How many hours a week/day do you study for master?

Anonymous #1

How many hours a week/day should you study for your master?

Reply 1

gjd800

Treat it as a 9-5 whenever possible.

Reply 2

hallamstudents

Official Rep

40 hours is the recommended amount. It's not just about time attending lectures, but also for independent research and work.

- Rosie

Reply 3

Mr Wednesday

Original post

by Anonymous

How many hours a week/day should you study for your master?

40 hours a week would be a sensible minimum, depends on how well you want to do.

Reply 4

Keele Rep

Official Rep

As others in the thread have said, it's a good idea to treat it as a full-time job (e.g., 40 hours a week). This allows for both attendance at seminars/lectures, and independent study/research. As with any job, some weeks will be busier than others but, in my experience, the MA/MSc year is pretty intense so anything you can do to get ahead in quieter weeks will pay dividends during assessment season!

Amy Louise
PhD English Literature, Keele University

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 5

UoS PG students

Official Rep

Hi, hope you are well!
I would also agree that treating my MSc like a fulltime job has been the best way of working, personally.
This does sometimes make it difficult to fit in having a job to earn money, as well as socialising and downtime, but definitely makes the work easier in the long run!
It's got to the point where I actually like to have a 9am because then I have no excuse not to get up and get to uni! :smile:

Abbie
University of Southampton, Postgraduate Ambassador

Reply 6

Bradford Rep

Official Rep

Hi,

Postgraduate studies requires time and concentration. It is considered a full time job. I would say a minimum of 30 hours of study is required.

Reply 7

londonmyst

45-50 hours a week.

Reply 8

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

I used to find beginnings of term approximately 20hrs (basically just attending my taught material)
Middle of term 30hours
Enf of term & exams 50hrs

With the exception of exam weeks, I really didn’t find a masters too bad work wise & left plenty of time for sports, societies & drinking. I think the big difference between doing well at masters is not necessarily amount of work, but organisation, focus & self-discipline. I always completed coursework strategically and planned my schedule carefully.