The Student Room Group

The Oxbridge Postgrad system

Im soo confused. I already know that oxbridge MA's are awarded to graduates and are ceremonial only. Are Oxbridge Mphils/Mst's comparable to other universities MAs?

Employers recognise the term 'MA' but will they recognise the oxbridge awards? Im a bit sceptical about the fact that oxbridge postgrads are only studied for the academic year (9 months) as opposed to the full year (12 months) that other universities do.

Theres also no mention anywhere about how many credits an oxbridge MA consists of. At other unis, MAs comprise 180 credits - exactly half a degree which is 360. The reason I need to know this is because i want to apply for a PGCE afterwards where the requirement is 'knowledge equivalent to at least half a degree.'

Wondering if anyone can shed some light - Im seriously so confused. For information, Im looking to study Postgraduate Modern History and I want to do a taught course.
Reply 1
Oxbridge don't deal with credits in the same way other universities do, or at least Cambridge doesn't. you just take a number of papers, which will be comprable to the level of work you do elsewhere.

Its worth bearing in mind that although you may only study for 9 months compared to other universities undergraduates here only do 24 weeks taught time but undergraduate degrees here are very much sought after. I would imagine that MPhils from here would be seen as being on at least the same level as MAs from others.]

If applying for a PGCE I would be sure that whereever you apply they will know about the Oxbridge system and be able to compare it effectively to other qualifications
Reply 2
MPhil at Cambridge = MA at most other (English) universities

There are not really any 'credits' attached to particular courses, etc. In Cambridge, at the end of the MPhil the History Faculty will provide you with a statement describing the workload, assessment structure, etc. that can be used as a transcript when applying for other things.

Some of the taught courses are indeed 11 months (October - August), such as the MPhil in Economic and Social History (if you want a course with a fairly large taught component I would recommend this one) and the MPhil in Medieval History. I have heard from some people here though that many of the 9 months MPhils may have to change to 11/12 months in the future (no idea when) to make them comparable.
Reply 3
My MSc is 12 months. And so seem to be most Master's courses, unless you're doing a MSt (9 months) or a MLitt/MSc by research (2 years).
More info at: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/
Reply 4
Thanks for the replies.

I think I have it clear now. Mphils at cambridge are 9 months long and Mphils at oxford are 21 months long which was why I was a bit confused. Anyone know the reason for such a difference between the two? MSt's are very comparable, as are MSc's.

Anyway, The MSc is good because i get to choose 2 options, but im not really interested in any of the options (Economic and Social History isnt really relevant to high school history teaching). The MSt only allows me to pick one option, as does the Cambridge MPhil, which is restrictive and doesnt get me a good enough breadth of subject knowledge. The Oxford Mphil (21 month) gives me 2 options from an interesting list, but the 30,000 dissertation puts me off as well as the fact that I really wanted to do my Masters within 1 year.

So, in summary, Im actually no closer to picking my course, but at least I understand the options now :biggrin:
Reply 5
tommyboy
I have heard from some people here though that many of the 9 months MPhils may have to change to 11/12 months in the future (no idea when) to make them comparable.


Yeah, this is what I was getting at with my comments about whether they are comparable to other universities systems for MA's.

At Cambridge, an MPhil is 2 core modules (history research) + 1 option + a dissertation in 9 months

At most other UK institutions, an MA is 2 core modules (again research methods) + 2 options + a dissertation in 12 months. [Extra 3 months is the time when the extra option is taken]

So you can see that based on quantity, the other UK institutions courses have more material.
Reply 6
If the oxbridge system doesn't suit then look elsewhere, no point going to oxbridge doing a course you dont like and screwing up when you could be having a great time elsewhere.
Reply 7
The reason you put (Oxon) or (Cantab) after an Oxbridge 'MA' is that they aren't real MAs. They just happen, a certain number of years after you've got your BA.
Perfection
Im soo confused. I already know that oxbridge MA's are awarded to graduates and are ceremonial only. Are Oxbridge Mphils/Mst's comparable to other universities MAs?

Employers recognise the term 'MA' but will they recognise the oxbridge awards? Im a bit sceptical about the fact that oxbridge postgrads are only studied for the academic year (9 months) as opposed to the full year (12 months) that other universities do.

Wondering if anyone can shed some light - Im seriously so confused. For information, Im looking to study Postgraduate Modern History and I want to do a taught course.


As regards Oxford, the postgrad masters courses are usually M.Sc, M.St and M.Phil (apart from the 4 year undergrad courses). My course was for the full 12 months- but there are indeed courses which are just for 9 months. I know that certain countries find it hard to validate the 1 year Masters course, but usually employers in UK don't seem to see it as a problem.
Reply 9
Perfection
At Cambridge, an MPhil is 2 core modules (history research) + 1 option + a dissertation in 9 months

At most other UK institutions, an MA is 2 core modules (again research methods) + 2 options + a dissertation in 12 months. [Extra 3 months is the time when the extra option is taken]


Yes, I know what you mean. Although I have to say that the History MPhils at Cambridge don't really conform to any system - they're all different:

Historical Studies: 9 months, no taught courses (except some research trainig), just dissertation

Early Modern History: 9 months, about 4 taught courses for the first term, dissertation between Christmas and June

Modern European History: 9 months, 3 taught courses for the first term, dissertation between Christmas and June

Medieval History: 12 months, preliminary Latin course, taught stuff between October and Easter, dissertation between Easter and August

Economic and Social History: 11 months, loads of taught courses between October and Easter, dissertation between Eastern and August

So you're right, the MPhils are unlike anything you would encounter at another university. The number of courses, etc. doesn't tell you anything about the workload involved (hence, no credits) - you could have virtually no assignments for one course and constant work for another.
Reply 10
Perfection
Thanks for the replies.

I think I have it clear now. Mphils at cambridge are 9 months long and Mphils at oxford are 21 months long which was why I was a bit confused. Anyone know the reason for such a difference between the two? MSt's are very comparable, as are MSc's.

Anyway, The MSc is good because i get to choose 2 options, but im not really interested in any of the options (Economic and Social History isnt really relevant to high school history teaching). The MSt only allows me to pick one option, as does the Cambridge MPhil, which is restrictive and doesnt get me a good enough breadth of subject knowledge. The Oxford Mphil (21 month) gives me 2 options from an interesting list, but the 30,000 dissertation puts me off as well as the fact that I really wanted to do my Masters within 1 year.

So, in summary, Im actually no closer to picking my course, but at least I understand the options now :biggrin:


The MPhil at Oxford is normally geared toward those hoping to do a DPhil. So if you do your MPhil you can do your DPhil in 2 years instead of 3 since the work done on your MPhil dissertation can be included in your DPhil dissertation... Hope that makes sense