I have a friend with a master with years of experience and a diploma. He managed to score relatively well (full GPA) in his master program. He will like to continue w/ a PhD.

Is it possible?

I have given him my explanation that a master > degree, and therefore shouldn't be a issue when applying for a PhD.

Not sure if anyone could offer 2 cents worth.

Thanks a lot.

How can he have an MSc without a degree? I've never heard of this.

Like I've mention, he was granted admission base on years of experience and a diploma. And he did expectional well for his master. I do believe he has a good chance for phd. Anyone else?

For example, Freeman Dyson enrolled in the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics.
He is now a physics professor, but he did not have a master or PhD in physics.

Yes. A good example. Anyone been to similar pathway?

I know it's possible to do a Masters without doing a degree first. Years ago, I did a postgraduate diploma, and lots of my fellow students did not have degrees but had been admitted on the basis of their work experience. There was the opportunity to carry on and do a Masters from that.
Maybe your friend should start by contacting some of the places he is interested in and discussing his qualifications and experience? With a good Masters, I would certainly have a go at applying.

It's possible in the UK at least.

In the UK if you have an HND, HNC or equivalent qualifications according to the UK national qualifications framework, you can apply to do a Post-Grad Diploma but not a Masters.

However, as a Post-Grad Diploma is essentially the same course as the Masters at least for the first few months, if your grades and marks are sufficiently high you can be upgraded to the full Masters (essentially the extra modules needed for Masters, which may or may not include the project period). Obviously you then have to successfully complete the Masters.

Continuing to PhD will then be certainly possible, however, to obtain funding you may be expected to achieve certain grades if you do not have a preceeding Bachelor's degree. You will need to be at least Merit level at Masters without preceeding degree if you are to stand a chance.

If you have to settle for a Post-Grad Diploma, then that in itself may allow you then to apply for Masters without a Bachelor's degree.

As an aside, the HND to "Masters via upgrade from Postgrad Diploma" may be a way to bypass (or at least reduce) the need for loans and tuition fees that now form the almost unavoidable fact of life for studying a Bachelor's degree. However, this depends on you finding funding for each step of what you do, including HND and "Masters via upgrade from Postgrad Diploma" (though the latter may still need a loan if you do not have a Bachelor's degree - one year of loans is still better than three or four years though). Someone else may be able to elaborate more on this.

I know two people with HNDs that were upgraded and ended up with a Masters rather than a Post-Grad Diploma.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Hi chickpea & Ian,

The information and updates you have provided are valuable. My friend is starting to regret his decision that he should have done a b.degree instead. Certainly, I will update him on my findings. :)

And hopefully he can get into a University doing his PhD.

I assume not all school accept this kind of pathway. Did anyone know of similar person got an example?

Like to know if there is any school in which you would recommend.

Both the people with HNDs I knew of that were upgraded to Masters rather than settle for a Post-Grad Diploma did not go beyond Masters. The first I didn't know that well and once the Masters was finished, there was no further contact (to be honest, we had very little time for each other).

The other person I knew quite well and from the career development plan paperwork I saw, as he was working as part of a University Institute the plan was to ask him to do a PhD part-time alongside his job. However, this never came to fruition as the University hierachy decided to merge the institute with another, which in the end effectively closed it. He moved on and his PhD never happened (I don't think he was too bothered to be honest).

The pathway discussed above is not a common one and anyone on an HND offered the chance to upgrade to a Batchelor's level degree should seriously consider it if they believe they want to do further study afterwards. That said, people's personal circumstances are different, meaning unusual paths may often be followed.

In many cases, one extra top-up year may be suffiicient to turn the HND into a degree. This may be the easier route to take - provided the HND is fairly recent, one option might be to upgrade via the Open University.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Yes Ian. It seem that school are less forgiving even if you have a good master grade w/o a bachelor. At least this is what my friend has suggested to me. As a ex group mate of him, I do need to vouch for his professional and critical thinking. He is good.

Guys, I was told by my friend that many school is willing to take him in as PhD candidate. But it seem that most are not willing provide scholarship (funding). Is it a norm for his case of having a master w/o a degree?

2 cents worth anyone?

Depends on the field. In science, PhD offers usually come with funding. In arts and humanities this is less common. This is irrespective of one's previous qualifications.

Not being offered funding by the university does not mean there is no possibility of funding - there are research councils and charitable foundations to which one may apply. One may also proceed unfunded, but I would strongly caution against that, at least not full time.

What are your friend's reasons for wanting to do a PhD?

Also, just to clarify, was he told that the universities would take him by the general admissions offices or by specific departments/supervisors?

If the former, then they are talking generally and would not be in the position to offer funding - that should be discussed with a specific supervisor/department.

If the latter then it might be worth asking whether funding may become available in the future or seeing if any advertised PhD positions come up.