Postgraduate Study in Britain
Information on Postgraduate Study in UK Universities for Students from China
Key Facts
Degree: Lasts 1 year
Cost: Tuition fee: 8,000-15,000 GBP/yr. Living: 6,000-8,000 GBP/yr.
Admission: Chinese 4-year Bachelor degree or 3-year College Diploma plus a one year Foundation course
How to Apply: Direct to each university, so you can apply to as many as you wish. Most courses are free to apply to. No entrance examination
Start Date: Sept/Oct – Occasionally January
Admission Deadline: Most courses have no admission deadlines (the very top universities do have them for popular courses (usually March –May).
Application Duration: About 2 months.
IELTS: Most 6.5, occasionally 6.0 (for some Science/Engineering courses
Any student in China with a 4-year university degree can apply for a (Masters) degree in any British university. There is no general entrance examination for a Masters degree. Your application will be considered according to your university grades and your professors’ references.
A Masters degree can be (taught) or done by (research). Taught programmes are most popular as research programmes are usually for people who want to study a (Doctorate, PhD). PhD’s are also open to any one with a Bachelors degree; you do not need to do Masters research before hand (but you can if you feel this extra year would be helpful). There will be more about the PhD later in this article.
For any research degree (Masters or PhD) you can only study the subject you have studied to a high level at undergraduate level. However, for taught Masters programmes there are courses in certain subjects that allow you to change your major between undergraduate and postgraduate level. Generally speaking subjects you can study no matter your undergraduate study are; Business, IT, Law, Education, Economics & Finance, Journalism, Media and Nutrition. These courses are called (conversion courses) whereas courses that are only open to people who have studied the major at undergraduate level are called (advanced courses). Generally speaking all taught Masters courses, advanced or conversion, take just 12 months.
When researching your degree study you will see the following abbreviations:
MSc, MA, MArch, MEd, MBus, LLM MJur, MPhil, MLitt. They stand for Masters in Science (MSc), Masters in Art (MA), Masters in Education (MEd, Masters in Business (MBus), Masters in Law (LLM) Masters in Jurisprudence (Law) (MJur), Masters in Philosophy (MPhil), Masters in Literature (MLitt). Do not worry too much about these. Most universities will simply use MSc or MA for all their degrees. Where this is not the case it is simply the tradition of the university. MPhil and MLitt are historical terms used mostly by the older universities.
Start Dates: Most universities will commence their Masters in late Sept or early Oct. A few universities also have courses that begin in January. January start dates are usually in just a few, more vocational subject areas and are not offered by the UK’s leading universities.
Tuition Fees: Tuition fees, vary according to the university and the subject. Generally speaking they are:
Classroom degrees (including, Arts, Education, Economics, Media, Law): 7,500-10,000GBP
Laboratory degree (including Engineering, IT, Sciences): 9,500-12,500 GBP
Business degrees: 8,000-15,000 GBP
MBA’s: 8,000-24,000GBP
The variation in price is usually a reflection of the university prestige. The biggest variation is in business degrees where pricing reflects not only prestige but also how greatly the qualification will likely increase your salary upon graduation. You should note however this is done with British students in mind and may not be of total relevance to Chinese students.
Entry Requirements: A four-year Bachelor degree from a university in China plus and medium-high English language ability is all you need.
IELTS/TOEFL: Most courses 6.5/580. Some degrees, usually in Law, Business or English will require IELTS 7.0. Whilst some degrees usually in Engineering, Maths and occasionally Business will require only IELTS 6.0.
You can use either IELTS or TOEFL to apply and for most courses you can apply (and receive a conditional offer) before you have taken the English exam (you just need to get the required score before the start of the course). A very few degrees at certain universities will only consider your application once you have your English score, where this is so you will find information in our course search.
Costs: Living costs are usually between 6,000-8,000 GBP per year. So a Masters degree is usually about 16,000-18,000 GBP in total (240-280,000 RMB). If you can spare the time you can work for up to 20 hours per week in a part-time job. Such jobs (e.g. waiter/waitress, shop assistant) are easy to find and pay 5-6GBP per hour. Therefore it is possible to earn around 5,000 GBP per year.
Work experience can count for a lot in a postgraduate applications. You can apply to a Masters degree at any stage in your career (immediately after you Bachelors degree or anytime in to your career). If you have been working in a field (e.g. Law) for some time (typically + 5 years) but you do not have a first degree in Law, you are still eligible for the Masters degree (advanced course). Also if you have a 3-year college diploma you are normally required to do a one-year pre-masters course before you eligible for a Masters degree. However, if you have good work experience in the field of your proposed Masters many universities will accept you directly on to a Masters degree (without the pre-sessional year)
The Application Process: You can apply to as many universities as you like because you must apply directly to each one individually. You can also apply to more than one course within the university if you wish. Most courses at most universities are free to apply for (a few have application fees, typically 25-40 GBP).As a general rule universities in the UK will accept you if they think that your university in China is equivalent to theirs. So if you want to apply to a top-10, UK university (the best) your university in China should be one of the top-100. If you want to apply to a UK top-25 university (very good) your university in China should be in the top 200. If your university in China is not a prestigious one you will probably need to apply to a UK university outside of the top 25 (The Times). Note that these are just general guidelines; if you have particularly high grades from your first degree in China you will obviously become more attractive. Required grades are + 80% for the good universities (and 85% for some). If you are applying for a less popular major (i.e. not Business, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Law, IT) you maybe ok with lower grades/ a less prestigious university.
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