Hii there everyone, any advice here would be grateful.

I just got a 1st in my degree. I already have a 2.1 in a degree i did a few years before. (the second degree was funded by my old work so i i did it). Id like to do a phd but i am doing my teacher training for 2 years from september so i cant do a phd for at least 2 or so years. when i come to apply for a phd would i be at a negative because i have waited so long and didnt go for the phd as soon as i got my 1st?

Any experiences or thoughts would be helpful. thanks

I don't really think you'd be looked on badly but do you want to be a teacher or do you want to be an academic?

I don't really see the point of training to be a teacher if your intention is to get a PhD and do an academic job. Lots of people do their PhD then do teacher training if decide they want to teach. But I don't really get the logic of doing teacher training then a PhD...

Hi Kizzy thanks for the reply. Im doing post compulsory teacher training course. i want to be a lecturer in uni's but you must have this qualification as of sep 2010 to do that. Any lecturer would have to do this qualification on top of their PHD now to teach in uni's or colleges....i just got a job in a college on the back of my degree and previous exp in public services and they are paying for the course part time for me...i dont have to pay the 3k fees. so i thought accept this job now, getting paid 30k a year too so i can have the teaching qualification already.

Having a PGCE is a good thing. I did my UG degree, then PGCE, then a MA and then a PhD. At the time of my PGCE, I was teaching in a college. As time went by, I decided I wanted to move to HE teaching and research, hence the MA and PhD. To be honest, in my experience, there is such a massive gap between UG and PhD, that I'd advise anyone to bridge it with a MA, MSc, MMUS or whatever. I knocked my PhD over in 3 years, whereas I've seen people with no Masters degree struggle with the transition.

Really? This is news to me. As far as I was aware qualifications like a PGCE or PDipEd were desirable but not essential at Uni level? I've been looking at teaching jobs, lecturering and fellows, and have not seen one ask for qualifications like that as part of their essential criteria, and I've only seen it once or twice in the desirable. Those were all for jobs starting september/october 2010.
I thought it was a case of a PhD, expertise and experience was expected. I've been a teaching assistant at undergrad level and I wasn't asked for any specific qualifications either. Which qualification do you mean?

I wouldn't worry about a gap between your first degree and the PhD. It's more uncommon for there not to be a gap from what I've seen. Often people will get other qualifications, try a different career path etc before deciding on a PhD. In the intake of PhD students I was in only 2 out of 9 had gone straight on from their 1st degree to the PhD without a gap.

It was to me too! I was totally flabagasted at the need for it. If you take up a post you must have this qualification within 2 years, ie if you dont when you start you have to start it that academic year and pass it. Its not been talked about much at all, i only found out as my institution are very good and kept me informed about things. Thanks for the advice though its really helped me decide that i need to do a masters first! Im going to start searching!

Aha. That makes more sense. I've seen a few positions that have mentioned that you would have to start a HE teaching qualification if you didn't already have one. That must be it. And there I was thinking I'd be done with exams and hoop jumping after the Viva :-(

You might not need a masters but each to their own. I've not done one. I was one of the two that went straight from ungrad to PhD.

Hey! With respect to the masters, it depends on your subject. For some subjects a masters isn't necessary, whereas for others it is a requirement. In the pure sciences people often go from BSc to PhD, yet in other more competitive subjects you wouldn't have a chance without an MSc, so do your research on that one! I'm in clinical psychology and I'd have really struggled to make the leap from BSc to PhD without a masters- the part taught part research MSc I did was the perfect preparation for the PhD, and in our department the MSc is an entry requirement for the PhD anyway. But they are expensive and usually unfunded, so check out whether you will definitely need one to have a chance of getting a PhD! Best, KB

I took 4 years between getting a first and starting a PhD. I don't think it has ever disadvantaged me and I don't think I was ever asked why I didn't do it straight away. It seems even if asked you can account for why you are doing things the way you are, so I do;t think you would be disadvantaged.