英国高等教育课程设置与证书分类综述

　　UKuniversitiesandcollegesofferthousandsofexcellentcourses,leadingtoqualificationsthatarerespectedbyemployersandacademicsworldwide.WhenyouthinkofUKhighereducationqualifications,youmightthinkofbachelorsandmastersdegrees,MBAsandPhDs.Thereare,however,manyothertypes.

　　Atundergraduatelevelthemainqualificationsofferedare:

　　1.Bachelorsorundergraduatedegree:Academicstudydesignedtohelpyougainathoroughunderstandingofasubject.Full-time,thisnormallytakesthreeyearstocomplete(fourinsomecases).Therearedifferenttitlesofdegree,suchas:BachelorofArts(BA),BachelorofScience(BSc),BachelorofEducation(BEd)andBachelorofEngineering(BEng).

　　DegreesareclassifiedaseitherOrdinaryorHonoursthiscanvarybetweenuniversitiesandcolleges.Generallyan'ordinary'or'unclassified'degreemaybeawardedifastudenthascompletedafulldegreecoursebuthasn'tobtainedthetotalrequiredpassessufficienttomeritathird-classhonoursdegree.InScotland,an'ordinary'degreeisusuallyathree-yearfull-timecourse,whereasan'honours'degreeisusuallyafour-yearfull-timecourse.

　　2.Foundationdegree:Theequivalentofthefirsttwoyearsofanhonoursdegree,thismaybestudiedfull-orpart-time,andconsistsofacademicstudyintegratedwithrelevantwork-basedlearningundertakenwithanemployer.Itmaybestudiedasastandalonequalificationoruponcompletion,youmayprogresstothefinalyearofanhonoursdegree.

　　3.DiplomaofHigherEducation:Twoyear,full-timeDipHEcoursesarenormallyequivalenttothefirsttwoyearsofadegreeandcanoftenbeusedforentrytothethirdyearofarelateddegreecourse.Theycanbeacademic,butaremainlylinkedtoaparticularjoborprofessionsuchasnursingandsocialwork.

　　4.CertificateofHigherEducation:Focusesoneitheraparticularjoborprofession,oracademicstudy.Equivalenttothefirstyearofafullhonoursdegree,theyarethemostbasiclevelofqualificationthatcanbegainedinhighereducationandshowthatyouarecapableofstudyingsuccessfullyatuniversitylevel.YoucanuseaCertHEtogainconfidencetostudysuccessfullyatuniversitylevel,changecareersorprogressyourcurrentcareer,ortoachieveafoundationdegree,DipHEorfullhonoursdegreethroughadditionalstudy.

　　5.HigherNationalDiploma(HND):Atwo-yearcoursewhich,ifcompletedwithhighgrades,canleadtothethirdyearofadegree.

　　Atpostgraduatelevel,themainqualificationsofferedare:

　　1.Master'sdegree.Amastersqualificationallowsyoutofurtheryourknowledgeinaparticularsubject,ortogoinacompletelydifferentdirection,usingtheskillsyouvegainedfromyourundergraduatestudies.Amastersdegreeisanacademicqualificationawardedtoindividualswhosuccessfullydemonstrateahigherlevelofexpertiseinaparticularfieldofstudy.Youcanstudyoneinalmostanysubject,buttherearetwomaintypesofmasters:taughtandresearch(seebelow).

　　Mostmaster'scoursesleadtoanMA(MasterofArts)orMSc(MasterofScience)qualification,buttherearealsosubject-specificqualificationsincludingMEng(MasterofEngineering),MFA(MasterofFineArts),LLM(MasterofLaws),MArch(MasterofArchitecture),andmore.CoursesleadingtoanMPhil(MasterofPhilosophy)qualificationareresearch-ledandoftendesignedforstudentstoprogresstoaPhD.

