How long do postgraduate courses take to complete?

This really depends on the course you decide to take. Postgraduate courses can range from few months, to 5 years. Some courses specific to careers can run for only 3 months but involve intensive work, whilst more academic 'Masters' courses usually last for one year but have fewer hours each week in lectures and seminars. Whilst studying for a Masters, students are expected to study far more on their own than at undergraduate level, particularly on their dissertation which they are expected to research and write almost completely on their own over the course of the year.

After completing a Masters, some students choose to continue even further with their education, by doing a PhD. These are the highest form of education in the UK and once completed, students are considered 'Doctors' of their subject. PhDs take about 3 years full time and 5 years part time, during which time students work almost entirely on their own, researching and writing a 'thesis', which is an original piece of writing in their field that is sometimes up to 100,000 words long.