I´m confused! I´m from germany and have finished "biology" with the german "Diplom", what means 6 years of study including 1 year of practical work and finishing with a diploma thesis. Can I start a PhD in great britain or do I have to do a masters degree first???

Omira, did you finish from Fachochshule or from Universitaet?

Come to think of it, maybe the best thing to do would be to contact the postgraduate admissions people at the departments of the universities that take your fancy. I think it would be a mistake to try to compare the German "Diplom" with say the bachelors or masters degrees here. Therefore, an idea might be to send them some details about what exams/courses you took, what other experience you have etc. etc. Maybe this way, your worth as a prospective PhD student can be assessed more according to your individual merit. This is as opposed to according to what standard the academics *think* your studies to be at. I think the German "Diplom" is a fairly recognised qualification anyway.

Having said that, my boyfriend tells me that it would be difficult to be accepted as a PhD student if you got your qualification from a FH. Maybe other German students out there could comment as to whether this would be the case or not. I don't know whether UK universities lay out specifications for foreign degrees.

So beware, I might have been writing rubbish before (sorry)! I think it wouldn't do any harm nevertheless to enquire to academics, giving as much information as you can about what you did in Germany.

Thank you for your prompt help! I finished at university and it was quite hard! I`ll contact the universities, that`s a good hint.

See our PhD's Explained section for links and information on equivalent qualifications.

I have finished with a "Diplom-Betriebswirt" from the Berufsakademie and this title was accepted as equivalent to the bachelor. They told me at University that if it would have been a Diploma from a University, I could have started at the Masters level. Hope this helps.

I am a Diplom Biologe. I had no probs getting my PhD at a British Uni. When I started I read that the British Council accepts Diplom as Ba (Hons). Given what we had to learn and they had to learn a joke, but there you go. Remember always, Rule Britania. etc. ;) Brits can't really compute that they might be NOT the best at something. 1966 wahey.

They told me at University that if it would have been a Diploma from a University, I could have started at the Masters level." Wished they would have told me that. But if you are accepted as Masters, don't you still have to do the whole 3 years of a PhD. Anyway there is some info at NAIRC and The British Council in Germany - it has changed since I started.

May I add after a bit of Brit bashing, that it's definitly worth studying here, just from the international recognition point of view. Their Unis are more organised, like FH's actually ;). Not like the normal Uni I went to. Chaos in motion. Good Luck anyway.

No, having a Diploma was no problem at all- getting funding is the reall challange if you're not british.
My Diploma was never qustioned as not being good enough. I started my PhD directly after my Diploma with no problems.

The rules probably vary from university to university.