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PGT: Regulations for Postgraduate Taught Awards (2026-27)

A list of programmes governed by the Regulations for Postgraduate Taught Awards can be found in Appendix 2.

CONTENTS

Scope
Your Programme
Admission and Prior Learning
Length of Study
Progressing Through Your Programme
Additional Programme Requirements
Award and Graduation
Appendix 1: Partnership Programmes

1. Scope

These rules cover the following postgraduate taught awards:

180-credit Masters degrees: including the degrees of MSc, MLitt, MTh, MMus, MBA, MAcc, MFin, MGB, MEd, MRes, MPH, MPhil, LLM, comprising up to 120 taught credits and at least 60 credits of independent work.
240-credit Masters degrees: International Masters (IntM) programmes and the degrees of MSc offered at Nankai and UESTC, comprising 180 taught credits and 60 credits of independent work.
360-credit MPhil degrees: the degrees of MPhil Book & Paper Conservation and MPhil Textile Conservation, comprising 240 taught credits, 60 placement credits, and 60 credits of independent work.
360-credit Masters degrees: the degree of MSc Dental Science, comprising 260 taught credits and 100 credits of independent work.
Postgraduate Diplomas (normally 120 credits) and Postgraduate Certificates (normally 60 credits), whether taken as standalone programmes or received as exit awards from a Masters programme.

Programmes on offer each year are listed in the University Prospectus.

Each programme has a specification, available on the University website. That specification will detail any specific requirements for the programme, such as any compulsory courses or additional requirements set by professional or statutory bodies. Some programmes have slightly more credits than the numbers above, where required by the relevant programme.

Partnership degrees with other institutions are covered by these regulations but with some variations set out in Appendix 1.

2. Your Programme

Your programme is made up of courses. Each course has a level and a credit value.

If you study full-time, you normally take 120 credits of taught courses during the academic session (September to June), followed by your substantial independent work (such as a dissertation or project). Some Masters programmes begin in January and some have a different ratio of taught courses to substantial independent work. If you study part-time, where part-time study is available, then you may take fewer credits per academic session, as set out in the relevant programme specification.

You choose your curriculum from the available choices on MyCampus, normally at the start of each academic session. For some programmes, there is a short period at the start of each semester where you can change this curriculum (the 'add-drop' period). Outwith the add-drop period, changes to your curriculum require approval from your Adviser of Studies. The add-drop period for a course closes either two weeks after the start of the course or on the submission date of the first summative assessment for that course, whichever is the earlier.

2.1 What counts towards your award

Every course on which you are enrolled counts towards your grade point average (GPA) and your total credits, unless the University’s Extenuating Circumstances procedures apply.

You are considered to be enrolled on a course if you are enrolled on it at the date of its first summative assessment (or on another date if it is specified in the course documentation).

For each academic session, all assessment (including deferred assessment and reassessment) is governed by the Assessment Regulations published for that session, except where modified by these regulations.

Details of GPA calculations are given in the Assessment Regulations. Your GPA is expressed to one decimal place. No further rounding is applied: for example, a GPA of 11.9 does not meet a requirement of 12.0.

A minimum number of your credits must be at level 5 (which is the equivalent of the national standard SCQF Level 11): at least 150 credits for a Masters degree, 90 credits for a Postgraduate Diploma, and 40 credits for a Postgraduate Certificate.

3. Admission and Prior Learning

The entry requirements for all programmes are published in the University Prospectus and in the relevant programme specifications. To be considered for admission, you must normally have obtained a degree or equivalent qualification. Some programmes have additional admission requirements including those set by professional or statutory bodies; where this applies, details are in the University Prospectus.

3.1 Recognition of prior learning and experience

If you have already studied at Glasgow or another institution, you may have credit recognised for that learning, or for relevant professional or life experience. See the University’s RPL policy for details.

The maximum number of credits you can have recognised towards a programme is normally half the taught credits for your award.

Recognised credit from another institution is ungraded within the University of Glasgow. Ungraded credit is excluded from any calculations for GPA and award classifications.

Some degrees cannot recognise credit for prior learning or for prior professional or life experience, and your College or School will let you know if this applies to your award.

