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Admission

Admission to a master’s degree normally requires successful completion of study at bachelor’s degree level either (for postgraduate degrees) as a stand-alone degree or (for integrated degrees) as part of an integrated scheme of study. In countries where the bachelor’s degree with honours is the standard undergraduate degree, this is often the normal entry qualification. In addition, students will normally have to write a personal statement and, in the arts and humanities, will often have to submit a portfolio of work.# ISO certification in India

In the UK, students will normally need to have a 2:1. Students may also have to provide evidence of their ability to successfully pursue a postgraduate degree to be accepted into a taught master’s course, and possibly higher for a research master’s. Graduate schools in the US similarly require strong undergraduate performance, and may require students to take one or more standardised tests, such as the GRE, GMAT or LSAT.

Comparable European degrees

In some European countries, a magister is a first degree and may be considered equivalent to a modern (standardized) master’s degree (e.g., the German, Austrian and Polish university Diplom/Magister, or the similar five-year Diploma awarded in several subjects in Greek,Spanish, Portuguese, and other universities and polytechnics).^{[clarification needed]}# ISO certification in India

Under the Bologna Process, countries in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) are moving to a three-cycle (bachelor’s – master’s – doctorate) system of degrees. Two-thirds of EHEA countries have standardised on 120 ECTS credits for their second-cycle (master’s) degrees, but 90 ECTS credits is the main form in Cyprus, Ireland and Scotland and 60-75 credits in Montenegro, Serbia and Spain. The combined length of the first and second cycle varies from “3 + 1” years (240 ECTS credits), through “3 + 2” or “4 + 1” years (300 ECTS credits), to “4 + 2” years (360 ECTS credits). As of 2015, 31 EHEA countries have integrated programmes that combine the first and second cycle and lead to a second-cycle qualification (e.g. the UK integrated master’s degree), particularly in STEM subjects and subjects allied to medicine. These typically have a duration of 300 – 360 ECTS credits (five to six years), with the integrated master’s degrees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland being the shortest at 240 ECTS credits (four years).# ISO certification in India

