Purpose
A Master’s Degree qualifies individuals who can apply an advanced body of knowledge in a range of contexts for research, a pathway for further learning, professional practice and/or scholarship.
A Master’s Degree is at a level demonstrably in advance of undergraduate study. It requires individuals to engage in research, advanced scholarship or demonstrate an advanced body of knowledge in a range of contexts for professional practice.
Credit requirements
The Master’s Degree has a minimum of 120 credits at levels 8 and above, with at least 40 credits at level 9. Master’s Degrees typically consist of 120, 180, or 240 or more credits.
Entry
A minimum entry qualification of a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent.
For a Master’s Degree of less than 240 credits, additional entry requirements are:
- For a 120-credit Master’s Degree:
- a Bachelor Honours Degree, a Postgraduate Diploma or an undergraduate degree followed by relevant professional experience.
- In exceptional circumstances a pathway from a four-year undergraduate degree to a 120-credit Master’s Degree may be established.
- For a 180-credit Master’s Degree:
- a Bachelor’s Degree completed at a specified level of attainment.
Providers of programmes leading to a Master’s Degree are responsible for establishing entry requirements.
Admission as an individual to a Master’s Degree is based on the evaluation of documentary evidence (including the academic record) of the individual applicant’s ability to undertake postgraduate study in a specialist field of enquiry or professional practice.
Exceptionally, applicants not meeting the minimum entry qualification requirement but with extensive, substantial and appropriate documented professional experience may be considered.
Structure
Master’s Degrees are constituted in one discipline or coherent programme of study. They may be undertaken by taught courses or research, or by a combination of both.
A Master’s Degree predominantly by research includes a thesis or creative work worth at least 90 credits.
A Master’s Degree predominantly by coursework is achieved through courses, project work, creative work and research in varying combinations. It builds on undergraduate study in the same academic field, on the more generic graduate attributes of an undergraduate degree in other fields or, in some cases, on relevant professional experience.
Master’s Degrees that build on generic attributes and/or experience (often called ‘conversion Master’s’) are usually in professional fields and are recognised as appropriate professional preparation by the profession or industry concerned.
In limited situations, a longer coursework Master’s Degree of at least 360 credits and aiming at preparation for professional practice may have a title that includes the word ‘doctor’. These are cases where the title does not cause confusion with a doctoral degree at level 10 of the NZQCF and where there are established international conventions for the title within the profession concerned. For example the Juris Doctor is internationally recognised as a postgraduate initial legal qualification.
Outcomes
A graduate of a Master’s Degree is able to:
- show evidence of advanced knowledge about a specialist field of enquiry or professional practice
- demonstrate mastery of sophisticated theoretical subject matter
- evaluate critically the findings and discussions in the literature
- research, analyse and argue from evidence
- work independently and apply knowledge to new situations
- engage in rigorous intellectual analysis, criticism and problem-solving.
If a Master’s Degree includes a component of supervised research of not fewer than 90 credits at level 9, the graduate is also able to:
- demonstrate a high order of skill in the planning, execution and completion of a piece of original research or creative scholarly work
- apply such skills learned during the study programme to new situations.
The research should be completed to internationally recognised standards and demonstrate that the graduate has a capacity for independent thinking.
Relationship with other qualifications
A person who holds a Master’s Degree achieved to an appropriate standard, that includes a research component of at least 40 credits at level 9, may be considered for admission to a programme of advanced study and/or original research leading to a Doctoral Degree.