Postgraduate certificate or diplomas (PG Cert/Dip) are awarded at a graduate level for students who have completed a one-year curriculum that typically does not include research. These certificates are similar to postgraduate degrees in the U.S., and are offered in a broad range of subjects including, finance, management, marketing and forensics. Other degrees that can be completed after one-year of study are some master's degrees including the MBA, or master's of business administration.
Taught master's degrees are undergraduate level degrees that typically last one to two years and include modules and a dissertation. The module portion of study includes lectures, seminars, essays, and examinations. The dissertation is a lengthy paper written on a topic of research performed by the student. The degrees at this level of study include master of arts (MA), biochemistry (MBiochem), biology (MBiol), chemistry (MChem), computing (MComp), divinity (MDiv), education, (MEd), engineering (MEng), environmental science (MEnvSci), law (LLM), mathematics (MMath), physics (MPhys), science (MSci) and theology (MTheol).
Research masters degrees are graduate level degrees that are equivalent to a master's degree in the United States. A research master's degree typically takes two or more years of study and is based on research. Most students attempting a research master's will not attend many lecture style courses and will spend the majority of time on research for the dissertation. The specific degrees at this level of graduate work include master's of business administration (MBA), philosophy (MPhil), research (MRes), studies (MSt), and theology (MTh).
Doctorate degrees in the UK take three to four years to complete and typically consist of a research project that lasts the course of the degree. The UK divides the doctorate level degree into two categories: junior doctorates and higher doctorates. These degree levels vary among universities, but junior doctorates typically consist of doctor of philosophy (PhD), education (EdD), medicine (MD) and theology (ThD). Higher doctorates subject areas typically include doctor of divinity (DD), laws (LLD), medicine (MD), science (DSc), dentistry (DDS) and doctor of the University (DUniv).