A Masters degree is an opportunity to specialise and develop more advanced research skills, often with a career path in mind. It can be exciting to go broader and deeper into a subject, but it can also be a steep learning curve. Being organised and adapting your existing study strategies will help you successfully manage the step up to Masters level.
Scroll down for our recommended strategies and resources.
You are working at a more advanced level. Whether you are returning to academic study or carrying on from an undergraduate course, being open-minded and prepared to develop your study strategies is a good starting point. See this guide and short video for more on the differences between Masters and Undergraduate study:
Masters degrees concentrate on developing independent research skills. A good place to start is to complete our Postgraduate Skills Audit on the page linked below. Completing the Postgraduate Skills Audit will help you identify the types of skills needed at postgraduate level and it will enable you to create a personalised list of priorities to work on, as well as highlighting sources of support available at Brookes to help you.
You will be covering material more quickly, so you may have to spend more time outside of class reading to fill in gaps in your understanding. If you are doing a Masters in a different subject area, or making a career change, you may need to catch up on some fundamental knowledge. See our guide on time management to help keep on top of the workload.
The steep learning curve in a Masters course can be additionally challenging if you are studying in another language. You may have specialist subject vocabulary to learn or want to develop your writing to suit the higher level of study. See our range of academic English classes, workshops, and resources to support you as a postgraduate student: