I have a BA exam from the University of Helsinki. I did achieve a 5/5 for the research itself but about 3,6/5 for the entire BA exam. We do not have the system of 1s or 2:1s in Finland. I would now like to get a PhD exam as the next degree and skip the MA altogether. This is mainly because of my age and because I would like to do a bigger research. This is why I have been thinking about starting my post-graduate studies in the UK where it is possible to do a PhD directly after a BA. I would like to focus on Viking-Age and Medieval Scandinavia or the contacts between Scandinavia and Europe during this time. At what universities would it be best for me to conduct my studies? Would it be possible to get any funding at all for the research?

I would recommend a masters degree before PhD, as this will give you a good foundation in research skills and a deeper knowledge of your topic. It also gives you a better CV when you apply for PhD places.

You are unlikely to be able to get any funding for a history PhD without an MA in the UK. You will also need outstanding BA and MA results to be a competitive candidate for AHRC awards (the main funder - fees only too for EU citizens, who haven't lived in the UK for 3 years). You will also find a growing reluctance in the UK to allow any student to progress straight from a BA to a PhD in the humanities. It still happens in some lab-based science areas, but is rare otherwise. This might limit your choices of university to a small number.

Would it be possible to apply directly for an MPhil exam? How many words is it usually in an MPhil? I would like to write a bigger research.

Check the PhD you want to do and speak to people in the department. If you need a masters choose your course equally as carefuly, I was nearly undone by doing a taught masters as even though it had research the dissertation year was not counted as resarch credits by the uni I wanted to do my PhD at. It turned out I would have done better having done an Mres rather than an MA (but this is not true for all PhD appliations).

Good luck ;-D

I think that would be great. I did think the BA was really child's play and I would now like to write and dig deeper into a bigger question. I have done my BA here in Finland so I do not have anyone in England that supervised my work. If I would go to the UK I could theoretically have an opportunity to write my PhD for a person who is my friend since several years back. In other words I would theoretically even have a supervisor ready in the UK.

Boo and others,

Does it effect presumptive post-doc jobs if one has a BA and a PhD but not an MA?

Employers tend to focus mainly on the quality of your highest qualification (+ work experience etc) rather than how many lower qualifications you have. However this point isn't that important in this particular case, because you might find it hard to get onto a PhD if you don't have a masters.

Yes depending on where you hope to work. Many North American universities expect to see evidence of postgraduate level taught courses i.e. a transcript, as often staff must have completed so many hours of postgrad taught courses to be acceptable employees for university accreditation purposes. Some European countries too expect candidates to have completed all stages of the Bologna cycle I.e. BA, MA and PhD to be eligible for university posts. For non-academic jobs, less important but you wouldn't technically be eligible for any jobs requiring a MA degree, and in mainland Europe that technicality can be more of an issue than you might expect. Put it like this, a German friend who did what you want to do, has had to go back and do an MA after a PhD as otherwise she couldn't get jobs in the sector she wanted in Germany. Germany is notoriously bureaucratic but it wouldn't surprise me if there were other cases elsewhere.

On another note, according to the University of Helsinki website it seems that your overall grade of 3.6 for the BA converts to a C in ECTS terms. That equates to a high 2:2 in the UK. I honestly think this may be a huge stumbling block to being accepted to a high quality MA programme, let alone a PhD and would almost certainly rule you out of any funding in history.

I think going straight from BA to PhD in your case would be a big mistake. Aside from the issues that you're unlikely to get funding and may even struggle to get a place at all with that BA grade (many PhD programmes in the UK will only take 2.1 and upwards) a taught Masters teaches you how to do postgraduate research, and most UK humanities PhD programmes assume that entrants have acquired that knowledge. You are more likely to drop out of your PhD IMHO if you don't do a Masters first. Even if you stay the course you are likely to find it much more of a personal struggle than it would be if you'd done the right training.

I have a history PhD. I completed a taught Masters first. I don't think I could have completed my part-time PhD, which was very much driven by myself defining my own research topic, and fortunately winning funding from the second year onwards, without it.

I am pissed off at the personal at the University of Helsinki who always said to me that it does not matter what one gets as grades from the courses and only the grade one gets for the BA research. I could have done much higher grades for the courses if I would have known that the grades actually do matter. This is why I have so low grades for the entire BA and the best 5/5 for the BA research. :(

I am now thinking about the MPhil. Should one have a MA for that as well? Does it effect presumptive jobs in the future if one has a BA and a MPhil not an MA?

Does it have a negative effect on the future if I have a higher 2:2 in my BA but have done better in a MA or MPhil?

Some universities in the UK offer Masters by Research which are essentially 100% research (very little requried coursework) and for exceptional students, this may count towards the first year of a PhD (at which point your registration is changed to a PhD and you never graduate with the MRes) . It's not common but it happens. In all cases, a MRes is a good preparation for a PhD and you can apply for an MRes directly with a BA (as long as you have research proposal).

Is Masters of Research really for History? I have understood that it is more for those who study arts and design.

There are Masters by Research available for most subject areas. A quick searh on FindAMasters found 31 MRes in the UK: