Professional qualifications

Further study can include working towards professional qualifications. These provide sector-specific training and knowledge, and are sometimes needed for pursuing certain careers, such as:

  • teaching
  • law
  • engineering
  • journalism
  • business.

For information on the professional qualifications required for specific careers, see the career sector pages.

Types of professional qualification

Professional qualifications are usually Masters degrees, such as the MBA (business), LLM (law), and MEng (engineering), or postgraduate diplomas, such as the PGDE (teaching).

Professional qualifications may involve both teaching and research. They can be assessed in a variety of ways, including essays, practical assessments, on-the-job experience, or work placements.

They usually last one to two years, though some can be significantly shorter or longer.

You can often find further information on the types of professional qualification available in your subject on the websites of professional bodies, societies and associations. For example:

Conversion courses

Conversion courses let you change career direction or embark on a career outside your first degree. To see what’s available, see Prospects’ conversion courses page.

Benefits

There are many benefits of pursuing professional qualifications. They can help you to:

  • get the training you need to pursue the career you want
  • give you a recognised, or ‘chartered’, status within your sector
  • emphasise to employers that you are interested in continuous professional development
  • increase your ability to make connections with others.

However, it’s important to consider whether they're the right option for you. Studying for professional qualifications is a significant commitment of your time and effort. It could be more academically challenging than undergraduate study or involve a different kind of study to what you are used to.

If you are considering professional qualifications, think about:

  • the cost of the qualification
  • whether gaining the qualification will improve your career prospects
  • the quality of the organisation that provides the training
  • how you might balance study with working if you cannot secure funding.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for professional qualifications will vary by sector, subject and institution. You should always familiarise yourself with the specific entry requirements for your preferred course.

If a course requires an undergraduate degree, you will typically need at least a 2.2, and preferably a 2.1.

For other courses, a degree may not be required. Instead, you may need secondary qualifications, like GCSEs or National 5s, or certain kinds of work experience.

Funding

There are many ways of funding professional qualifications. There are scholarships, grants and bursaries, which usually don't need to be repaid, and loans, which usually do need to be repaid. The process for applying for funding can vary depending on the type and source of funding.

Sources of funding include:

  • government loans
  • sponsorship by employers
  • university scholarships.

Not every funding source will cover all costs associated with your course (for example, they may only cover your tuition fees). Some sources of funding can also be extremely competitive.

See further advice on funding for postgraduate study (Prospects).

Additional resources