MA Careers and Education Guidance Work

Overall score

I enjoyed this course and found a lot of the theory I learnt very interesting. It is a very theoretical course and if you get annoyed by a certain degree of intellectual postering this might not necessarily be for you! I did the MA as I had slighly naive ambitions to 'work in the film industry'. If you want to work in film, this course is related but it is not practical in any way. That said I am pretty sure one of my course mates ended up working in the film industry. The course is probably more useful if you want to go into film journalism, but although it will certainly increase your knowledge of film, it will teach you how to write about film in an academic rather than a journalistic way.

Study experience

The lecturers on the whole were really good, and all showed a passion for film. I have a whole load of notes and course material that I've kept, so we weren't short of a hand out or two. I remember when I did my dissertation my lecturer was pretty involved and helpful, although I seem to remember it took him a little while to get back to emails, but he was a busy guy. I think the course was value for money in that I learnt a lot, but I think I would have been better off spending the course fees on a more practical course. But this was more related to my own ambitions rather than the course itself. If you love film and simply want to do a course in order to learn more about it, then this is a good one to go on.

Facilities

I was a part time student and didn't really access any of the facilities at my disposal. The campus at Harrow looked pretty nice and shiny though. Thinking about it, it was a bit of a schlep having to go to both the Westminster Campus and the Harrow Campus, but that was the nature of the university.

Postgraduate life

I met a couple of cool people on the course who I spent time with whilst I was studying, but who I haven't kept in contact (more a mark of my laziness than their personalities). We'd often go out for a drink together after class, and the lecturer would join us (one of the advantages of being a grown up postgrad). The two campuses that I had to get to were on Regent Street and Northwick Park. Loads to do in Regent Street and bugger all to do in Northwick Park. But Northwick Park was a self contained campus, and if I had been an undergraduate student there I think it would have been OK (I certainly got a heady dose of nostalgia every time I had to walk past the university flats. Ah, the life of an undergraduate...)

Job prospects

To be honest, I really don't see this MA as being especially vocational. It gives you knowledge, but then it's up to as to how you utilise it. Other than being able to bore people about sexuality and the Hannibal Lector trilogy, I don't think the MA taught me anything that would have been essential for me if I had wanted to pursue a career in film in some way. But it was really interesting none the less.

This review is the subjective opinion of a postgraduatesearch.com reviewer and not of postgraduatesearch.com.

Overall score

I really enjoyed this course, I found that after my undergraduate degree in English language and linguistics, I had no vocation. I found a flyer for the MA in Publishing in the envelope with my BA results, and this inspired me to use my knowledge for the English language for a career in publishing. Doing the course made my skills appicable to the real world of work.

Study experience

The tutors were really knowledgeable, and a lot of guest tutors/speakers actually work in the publishing industry, which made it all real. We were set actual proofreading, editing and comissioning tasks, so it felt like we were achieving results.

Facilities

Facilities were good, the postgraduate centre at Kingston University was useful, as we were able to study in a quiet area.

Postgraduate life

The group was quite small, which meant I really got to know my fellow classmates. We often went out as a group were always in contact about work and projects.

Job prospects

Doing a work placement during the course (which we all had to do) really helped my job prospects, I found a job in the publishing industry within six months of graduation.

This review is the subjective opinion of a postgraduatesearch.com reviewer and not of postgraduatesearch.com.

Overall score

I decided to do a master's as i wanted to continue studying my subject in greater depth. I found the course interesting and enjoyable and i would definitely recommend it.

Study experience

Lecture and seminars were informative and challenging and we were given lots of free reign to pursue our own individual interests.

Facilities

All excellent, and easily accessible on one campus.

Postgraduate life

Lecturers and students socialised out of lecture time and the course was an opportunity to meet like-minded people. The university campus and hall life is great, although i lived in a house during my MA.

Job prospects

I think having a master's has been useful in interviews and so on. I didn't really utilise the university career's service as much as i could have.

This review is the subjective opinion of a postgraduatesearch.com reviewer and not of postgraduatesearch.com.