Taking a year out before masters to gather funds

Hi all, I'm a BA student of politics with international relations at the University of York and I've just finished my first year. I've done quite well so far and I've been accumulating a lot of experience valued by masters programmes (publications, editorial positions, internships etc). As such I've been quite enthusiastic about applying for masters study at LSE and Cambridge, however, I come from quite a poor background and have no chance of funding these pursuits and I've heard that funding (especially for social sciences) is incredibly difficult to get.

I think one solution to this problem would be to take a year out after graduating and use my degree to get a job to help save up to fund my masters. Is this a common thing to do in my field? What sort of positions do people take up for a year to save money? And, would doing a placement year in industry enhance my overall goals and aims here? Thank you.

Reply 1

Leolevi47

Yeah it’s super common to take a year about between degrees or studies. The bursary for masters is very low when you factor in tuition fees and living costs, so you’ll find many people in your class will have also done this - and I am also doing it. You can do a teacher training course that comes with a large bursary (up to £30k tax free) depending on what subject you teach - not sure which subject(s) would be applicable given your degree, but outside of this you could work anywhere - gain experience in your field or work in hospitality for the year, completely normal.