Are you thinking about postgraduate study but not sure where to begin? To help you get started, here are our top reasons to study a postgraduate degree:
1. Enhance your career and boost your earnings
Postgraduate study is a great way to climb the career ladder. Holding a masters degree can help you gain more senior roles as you become more knowledgeable in your chosen field. Employers will recognise the skills you’ve gained from your masters degree, so if you’re just starting out you could begin higher up the ladder, or progress more quickly in your current role.
You could also benefit from a higher salary – according to the 2022 Graduate Labour Market Statistics, postgraduates earn on average £6,500 a year more than undergraduates.
2. Embark on a new career
Your undergraduate degree doesn’t have to define your career – you could use postgraduate study to start again. Choose from a range of conversion courses and study a completely new subject.
3. Take on opportunities
As well as being an excellent qualification that can help develop your career, consider what else you could gain from studying for a postgraduate degree. For example, we offer opportunities that can add to your student experience, such as work experience, volunteering and the chance to gain extra qualifications alongside your degree.
If you study MA Visual Practice, you’ll be encouraged to gain creative industry experience, such as working on live commissions, entering competitions and exhibiting work in public exhibitions.
MSc Leadership in Criminal Justice and Policing offers you a unique opportunity to volunteer as an appropriate adult during your studies, through the Local Appropriate Adult scheme, founded and ran by our Criminology academic team in collaboration with the Police and Crime Commissioner and Northumbria Police. Through this, you could achieve an additional professional qualification – a Level 2 QCF accredited gateway qualification, in working as an appropriate adult for vulnerable adults and juveniles.
And our Applied MSc courses, such as MSc Applied Project Management or MSc Applied Cybersecurity enable you to undertake a placement (subject to availability) and put your new skills into practice.
Finally, are you interested in running your own business or freelance practice? The Digital Incubator and the Enterprise Place can help get you started.
Applying for a masters degree
Now you know why you should study a postgraduate degree, here’s what you need to know about applying:
How to choose a course
Learn more about the postgraduate degree courses we offer by exploring our subject areas and courses. To delve even deeper, join us on campus at our next Postgraduate Open Day and see for yourself what Sunderland has to offer you.
How to apply
To study your masters degree with us, simply head to the course page of your choice and click the ‘Apply now’ button at the top of the page. This will take you to our online form where you can make your application. Even better – if you’ve studied your undergraduate degree with us, you can complete our short form to speed up the process.
How to fund your degree
You may be entitled to a government-backed postgraduate loan from the Student Loans Company if you are applying for a masters or PhD course. Read our postgraduate student finance guide for more information.
You could also benefit from our range of scholarships and bursaries that are available to postgraduate students, including tuition fee discounts and subject-specific cash scholarships.
Published: 19 July 2023