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What comes after a degree?

Hi hope this hasn't been asked to death already but what comes after a degree? Do you do a PHD then doctorate and what's a post doc and a fellow. Basically how is the academic ladder laid out?

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Reply 1
Depends what you want to achieve at the end of your education?
Reply 2
Bachelors > Masters > Phd > life goes on, brah.

(I think :s)
Reply 3
masters then phd?
Reply 4
BSc ---> MSc ---> Get a Life. /if you haven't been laid by at least this point, you probably never ever will.
Reply 5
in terms of the national qualification framework...

GCSE = Level 2
A levels = Level 3
Bachelors Degree = Level 6
Masters Degree = level 7
PhD (AKA doctorate) = Level 8

(there are steps between 3&6 but you don't usually get a qualification at those levels if you're on a Degree)

it's sometimes possible to go directly onto PhD without taking a masters.

There isn't any qualification after Level 8 - fellow is like a lifetime achievement award for academics.
Original post by Tasneemo
Bachelors > Masters > Phd > life goes on, brah.

(I think :s)


Yep! That's exactly right. Masters is usually one year additional to your bachelors course. It can be done at another uni and I don't believe you can get a student loan for that unless you applied as an undergrad to do the masters right after your bachelors (don't take my word for it). Some uni's may pay you to do a Phd at their uni but in return your Phd is based on a certain project that the uni needs to get done, however this is not common. Most people going into uni are hell-bent on a Masters or Phd but then at the end of their Bachelors realise that they want to go into the world of work or are tired of studying. The Masters does not have to done right after your bachelors and like I said it can be done at a separate uni as a full time or part time (2 year) so you can work while doing the course.

Hope I cleared some things up :smile:
Reply 7
Original post by JulietAlphaGolf
Yep! That's exactly right. Masters is usually one year additional to your bachelors course. It can be done at another uni and I don't believe you can get a student loan for that unless you applied as an undergrad to do the masters right after your bachelors (don't take my word for it). Some uni's may pay you to do a Phd at their uni but in return your Phd is based on a certain project that the uni needs to get done, however this is not common. Most people going into uni are hell-bent on a Masters or Phd but then at the end of their Bachelors realise that they want to go into the world of work or are tired of studying. The Masters does not have to done right after your bachelors and like I said it can be done at a separate uni as a full time or part time (2 year) so you can work while doing the course.

Hope I cleared some things up :smile:


The bit in bold is true - you can't get a student loan for your masters year, and they're usually quite expensive. A lot of companies offer to pay for half of your masters fee, and you have to work there afterwards (obviously).
But if you apply for a bachelors are uni, you can always apply for the masters course after a year or two of studying the bachelors course, and you would still get the student loan :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by Joinedup
There isn't any qualification after Level 8 - fellow is like a lifetime achievement award for academics.

:no:
After a PhD you can be employed as a postdoctoral research assistant (aka a postdoc) by another academic (this is like the first "proper job" after a PhD. Most people will do several, and contracts generally last something like 1-3 years in keeping with grants. At some point, if you're sufficiently innovative and ambitious you can go on to win your own Research Fellowships - at which point you become a fellow. The youngest fellows in my department are in their early 30s. At some point the university may decide to give you a Professorship, which is basically an acknowledgement that you are Teh Awesomez, which I think is what Joinedup is thinking of.
Reply 9
Original post by dilligaf16
Hi hope this hasn't been asked to death already but what comes after a degree? Do you do a PHD then doctorate and what's a post doc and a fellow. Basically how is the academic ladder laid out?


There are a number of routes, but it can go:
PhD ->
Postdoc ->
Research Fellow ->
Lectureship

It's varied, and some people don't even go into academia, and instead work in industry in STEM subjects.
Reply 10
Original post by Tasneemo
The bit in bold is true - you can't get a student loan for your masters year, and they're usually quite expensive. A lot of companies offer to pay for half of your masters fee, and you have to work there afterwards (obviously).
But if you apply for a bachelors are uni, you can always apply for the masters course after a year or two of studying the bachelors course, and you would still get the student loan :smile:


Sorry what you said slightly confused me. So say I do my degree. And in my final year I apply to a masters, would I get a student loan or...?

What if I applied in my first or 2nd year. Then I would get a student loan. ?

And if I apply after graduating from my degree I wouldn't get a student loan. ?

Sorry I know I sound really stupid, I just didn't really understand what you were explaining. Thanks :smile:
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Reply 13
Original post by cwd12
Sorry what you said slightly confused me. So say I do my degree. And in my final year I apply to a masters, would I get a student loan or...?