4. Length of Study

For full-time study:

Award	Minimum	Normal maximum
Masters degree	12 months	24 months
Postgraduate Diploma	9 months	12 months
Postgraduate Certificate	3 months	12 months

Unless specified otherwise in the table below, if you are permitted to study part-time then each part-time year counts as half a full-time year. Your maximum period of study is the full-time maximum plus one year.

The maximum period within which you must complete any in-person postgraduate taught programme is five years from your date of first registration.

These programmes have different minimum and maximum periods of study:

Programme Type	Minimum	Maximum
Masters offered by online distance learning	2 academic sessions	6 academic sessions
Postgraduate Diploma offered by online distance learning	2 academic sessions	4 academic sessions
Postgraduate Certificate offered by online distance learning	1 academic session	2 academic sessions
Programmes of 240 or more credits (including some IntM, MSc Dental Science, MPhil Book & Paper Conservation, MPhil Textile Conservation)	2 academic sessions	4 academic sessions
Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (full-time)	1 academic session	3 academic sessions
Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (part-time)	2 academic sessions	4 academic sessions
PGCerts/PGDips in the College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences	As above	4 academic sessions
MSc Psychology (Conversion) offered by online distance learning	3 academic sessions	7 academic sessions
MSc in Medical Science Clinical Neuropsychology Knowledge & Practice	1 academic session	7 academic sessions
PGDE (full-time)	1 academic session	2 academic sessions
PGCerts/Dips in Education or Childhood Practice (part-time only)	1 academic session (Cert) / 2 academic sessions (Dip)	4 academic sessions

Degrees which include a mandatory six month work placement to fulfil the requirement for substantial independent work extend their minimum period by three months.

If you were first registered for a Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma and subsequently progress to a Masters programme (see section 5), your duration of study runs from your date of registration on your original postgraduate taught programme.

5. Progressing Through Your Programme

5.1 Substantial independent work

A Masters programme includes a piece of ‘substantial independent work’ worth 60 credits or more. This can take the form of a dissertation, project, or portfolio, and is a level 5 course with the letter 'P' at the end of its course code.

To begin your substantial independent work, you must achieve a GPA of at least 12.0 in your preceding taught courses, with no course graded below F3. Where section 6 specifies different requirements for your programme, those apply instead. Section 6 also sets out some further requirements particular programmes have for progress, and your programme specification may also identify specific courses in which a particular grade is required for progress.

You may be permitted to begin your substantial independent work before your taught course results are confirmed. Starting your substantial independent work does not mean you have met the progression requirements.

5.2 Undertaking your substantial independent work with other work outstanding

Exceptionally, an Academic Review Panel may permit you to begin or to continue with your substantial independent work when you have not met your progress conditions. The Panel may do this where they conclude that your performance offers a realistic prospect of reaching the standard required for the Masters degree, and where there are opportunities available for you to successfully complete any deferred assessment or reassessment.

If this applies to you but after all assessment opportunities are exhausted you do not meet the taught course requirements for the Masters degree, then the following applies:

If your School judges your substantial independent work is substantially complete and you require no further supervision, you may submit it by the published deadline. It will be graded and your grade published.
If your School judges your substantial independent work is not substantially complete or requires further supervision, you will not be permitted to submit it, and no grade will be published.

In either case, you will not be eligible for the Masters degree, but you may be eligible for an exit award (see section 7). These requirements also apply to resubmission of the substantial independent work, should it be permitted.

5.3 Online distance learning programmes

If your programme is delivered by online distance learning, your progress is also reviewed at the following points:

After two academic sessions: if you have completed fewer than 60 credits of taught courses, you must achieve a GPA of at least 7.0 to remain registered.
After 60 taught credits: you must achieve a GPA of at least 7.0 to continue to your remaining taught courses.

5.4 Progression from a Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma to a Masters degree

If you are registered on a standalone Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma programme, you may be permitted to progress to a Masters degree in the same subject, where one is available, provided you have achieved a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses.

5.5 Academic Review Panels

If your performance is reviewed by an Academic Review Panel, the Panel will follow the Instructions issued to it by the Clerk of Senate, and will:

provide you with full details of which requirements you have not met, including courses, grades, and a reference to the relevant regulations;
tell you the date of the Academic Review Panel meeting(s) where your case will be considered and the composition of the Panel;
let you make written representations about your case before the meeting; and
provide you with any information you need for the University’s Code of Appeals process.