• In Denmark there are two forms of master’s degree. The Master’s Degree or candidatus is a FQ-EHEA second-cycle qualification worth 120 ECTS credits. These degrees are research-based and offered through universities (e.g. University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School). The second form is the Master Degree (no possessive) within the adult further education system, which is worth 60 ECTS credits and is taught part-time. The candidatus degree is abbreviated cand. and upon completion of, for instance, an engineering master’s degree, a person becomes cand.polyt. (polytechnical). Similar abbreviations, inspired by Latin, apply to a large number of fields, e.g.: sociology (cand.scient.soc), economics (cand.merc., cand.polit. or cand.oecon), law (cand.jur), humanities (cand.mag) etc. Use of a cand. title requires a master’s degree. Holders of a cand. degree are also entitled to use M.Sc. or M.A. titles, depending on the field of study. In Finland and Sweden, the title of kandidaatti/kandidat (abbreviated kand.) equates to a bachelor’s degree..# ISO certification in India
• In France, the master’s degree (diplôme de master) takes two years and is worth 120 ECTS credits. The two years are often called the master 1 (M1) and master 2 (M2), following the Bologna Process. Depending on the goal of the student (a doctorate or a professional career) the master can also be called a “Master Recherche” (research master) or a “Master Professionnel” (professional master), each with different requirements.
  A French diplôme d’ingénieur (postgraduate degree in engineering of grandes écoles) is also the equivalent of a master’s degree, provided the diploma is recognised by the Commission des titres d’ingénieur, as are qualifications recognised at Level 7 of the répertoire national des certifications professionnelles (national register of professional certificates).# ISO certification in India
• In Italy the master’s degree is equivalent to the two-year Laurea magistrale, which can be earned after a Laurea (a three-year undergraduate degree, equivalent to a bachelor’s degree). In particular fields, namely law, pharmacy and medicine, this distinction is not made. University courses are therefore single and last five to six years, after which the master’s degree is awarded (in this case referred to as Laurea magistrale a ciclo unico). The old Laurea degree (Vecchio Ordinamento, Old Regulations), which was the only awarded in Italy before the Bologna process, is equivalent to the current Laurea Magistrale..# ISO certification in India
• In the Netherlands the titles ingenieur (ir.), meester (mr.) and doctorandus (drs.) may be rendered, if obtained in the Netherlands from a university, after the application of the Bologna process, as: MSc instead of ir., LLM instead of mr. and MA or MSc instead of drs. This is because a single program that led to these degree was in effect before 2002, which comprised the same course load as the bachelor and master programs put together. Those who had already started the program could, upon completing it, bear the appropriate title (MSc, LLM or MA), but alternatively still use the old-style title (ir., mr. or drs.), corresponding to their field of study. Since these graduates do not have a separate bachelor’s degree (which is – in retrospect – incorporated into the program), the master’s degree is their first academic degree. Bearers of foreign master’s degree can use the titles ir., mr. and drs. only after obtaining a permission to bear such titles from the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs. Those who received their mr., ir. or drs. title after the application of the Bologna process have the option of signing as A. Jansen, MA or A. Jansen, MSc, depending on the field in which the degree was obtained, since the ir., mr. and drs. titles are similar to a master’s degree, and the shortcut MA or MSc. may officially be used in order to render such title as an international title..# ISO certification in India
• In Belgium, the higher education system is governed by the communities and have separately implemented the Bologna Process. In Flanders, a master’s degree can be obtained when completing a two-year study at university (120 ECTS), although there also exist some master’s studies which only require 1 year of education (60 ECTS). This discrepancy has various reasons, but the main cause is the transition from the pre-Bologna Process degrees. Degrees like industrial engineering were previously not obtained through university and only took one year, but got transferred to universities, hence why the master’s degree for industrial engineering only takes one year at university currently. Similar situations arose for other one-year degrees obtained before 2013 and are therefore now converted to master’s degrees through a special certificate.^[90] Other master’s degrees, such as the degrees from the faculty of Arts and Literature are historically only one year, just like they were before the Bologna Process ratification. Master’s degrees for medicine take 3 years to be completed. The situation for the French Community of Belgium is similar in many ways, but has implemented it differently.# ISO certification in India
• In Switzerland, the old Licence or Diplom (4 to 5 years in duration) is considered equivalent to the master’s degree.
• In Slovenia and Croatia, during the pre-Bologna process education, all academic degrees were awarded after a minimum of four years of university studies and a successful defence of a written thesis and are considered equivalent to the master’s degree.^{[citation needed]} After the completion of that first cycle of the pre-Bologna higher education, the students obtained professional degrees with the titles of Professor (abbreviation “prof.”) for educational studies, Engineer (abbreviation “ing.”) for technical studies, or Licensed professional of their field of expertise (abbreviation “dipl.” with a reference to the profession) for other studies. The title of Magister Scientiae (abbreviation “mr. sc.”) was awarded to students who completed a postgraduate university programme (and therefore qualified for a doctorate programme), while the title of Scientiae Doctor (abbreviation “dr. sc.”) was awarded to students who completed a postgraduate doctoral programme. Slovenia is a full member of the Bologna Process since 1999 and Croatia since 2001.# ISO certification in India
• In Baltic countries there is a two-year education program that offers a chance to gain a master’s degree in interdisciplinary issues. The system offers an education in different areas, such as humanities, environmental and social issues, whilst paying specific consideration to the Baltic Sea area. It is a joint-degree program, which is part of a team effort with four universities. There is for example the University of Tartu in Estonia, Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania and the University of Latvia. The educational programmes allow students to be mobile within the system, for example one semester may be taken in a confederate school without paying additional membership or tuition fees. Subsequently, after passing the qualifications provided, people may procure teaching qualifications and continue their scholastic research around doctoral studies, or carry on studying within their career in the private or public sector. Graduates of the program, within the Baltic Sea area are also given the chance to continue onwards with their studies within the postgraduate system if they have studied the social sciences or humanities field.# ISO certification in India

• In Greece, the metaptychiako (μεταπτυχιακό) which literally translates as post-degree (…programme or title), lasts normally from one to, more often, two years, and can be studied after a, at least, four-years undergraduate ptychio, which means degree.
  Also, the five-year diploma (δίπλωμα) awarded in all Polytechnics (schools of engineering) and the Athens School of Fine Arts is considered equal to a graduate degree plus a master’s degree.
• In Russia master (магистр) degree can be obtained after a two-year master course (магистратура) which is available after a four-year bachelor or a five-year specialist course. A graduate may choose a master course completely different from his/her previous one. During these two years master students attend specialized lectures in chosen profile, choose a faculty advisor and prepare their master thesis which is eventually defended before certifying commission consisting mostly of professors, leading by the professor from another university.
• In the United Kingdom, first degrees in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science are considered equivalent to master’s degrees despite, for historical reasons, often having the titles of bachelor’s degrees.# ISO certification in India
• The old Spanish degrees of Licenciado (Licenciate), Arquitecto (Architect) and Ingeniero (Engineer) are also equivalent to master’s degrees. They were integrated programmes of study that combined first and second cycles and led to a second cycle qualification. The Spanish government issued a royal decree in 2014 establishing the official equivalences between the Spanish pre-Bologna degrees and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) levels.Most (if not all) Licenciado, Arquitecto and Ingeniero degrees were placed in level 7 (Master) of the EQF. These programmes have been phased out and replaced with the new Bologna programmes of Máster, to be completed after completion of a programme of Grado (Bachelor’s).# ISO certification in India