There are so many jobs that now require a master’s degree however some industries require and favour applicants with a postgraduate qualification.
Education – Most jobs in education require some form of postgraduate degree as it enables you to develop the specialist skills and knowledge required to teach.
Primary Education – You don’t need a masters to teach secondary education however you do need a PGCE Postgraduate Certificate in Education. A PGCE is a 60-credit level seven qualification and often the credits you earn can be supplement a master’s education programme after you’ve graduated.
Higher Education – If you’re wanting to teach at colleges or at university, you’ll need to have a masters and maybe even a doctorate in the subject you’re looking to teach.
Epidemiologist – With epidemiology, you can take the research focused route or the patient focused route. Both require at least a master’s in public health, statistical science, or biological science. Many employers may also ask for a PhD in epidemiology if you are wanting a career in the academic research sector.
Public health consultant – In order to qualify for the specialist training, you must have a Bachelor of Medicine or a bachelor of surgery or an equivalent medical qualification and a masters or a PhD degree. You can also qualify through the portfolio route, but you will need a postgraduate degree and a portfolio of work experience to be assessed. For our public health course, click here.
Nursing – You don’t need a master’s degree to become a nurse but if you want to specialise or progress into a managerial role then you will need to complete a masters in nursing straight after your undergraduate degree. You can also enter this field of work if you have relevant caring experience.
Social worker – If you did an undergraduate degree in social work, you don’t need a masters to qualify however, if your degree was unrelated then you will need to take a Master of Social Work degree.
Psychology and therapy – To obtain a fully qualified status in psychology or therapy, you must take an accredited undergraduate course and a postgraduate course in the relevant fields. There are two routes - id you did an undergraduate degree in psychology, you can choose a masters and specialise (click here to explore options). If you did not undertake a psychology undergraduate degree, you can take our Psychology MSc conversion course.
Law - You don’t technically need a master’s degree to practice law, however you will need to take a specialist postgraduate course depending on the field of law you intend to enter. Click here for our law courses.
Barrister - To become a barrister, you must complete five years of training, including a one-year postgraduate bar course and one-year pupillage. Bar courses are not technically master’s degrees, but they have been included in this list as they are a form of postgraduate study.
Solicitor - Similar to the barrister route, to qualify as a solicitor you will need to have taken the Legal Practice Course (LPC). Like bar courses, the LPC is not technically classed as a master’s qualification as it is highly vocational, but it’s still a postgraduate course and so is worth being included in this list.
Economist – You don’t need a master’s degree but employers are asking for a masters in economics. If you want to remain competitive a postgraduate degree would be recommended.
Historian - To work as a professional historian, you’ll need at least a Bachelors and a Masters degree in History or a related field. Due to increasing competition to land these roles, many applicants will also have a PhD and significant amount of archive experience
Some occupations do not require a masters however it can still be extremely beneficial to differentiate you from other candidates, competing for the same job.
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