Master's degree
Master's degrees are focused on one discipline or coherent programme of study. They may be undertaken by taught courses or research, or a combination of both.
Master's degrees usually build on undergraduate degrees, bachelor with honours degrees or postgraduate diplomas. They may also build on a person's extensive professional experience. They are significantly advanced from undergraduate study, and require students to engage in scholarship and/or research.
Providers of courses leading to master's qualifications are responsible for establishing entry requirements. The minimum entry qualification for a 240 credit master's degree is a bachelor degree or equivalent. For a master's degree of fewer than 240 credits, normally the minimum entry qualification is a bachelor degree with honours or a postgraduate diploma.
Admission to a master's degree programme is based on the evaluation of documented evidence (including the academic record) of the applicant's ability to undertake postgraduate study in a specialist field of enquiry or professional practice. The candidate must have attained, through formal study, professional or other experience, a high level of knowledge about the principal subject(s), and have demonstrated interest in, and an aptitude for, scholarship. An applicant who holds either a bachelor degree with honours or a postgraduate certificate or diploma may be exempt from all or some of the taught courses, having already completed them in the previous qualification.
A graduate with a master's degree qualification is able to:
- show evidence of advanced knowledge about a specialist field of enquiry or professional practice
- demonstrate mastery of sophisticated theoretical subject matter
- critically evaluate the findings and discussions in the literature
- research, analyse and argue from evidence
- work independently and apply knowledge to new situations
- engage in rigorous intellectual analysis, criticism and problem-solving.
If a master's degree includes a substantial component of supervised research, then the results of that research will normally be presented in a thesis, dissertation, substantial research paper or creative work.
The research should be completed to internationally recognised standards and demonstrate that the graduate has the capacity for independent thinking.
The master's degree is at least 240 credits, except where it builds on four years' of prior study at bachelor degree level or above, in which case it can be fewer than 240 but no fewer than 120 credits.
The master's degree must comprise a minimum of 40 credits at level 9 with the remainder at level 8. A person who holds a master's degree which includes a significant component of research may be considered for admission to a programme of advanced study and/or original research leading to a doctoral degree.