　　2.MBAcourses.AMasterofBusinessAdministration(MBA)degreeisaninternationallyrecognisedqualificationwhichgivesyoutheskillsyouneedforasuccessfulmanagementcareer.MBAcoursescovertopicssuchasbusinesspolicyandstrategy,operationalandstrategicmanagement,marketing,marketresearch,financeandaccounting,IT,humanresourcemanagement,leadership,entrepreneurshipandinternationaltrade.

　　3.PhDs/doctorates.ADoctorofPhilosophy,ordoctorate(PhD/DPhil)isthehighestacademiclevelastudentcanachieve.Thesedegreesareverydemandingandoftenleadtocareersinacademia(asalecturerorresearcher).Doctoratecoursescanbeappliedforbystudentswhoachieveatleasta2:1resultatundergraduatelevel.Althoughyoudontnecessarilyneedamastersdegree,itisusualpracticetoundertakeonebeforeaPhD.

　　4.Postgraduatediplomasandqualifications.Forthosewishingtocontinuetheirstudiesbeyondanundergraduatedegree,avarietyofoptionsareavailable.Postgradcertificatesanddiplomasallowstudentstostudysomethingneworbuildontheskillsandknowledgealreadygainedduringtheirfirstdegree.

　　5.Professionalandvocationalqualifications.Aprofessionalorvocationalqualificationisusuallytakentoimproveskillsorgainattributesrequiredbyspecificjobs.Mostawardswillinvolvepracticaltraining,givingyoutheopportunitytoexperienceajobfirst-hand.

　　6.Conversioncourses.Aconversioncourseisavocationalpostgraduatequalificationusuallytakenbygraduateswantingtochangesubjectareaaftertheirfirstdegreeandbetterpreparethemselvesforthejobmarket.

　　Taughtpostgraduateprogrammesconsistofaseriesoflecturesorseminars,andareassessedthroughexamsorcoursework.Researchpostgraduateprogrammesrequiremorein-depthindependentstudy,usuallyoveraperiodoftwoorthreeyears.Youthenreportonyourresearchbywritingitintheformofathesisordissertation.

　　Subjectsandmodules

　　Mosthighereducationcourseshaveamodularstructure.Thismeansthatyoucanbuildapersonalisedcoursebychoosingmodulesorunitsofstudyfromdifferentsubjectareas.Forexample,ifyouarestudyingEnglishliterature,foryourfirstyearyoucouldchooseonemoduleonSciencefiction,onemoduleonChildrensliterature,andonemoduleonShortstories.

　　Ifyouareinterestedinmorethanonesubject,youmaybeabletostudyacombinationaspartofyourcourse,e.g.Englishliteratureandpsychology.Youcanoftendecideforyourselfhowmuchtimeyouwouldliketospendoneachsubject.Jointmeansthetwosubjectsarestudiedequally(50/50),major/minormeansthetimespentisusually75%/25%.

　　Workexperience

　　Somecoursesincludeayearofworkinginindustryforexample,workingforabusiness,charityorpublicsectororganisation.ThiswillusuallybeforthethirdyearofadegreecourseorthesecondyearofanHNDand,dependingontheemployer,maybefull-timepaidemployment.Thepurposeofthisistointroduceyoutotheworldofwork,whilegainingvaluableexperienceinaprofessionyoumightconsideraftercompletingyourhighereducationcourse.

　　Studymodes

　　Mostfull-timeundergraduatecoursestakethreeyearstocomplete(typicallyfouryearsinScotland).Full-timepostgraduatecoursescanbefromoneyearupwards.

　　Part-timecoursesarenormallytakenoveralongerperiod,sothatyoucanworkalongsideyourstudiesorlearnatamorerelaxedpace.Thereisnosetlengthoftimeforpart-timecoursesitvariesfromonecoursetoanother.

　　AswellasstudyingoncampusintheUK,youcouldchoosetostudyoutsidetheUKforexample,bydistancelearningorbyjoiningaUKoverseascampus.

　　Theacademicyear

　　IntheUK,thestandardacademicyearstartsinSeptemberorOctoberandrunsuntilJuneorJuly.Somecoursesaremoreflexible,however,andofferarangeofstartdates.