What if I applied in my first or 2nd year. Then I would get a student loan. ?

And if I apply after graduating from my degree I wouldn't get a student loan. ?

Sorry I know I sound really stupid, I just didn't really understand what you were explaining. Thanks :smile:


You don't get a student loan whenever you apply for it. A lot of people get a Career Development Loan (like here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1538232 ) which gives you up to Β£10,000 to help. A lot of people either get their parents to help, or work for a bit and get some savings together.
Reply 14
Original post by cwd12
Sorry what you said slightly confused me. So say I do my degree. And in my final year I apply to a masters, would I get a student loan or...?

What if I applied in my first or 2nd year. Then I would get a student loan. ?

And if I apply after graduating from my degree I wouldn't get a student loan. ?

Sorry I know I sound really stupid, I just didn't really understand what you were explaining. Thanks :smile:


No. A postgraduate Masters degree (MSc) isn't something you can get a student loan to do. There are certain kinds of 4 year undergraduate masters where you can be funded for the whole thing, but you can't apply for a separate postgraduate Masters degree to start after your bachelors degree and receive a student loan for it. You can apply for a career development loan, but this is a regular bank loan, with the normal interest rate. I think what Tasneemo meant was that if you're doing a science subject where the uni offers a 3 year AND a 4 year course, you can start on the 3 year course (because they usually have the same first two years) and then ask to transfer to the 4 year course.
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Reply 16
Original post by Cirsium
No. A postgraduate Masters degree (MSc) isn't something you can get a student loan to do. There are certain kinds of 4 year undergraduate masters where you can be funded for the whole thing, but you can't apply for a separate postgraduate Masters degree to start after your bachelors degree and receive a student loan for it. You can apply for a career development loan, but this is a regular bank loan, with the normal interest rate. I think what Tasneemo meant was that if you're doing a science subject where the uni offers a 3 year AND a 4 year course, you can start on the 3 year course (because they usually have the same first two years) and then ask to transfer to the 4 year course.


^^ This is what I meant. Sorry for the confusion!
Reply 17
Original post by Tasneemo
^^ This is what I meant. Sorry for the confusion!



Original post by Cirsium
No. A postgraduate Masters degree (MSc) isn't something you can get a student loan to do. There are certain kinds of 4 year undergraduate masters where you can be funded for the whole thing, but you can't apply for a separate postgraduate Masters degree to start after your bachelors degree and receive a student loan for it. You can apply for a career development loan, but this is a regular bank loan, with the normal interest rate. I think what Tasneemo meant was that if you're doing a science subject where the uni offers a 3 year AND a 4 year course, you can start on the 3 year course (because they usually have the same first two years) and then ask to transfer to the 4 year course.



Original post by gumball
You don't get a student loan whenever you apply for it. A lot of people get a Career Development Loan (like here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1538232 ) which gives you up to Β£10,000 to help. A lot of people either get their parents to help, or work for a bit and get some savings together.


Ahh I see! Sorry that was me being dumb. Thanks guys :smile: so it is much easier to transfer onto the 4 year masters course and stay at the same university to complete your masters and recieve a loan from student finance for all four years rather than do a masters at another Uni where you would have to find other ways of funding the the Masters.
Reply 18
Original post by cwd12
Ahh I see! Sorry that was me being dumb. Thanks guys :smile: so it is much easier to transfer onto the 4 year masters course and stay at the same university to complete your masters and recieve a loan from student finance for all four years rather than do a masters at another Uni where you would have to find other ways of funding the the Masters.

Relatively speaking. But it's far safer to apply for the 4 year course in the first place. Not everywhere lets people transfer, and they'll often ask e.g. that you be on course for a 2i in order to do so.
Reply 19
Original post by cwd12
Ahh I see! Sorry that was me being dumb. Thanks guys :smile: so it is much easier to transfer onto the 4 year masters course and stay at the same university to complete your masters and recieve a loan from student finance for all four years rather than do a masters at another Uni where you would have to find other ways of funding the the Masters.


That's right :smile:

I've heard that student finance get iffy about having to give out a loan for an extra year if you originally applied for a Bachelors and go up to a Masters, but I asked the Admissions guy at the Leicester chem department and he said nothing like that happens, pretty much all their Chemistry applicants transfer from Bsc to Msci without hassle.

Might be a university thing, dunno :confused:
(edited 12 years ago)

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