MA Speech and Language Therapy/Postgrad Degree?

Original post by relizabeth19

[…] I'm currently halfway through a joint honours degree - one subject of which is Linguistics and Phonetics. I have known other people go on to do a Masters in phonetics, and then on to a Speech and Language Therapy Course. I have been told that if I wanted to do Speech and Language Therapy then I could do it as a research based Masters (which I'd rather not...!). Does anybody know how I would go about finding where I could apply to do the course? And would I be able to do a sort of 'fast-track' because a lot of areas would be covered by my Linguistics and Phonetics BA? [...]

You cannot do speech and language therapy as a research masters, because it is a clinical qualification accredited by a number of medical bodies. This means you need to have a certain amount of clinical experience before becoming qualified. You cannot pass the course until you have met this requirement. In this sense, there is a large taught element where you will learn about the anatomy and physiology etc. and then a large element of clinical work experience, learning how to diagnose people. In terms of research, there is no dissertation, but I believe you do an extended case report of something like 10,000 words in your second year.

In terms of finance, the NHS fund tuition fees and provide a mean-tested bursary irrespective of whether you choose to do the undergraduate or accelerated master's course so the SLC do not come into it (to keep it simple).

In terms of courses, your best bet is to check UCAS and see which universities offer an undergraduate programme, then check which of those offers the two-year postgraduate course (not all will). Your linguistic background will put you at an advantage for some things, but a lot of it will be new even for you. You should be able to check which units you will do on the course online, and check their reading lists etc..

Competition for the master's courses is tough. I worked out the percentages for the undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Newcastle. The acceptance rates were something like 18% and 5% respectively. If you do want to go down the postgraduate route then you will need to have some relevant experience as they will expect you to discuss or give a presentation on a clinical case.

I hope this helps.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2

xJessx

With your undergraduate degree, you could go straight into a postgrad Speech and Language Therapy course but it would be a taught course and not a research course. Also, the NHS pays the tuition fees. The unis that offer the qualification you're looking for are:

Reading
http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/courses/taught/mscSpeechLanguageTherapy.aspx

City University London
http://www.city.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/speech-and-language-therapy

Essex
http://www.essex.ac.uk/coursefinder/course_details.aspx?course=MSC+B62024

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
http://www.qmu.ac.uk/courses/PGCourse.cfm?c_id=175

University College London
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/students/prospective/PGT/TMSSPESLAN01

Good luck!

Reply 3

Original post by xJessx

With your undergraduate degree, you could go straight into a postgrad Speech and Language Therapy course but it would be a taught course and not a research course. Also, the NHS pays the tuition fees. The unis that offer the qualification you're looking for are:

Reading
http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/courses/taught/mscSpeechLanguageTherapy.aspx

City University London
http://www.city.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/speech-and-language-therapy

Essex
http://www.essex.ac.uk/coursefinder/course_details.aspx?course=MSC+B62024

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
http://www.qmu.ac.uk/courses/PGCourse.cfm?c_id=175

University College London
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/students/prospective/PGT/TMSSPESLAN01

Good luck!

Newcastle and Sheffield offer masters in speech and language therapy too. There might be others!

Reply 4

Original post by relizabeth19

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anybody would be able to help me; I've been spending so much time searching and really don't have a clue where to find all of the information I wanted.
I'm currently halfway through a joint honours degree - one subject of which is Linguistics and Phonetics. I have known other people go on to do a Masters in phonetics, and then on to a Speech and Language Therapy Course. I have been told that if I wanted to do Speech and Language Therapy then I could do it as a research based Masters (which I'd rather not...!). Does anybody know how I would go about finding where I could apply to do the course? And would I be able to do a sort of 'fast-track' because a lot of areas would be covered by my Linguistics and Phonetics BA?
Also, obviously with Masters you have to fund it yourself, pretty much. With doing a second degree can you apply to SFEngland? Or are you only entitled to do this once? I'm very confused, and trying to keep my options relatively open...any help would be really greatly appreciated! :smile:

Thanks!

Hi, I'm currently doing the masters now. You can apply for the 2 year masters with an appropriate undergrad degree and plenty of experience. (Linguistics, psychology, biomedical science). You will not be able to fast track based on your undergrad, we have plenty of linguistic undergrads who are having to recap it all, as we'll as psychologists who are recapping that part too etc.

Basically it is a 2 year PGDip with lots of professional practice and clinic hours. At the end you can stay on to do the masters which is a dissertation, and can take up to 8 months.

It's funded by the NHS at all the unis except for QMU in Scotland. That's where I study. It's self-funded and very expensive!!

