Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make an application for a Masters course?
All applications should be made online through our Taught Postgraduate Application facility: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/20022/postgraduate_taught/81/applying_for_taught_programmes
What documents do I need to provide?
As a bare minimum – certificates and transcripts from your undergraduate course. If you are still studying, then any marksheets showing your marks and modules to date. We also ask for you to provide a statement of motivation, CV and two academic references.
How should I provide the references?
We realise that academic referees have a lot of references to write and it can be time consuming for them to post them all individually, so we are happy for them to email us the reference to apply-masters(at)see.leeds.ac.uk. We would need them to send this from an email address registered to their academic institution – rather than a free mail account such as hotmail or yahoo. Alternatively they can post the references, or if they have provided them to you in advance you can upload them with your application.
I graduated a long time ago and I can’t get in touch with my academic referee, what should I do?
This isn’t an ideal situation but it does happen from time to time. There is no point hassling your former institution for a reference from somebody who didn’t teach you or didn’t remember you. If you really can’t get hold of a reference then let us know, it would be useful if you could obtain a work reference instead from a current or recent employer.
What are you looking for in the Statement of Motivation?
Basically some evidence that you have understood the nature of the programme for which you are applying, have good reasons for choosing it and are a suitable candidate for the course. It does not need to be a lengthy essay but we do need to see that you have chosen the course for the right reasons. We often see poor Statements of Motivation for the Sustainability programmes, where students write general comments about the environment being an important issue, rather than specifying why they have chosen the particular Sustainability programme. We do not need a general ‘autobiography’, the best Statements of Motivation are relatively short and focused on the reasons for choosing the programme of study.
I don’t meet your minimum academic entry requirements, can I still apply?
Possibly – we consider other things such as relevant work experience along with your academic grade, however we do need to see some evidence that you would have the academic ability to cope with an MSc course. If you achieved a 2:2 or the equivalent then it is best to contact the admissions team at apply-masters(at)see.leeds.ac.uk before you submit an application, to see if you would have a reasonable chance of being accepted. However you should remember that if your undergraduate grade was below a 2:1 you would have virtually no chance of securing any sort of funding, even if we were able to offer you a place on the course.
I am an international student and I require funding, how likely am I to get it?
For international students, funding is exceptionally competitive. Many of the international students who have funding to study with us are receiving the funding from their employer. As a general rule, you would need to have a 1st Class Honours degree or the equivalent in order to stand a chance of competing for funding from an external body. This particularly applies to the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship, which receives such a high volume of applications that it is unlikely that anybody without a 1st Class degree would make the initial shortlist.
I am a home student and I require funding, how likely am I to get it?
Previously, six of our programmes held a number of NERC awards in recognition of the programmes excellence in graduate training. In December 2010, NERC announced the withdrawal of funding for Masters programmes throughout the UK. The following courses previously held an overall total of 21 NERC awards; MSc Exploration Geophysics, MSc Structural Geology with Geophysics, MRes Physics of the Earth and Atmosphere, MSc Engineering Geology.
Our Masters Programmes in Exploration Geophysics and Structural Geology have some arrangements with various industry sponsors who sponsor UK or EU students. You do not need to apply separately for such sponsorships, suitable candidates are automatically considered by the Industry sponsors. If you are to be offered and accept sponsorship from an industry sponsor, this may mean that you have to follow certain pre-defined module choices on your course (for instance specialising in the hydrocarbons route).
If you are applying for one of the Sustainability programmes, unfortunately these do not have any research council funding attached. You could apply for the University-wide Full Fee Scholarship, but there are only up to 10 awards in the whole university across all programmes, so realistically you would need a good 1st Class honours degree to be able to compete for this award.
UK students can also seek to fund their Masters studies through career development loans, for further details visit the UK Government Website.