With the cost of masters degrees reaching new highs, it's getting to a point where I personally think they're harder to afford.

I blummin love studying though and as someone who is ultimately wanting to teach I'm always keen to broaden my subject options (particularly for FE purposes).

I'm weighing up doing maybe a PgCert (one third of a masters) or a PgDip (two thirds of masters) in the near future because I find lots of subjects interesting and for the reasons above. I just hope I don't feel frustrated that I might not be able to complete a full masters from any given subject due to not having the funds.

Anyone else just gone up to PgCert/PgDip? What were your reasons? Do you regret not completing the full masters? Would you do a PgCert/PgDip as a more affordable way of being able to study at this level just for the sheer pleasure of it?

Hi! I'm not sure how much my experience will help you but here's my thoughts anyway. I think it truly depends on your motivation for studying whatever topic you choose. If it is purely to study then who cares!? But, if it's to achieve career goals, it really depends what that career requires.

I say that because I did Town Planning at undergrad level. The institution I studied at then run a certificate in planning practice (basically an industrial placement). Following that, the typical route is to do a PgDip in Town Planning. I followed this route and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ultimately a PgDip is just usually a Masters without a dissertation. The majority of my friends left uni at this point and are now working in their roles with a PgDip and nobody seems to mind. Personally, I chose to convert my PgDip to a Masters by writing a dissertation (and paying a top up fee) after I'd completed my course but I did that because I wanted to, not because I had to for work/jobs etc.

I really think it depends what you want to do and why you're studying. If it is for the sheer pleasure then it doesn't matter but if it's for a particular career path then you might need to think about it..

Hope that's at least a little helpful.

I agree with Jennypenny, it depends on your reasons for wanting to study. I did a PGDip years ago, related to my field of work at that time. The PGDip was a recognised qualification and I didn't intend to use it for further study, just to enhance my work prospects. Years later, I did a Masters with a strong research component, and this time it was because I wanted to go on and do further research/a PhD. Like you, I love studying and I would consider further PGCert/Dip courses in the future if I could afford them and if they allowed me to study something I was interested in.

Different disciplines must differ in the PgDip as I did one a few years ago and I had a 10 thousand word dissertation to do to complete it. I then did a full master's after that.

The only reason I did the pgdip was because I needed it to obtain GBC (graduate basis for chartership) otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. I felt it was a lot of money and a lot of repetition from my undergrad just for that one thing. The masters was a lot more interesting and challenging and I enjoyed that a lot more.

My PgDip included a 10 thousand word dissertation as well. The difference between it and a Masters was that for the PGDip I just had to base my dissertation on lit review/proposal, and for the Masters I actually had to carry out research.