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Reply 5

Original post by juliamcgowan26

Hi, I'm currently doing the masters now. You can apply for the 2 year masters with an appropriate undergrad degree and plenty of experience. (Linguistics, psychology, biomedical science). You will not be able to fast track based on your undergrad, we have plenty of linguistic undergrads who are having to recap it all, as we'll as psychologists who are recapping that part too etc.

Basically it is a 2 year PGDip with lots of professional practice and clinic hours. At the end you can stay on to do the masters which is a dissertation, and can take up to 8 months.

It's funded by the NHS at all the unis except for QMU in Scotland. That's where I study. It's self-funded and very expensive!!

Why did you decide to study at Queen Margaret (QMU) if it is not funded; do Strathclyde not offer a postgraduate course? Why did you not do the undergraduate course at QMU and save yourself £18,000 in tuition fees, plus all the associated living costs? :confused:

Reply 6

Original post by evantej

Why did you decide to study at Queen Margaret (QMU) if it is not funded; do Strathclyde not offer a postgraduate course? Why did you not do the undergraduate course at QMU and save yourself £18,000 in tuition fees, plus all the associated living costs? :confused:

QMU is the the only uni in Scotland that offers the post grad. I'm nearly 29, married with a child, so I was keen just to get on with the masters and get working as soon as possible. Also my husband works in Edinburgh so it made sense to move to Musselburgh and save him the commute from Glasgow everyday.

I heard recently on another thread that the undergrad course is not completely funded- which I was surprised by! Perhaps that is because SAAS only pay for 5 years or something so they will not pay for 2 complete undergrads.

Finally I had heard that you were more likely to be employed with a masters over a PGDip and a PGDip over an undergrad. Given the job situation at the moment i wanted to give myself the best possible chance.

The Masters at QMU is very expensive but it was definitely the best option for me!

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(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 7

Original post by juliamcgowan26

QMU is the the only uni in Scotland that offers the post grad. I'm nearly 29, married with a child, so I was keen just to get on with the masters and get working as soon as possible. Also my husband works in Edinburgh so it made sense to move to Musselburgh and save him the commute from Glasgow everyday.

I heard recently on another thread that the undergrad course is not completely funded- which I was surprised by! Perhaps that is because SAAS only pay for 5 years or something so they will not pay for 2 complete undergrads.

Finally I had heard that you were more likely to be employed with a masters over a PGDip and a PGDip over an undergrad. Given the job situation at the moment i wanted to give myself the best possible chance.

The Masters at QMU is very expensive but it was definitely the best option for me!

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The NHS pays your fees and living support, not the SAAS. It does not matter if you have previously studied. In the same way, you could do a NHS funded degree or masters, then do a 'normal' SAAS funded degree after.

I have no idea why QMU do not receive NHS funding at postgraduate level; they are the only ones I have come across who do not. There probably is not the demand for SLTs in Scotland which is why Strathcylde do not run a postgraduate course either.

I can sympathise with wanting to do the degree as quickly as possible, but I am not sure if I would have paid for the pleasure if the undergraduate course is fully funded! :tongue:

Reply 8

Original post by evantej

The NHS pays your fees and living support, not the SAAS. It does not matter if you have previously studied. In the same way, you could do a NHS funded degree or masters, then do a 'normal' SAAS funded degree after.

I have no idea why QMU do not receive NHS funding at postgraduate level; they are the only ones I have come across who do not. There probably is not the demand for SLTs in Scotland which is why Strathcylde do not run a postgraduate course either.

I can sympathise with wanting to do the degree as quickly as possible, but I am not sure if I would have paid for the pleasure if the undergraduate course is fully funded! :tongue:

Ah I see, I did think it was strange that someone had said the undergrad wasn't funded.

Yeah I just felt that I had waited long enough to study, the sooner I was qualified the better! I'd also consider moving abroad with my family after qualified and some countries require a masters to practice there so that was another reason I chose the post grad!

Are you studying SLT?

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Reply 9

Original post by juliamcgowan26

Ah I see, I did think it was strange that someone had said the undergrad wasn't funded.

Yeah I just felt that I had waited long enough to study, the sooner I was qualified the better! I'd also consider moving abroad with my family after qualified and some countries require a masters to practice there so that was another reason I chose the post grad!

Are you studying SLT?

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I am applying for 2013 entry. I already have a degree and master's degree, but am applying for the undergraduate course rather than the postgraduate course for lots of reasons I will not bore you with. QMU is one of my five choices at the moment, that is why I took an interest in your replies in particular.

Care to give your views on QMU?

Reply 10