Choosing a course

Once you've decided that postgraduate study is for you, you'll need to choose which courses and institutions to apply to.

Do your research

student reading a postgraduate course prospectus in the library

Undertaking further study can be time consuming and expensive, so it's important you take the time to carefully research any courses or programmes you are interested in.

Good people to talk to are:

  • the course provider - admissions staff or programme leaders are usually the best people to answer any questions you might have.
  • current students or past graduates from the course.

You could also consider talking to employers you're interested in working for - how do they view the course?

We've listed some questions below which you might want to ask when researching courses.

The course

  • What are the entry requirements?
  • How long has the course been running?
  • Which institutions offer the course?
  • How is it delivered? Full time, part-time, distance learning
  • Teaching style on the course?
  • Will you be able to cope with the academic demands of the course?
  • How much flexibility is offered in terms of module choice/research topic?

The institution

  • What facilities are available?
  • Who will be delivering/supervising the programme?
  • Is accommodation available for postgraduates?

Your job/career prospects

  • What have past students from the course gone on to do?
  • How is the course viewed by employers?
  • Is it accredited by a professional body? e.g. NCTJ for journalism courses, CIPD for HR, RIBA for architecture

Funding

  • How will I fund the course?
  • Is there any financial support available through the institution?
  • How can I apply for funding?

Location

  • Do I feel comfortable here?
  • Are there many opportunities for part-time work to help support my studies?
  • What is the cost of living (rent, transport etc.) like in this area?

Who can help me make a decision?

Making choices can be difficult. If you're struggling to decide if a particular course is right for you, it might help to chat with a careers adviser - no appointment needed.

You could also consider talking things through with friends, family or your personal tutor.

Resources to help you research courses and institutions

Postgraduate study fairs and open days

Visiting universities that you are considering applying to is often a good way to find out if you are going to be comfortable studying there. It's also a good chance to explore the surrounding area.

Comparison data

  • Unistats - compare institutions and subjects using feedback from over 220,000 students who responded to The National Student Survey. Also includes information on employment prospects.
  • Research Assessment Exercise 2008 - research quality indicator for UK higher education institutions.

While university league tables may be a useful point of reference, it is unwise to base your choice of course or institution solely on this kind of data. The methodology used to create each league table will differ so care should be taken when drawing conclusions from them. View the latest versions of some of the main university league tables:

Destination information

Every UK higher education institution is required to survey its UK and EU graduates, including undergraduates and postgraduates and those who studied full-time and part-time. The collected data shows what graduates were doing 6 months and three years post-graduation.

  • Visit What do graduates do? to find out what Newcastle graduates do after completing their studies.
  • Visit the website of the institution you are interested in attending to view their destination data.

Be aware that data may not be published for courses with too few respondents or small numbers of UK or EU students due to the need to protect anonymity.

Reference books available in the Careers Service