programmes, also ask for work experience. Hence a new graduate in Education for example cannot enter a course on Education Leadership as the student has no prior experience to draw on.
Postgraduate courses also require a high proficiency in English Language. This can be demonstrated by either having a degree that was taught in English, or IELTS score of 6.5 or 7.
It is highly advisable that students who did their first degree a number of years ago do a refresher course on English to ensure they can cope with a very demanding programme.
Research courses involve an in-depth study of a particular field, enhancing world-wide knowledge of that field. This study requires intellectual independence, time-management skills, passions for the subject and self-discipline. Research awards are Master's degrees (MPhil) or Doctorates.
A student looking for a research based postgraduate course should seek an appropriate supervisor. Factors to consider are their areas of research, their work that has been published, their reputation and their international profile.
The opening hours of Study in UK Education Fair are 1pm to 6pm. High ranking universities, with strong research strength such as Bath, Reading, Southampton, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool will be participating in the exhibition.
Students considering their postgraduate options should bring certificates of their past qualifications, their brief CV and details of any additional training undertaken when they visit the exhibition.
The Brunei Times
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