Postgraduate Study in the UK

Most international students who come to the UK come for a master’s degree — Home Office figures put taught postgraduate study at over 60% of sponsored study visas. Yet most advice online is written for undergraduates, which is why so much of it does not fit.

You probably do not need UCAS

UCAS is the centralised application service for undergraduate courses. Most taught master’s applications are made directly to each university instead, through its own application system.

In practice this means there is no single deadline day, no firm-and-insurance choice, and no limit of five courses. You apply to each university separately, on its own timetable. It gives you more flexibility and rather more admin — which is most of what we take off your hands.

What a UK master’s actually is

If you are still deciding between levels, our comparison of undergraduate and master’s degrees sets out which suits which situation.

A UK taught master’s is typically one year full-time, which is shorter than the two-year norm in many countries. That compression is a genuine advantage in cost and time, and a genuine demand on pace. One consequence worth knowing early: taught courses are generally the restricted side of the rules on bringing dependants to the UK.

Most programmes run taught modules through the year and finish with a dissertation or major project over the summer. You will see MA, MSc, MBA and LLM: broadly, MA for arts and humanities, MSc for science and social science, with MBA and LLM as specific professional qualifications rather than subject labels.

Structurally it is 180 credits at Level 7 — normally 120 credits of taught modules plus a 60-credit dissertation, which is why a PGDip (120 credits) and a PGCert (60) exist as exit awards. You may also meet MRes, weighted towards research training, and MPhil, a research degree longer than a taught master and often a route into a PhD.

One caution on names: at the ancient Scottish universities an undergraduate arts degree is styled MA, and is a bachelor-level qualification despite the title. Postgraduate work is graded Distinction, Merit and Pass rather than the 1st/2:1/2:2 classes used at undergraduate level — the UK grading system sets out the marks behind each.

Entry requirements, and how your degree is compared

UK universities usually express postgraduate entry in terms of UK degree classifications — most commonly an upper second (2:1), with many courses accepting a lower second (2:2), particularly with relevant work experience.

If your degree is from outside the UK, it is compared against those classifications. Universities do this themselves, and how a particular grade converts varies between institutions — the same transcript does not always produce the same answer. This is one of the more useful things to check before applying rather than after being rejected.

Some courses add requirements: a quantitative background for data-heavy subjects, professional experience for an MBA, a relevant first degree for conversion-restricted fields.

Intakes and timing

The main intake is September or October. Many universities also run a January intake, and some a smaller one in spring. Applications commonly open around a year ahead, and popular courses can close early once full.

Working backwards is the useful discipline: you need an offer, then a CAS from the university, then time for the visa application, then travel. Leaving each step to the last available moment is the most common reason a student misses an intake they could have made.

After the course

There is a post-study work route — the Graduate visa — which allows eligible students who have completed an eligible course to stay and work for a period afterwards. Eligibility, the length of stay and the conditions attached are set by UK Visas and Immigration.

One thing worth knowing now, because it affects which intake you choose: GOV.UK states the length is changing. Applications made up to 31 December 2026 currently carry 2 years for a bachelor’s or master’s; from 1 January 2027 that becomes 18 months. Doctoral graduates get 3 years. Checked 23 August 2026 — this is exactly the kind of rule that moves, so confirm the current position at GOV.UK: Graduate visa before planning around it.

We are an admissions service, not a visa provider. We cannot advise on this route or help you apply for it, and whether you would qualify is a matter for the current rules and, if you need advice, a regulated immigration adviser.

What it costs

Postgraduate tuition varies widely — by university, by subject, and particularly by whether a course involves laboratory, clinical or studio teaching. Classroom-based subjects sit at the lower end; clinical and laboratory subjects at the higher.

We do not publish fee figures here, because a wrong number is worse than none: universities publish their own fees for each course and academic year, and those are the figures to plan against. Living costs vary by city, with London materially higher than most of the UK.