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Are there any notable pro's vs con's between a 1-year masters and a 2-years masters?

As it says on the subject heading.

Generally speaking, are there any notable pro's vs con's between a 1-year masters and a 2-years masters? The course I am interested in has the option of 1-year full time and 2-years part-time.

Does it make a difference? Are 1-year masters more difficult because it's specialist knowledge offered in a hurry? (i.e maybe a bit more stressful). Do employers care about how long you took? Does 2-years give you more chance to really understand your area?

These are just a few questions, but any reason anyone has between a 1-year or 2-years masters I would be interested to see.

Thanks.

Reply 1

username3739074

You've actually already specified the difference - a one year course is full-time with a timetable similar to that of an undergraduate degree where all of your time will go to doing the course.

Part-time (2 years) masters are not as packed. They cover the same material but only require you for a few days a week. Postgraduate degrees are often taken by professionals looking to further their careers so the part-time option lets them keep working while studying.

If you don't have a job to be doing alongside your PG study, I'd say that a full-time course is better. The extended length of part-time doesn't necessarily lend itself to an increased understanding unless you plan on devoting your spare time to reading around the course. I don't know how the Universities would react (they'd probably wonder why you'd do a part-time degree with no other responsibilities to manage alongside it) and employers probably wouldn't question it too much. Overall though, I'd say do the 1 year - PG courses are designed to be taught in a year and won't unduly burden students, plus you have to consider extra living costs if you are planning on staying at your host uni and even if Student Finance will provide money for a 2 year masters, as I'm not sure if they would. Good luck!

Extra links:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/postgraduate-study/funding-postgraduate-study/working-while-studying
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jan/12/the-pros-and-cons-of-studying-a-part-time-masters

Reply 2

BenRyan99

Careers Forum Helper

Firms would definitely question why you did a part-time masters if you weren't also working a job. Only do a part-time one if you have to because of other responsibilities

Reply 3

Fea7ureCreep

I concur with what's been mentioned already, but would add that many employers won't even accommodate part-time study. Unless you've been with the same employer for many years or else going for a master's degree that really enhances your work, employers typically aren't that keen on people going part-time. Some companies let employees take a sabbatical after a few years of service (e.g. 4, 5 years) and full-time study for a year is then an option. People are allowed by law to request flexible working after 6 months into a job, including move to part-time hours, but a lot of employers refuse those requests because of cost issues, inconvenience, etc.

Many funding opportunities are only for full-time rather than part-time courses - that is the case for my course and was the final reason why I didn't opt for part-time.

In 2020 I found myself between jobs due to impacts of the pandemic. If someone is thinking about doing part-time work to help fund study over 2 years, I'd say that the economic conditions are very challenging and so it's tricky to plan the job situation.

I've been very fortunate to do a fixed-term contract with a new employer this year, so I have a few big projects to wrap up before I start full-time study this October, with the possibility of coming back afterwards. With almost every other job opportunity I'd be committing to permanent role, but companies aren't that pleased if you leave within a year (and also think about the optics with prospective employers).

With all that considered I'd say go for part-time if: i) you've been working with employer for a while who would allow a move to part-time; ii) you have major commitments that could be difficult to fit in with full-time course, e.g. children, care, etc.
Otherwise I think it's great to go 'all in' on full-time route.