The style of teaching varies according to the type of course and the stage reached. Most taught courses are one year Mphils, but there are also Certificates of Postgraduate Study or Diplomas available in some fields. In all of these the first six months are extremely intensive, with teaching typically taking the form of lectures and seminars and students being expected to undertake project work and essays. In some subjects there are also demonstrations and supervised sessions to teach new skills. But while the first part of the course may resemble undergraduate work in structure, there are some crucial differences.
Teachers encourage students to be self-reliant and planning and organisation are essential.
In the second part of the course, the teaching style is very different. Students move on to their own research and teaching is directed towards helping students to develop individual areas of interest in an independent manner. Student self-motivation is vital. This type of teaching is excellent preparation for research at the PhD level, and for the working relationship of the research student and the PhD supervisor. Of course, candidates who finish their taught course may well stay on to do PhDs.