6. Additional Programme Requirements

Programmes may define additional criteria in order to progress or to graduate, for example by specifying specific courses or components of assessment where you must achieve a particular grade or grade profile.

6.1 Codes of Professional Conduct

Some programmes require you to assent to a Code of Professional Conduct, and these are listed in Regulation 36, the Procedure for Determining Fitness to Practise. For these programmes, if you do not assent to your School’s Code of Professional Conduct you will not be permitted to access teaching, clinical, or professional placements, or to progress. A reported breach of the School’s Code of Professional Conduct may raise issues with regard to your fitness to practise and will be dealt with under Regulation 36 of the University Regulations. You must also be in good standing with regard to Fitness to Practise in order to graduate or receive an award.

6.2 Diploma in Professional Legal Practice

You must achieve grade D3 or above in every course on the programme.

6.3 Engineering programmes

Programmes: All MSc Engineering programmes (Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Civil Engineering & Management, Electrical Power Engineering, Electronics & Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Electrical Engineering with Finance, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering & Management, Mechatronics, Product Design Engineering, Structural Engineering, Structural Engineering & Management, Sustainable Energy, and partnership variants delivered with Nanjing Institute of Technology and Universitas Gadjah Mada).

a) Progression to the substantial independent work

Progression to the substantial independent work requires you to have achieved either:

a GPA of at least 9.0 in your taught courses with no course graded below E3; or
a GPA of at least 9.0 in your taught courses, and, following reassessment in no more than 20 credits, no course graded below E3.

b) Reassessment

The threshold grade for reassessment is grade D3.

c) Award of the Masters degree

To graduate, you must achieve:

a GPA of at least 9.0 in your taught courses;
no course graded below E3; and
grade D3 or above in your substantial independent work.

6.4 MRes Biomedical Sciences and Ecology & Environmental Biology

a) Progression to the Research/Second Project

Progression to the Research/Second Project requires you to have achieved a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses and a grade of C3 or above in your First Project (for Biomedical Sciences) or the Literature Review/Plan (for Ecology & Environmental Biology).

b) Award of the Masters degree

To graduate, you must achieve:

a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses;
grade C3 or above in both of your Projects (for Biomedical Sciences) or in both of your Literature Review/Plan and Research Project (for Ecology & Environmental Biology).

To be awarded the degree or the PGDip exit award with an endorsement of Distinction, you must achieve an overall GPA of at least 18.0, and for Merit an overall GPA of at least 15.0. The PGCert exit award is not available with an endorsement.

6.5 MSc (Medical Science) in Human Nutrition with Specialisation

You must achieve grade D3 or above in all components of summative assessment across your taught courses. If your overall course grade is C3 or above but an individual component is below grade D3, you may resit that component. Your course grade for GPA purposes remains the grade achieved at first attempt.

There are no exit awards from this programme. If you do not meet progression requirements, an Academic Review Panel may transfer you to the MSc (Medical Science) in Human Nutrition & Knowledge Transfer.

6.6 MSc City Planning, MSc City Planning & Real Estate Development, MSc Real Estate

You must achieve grade D3 or above in every course on the programme.

6.7 MSc Dental Science

To be admitted you must hold a BDS or equivalent dental qualification and have at least two years of experience in dental practice. You must also satisfy health clearance requirements. The progression and award requirements in sections 5 and 7 apply to the courses totalling 260 taught credits.

6.8 MSc Geospatial Science

To progress to the work placement you must achieve a grade of C3 or above in all courses taken in semester 1 (normally 60 credits) at first attempt.

If you do not meet progress requirements, or a suitable work placement cannot be secured, an Academic Review Panel may transfer you to the cognate generic MSc programme.

6.9 Postgraduate Diploma in Education

You must achieve grade D3 or above in every course on the programme and a pass in School Experience.

School Experience (SE) is a compulsory part of your programme. It is assessed on a pass/not passed basis. Your School Experience may be discontinued, or you may be prevented from beginning a School Experience, if there is evidence that continuing would be detrimental to pupils in the school. School Experience results do not contribute to your degree classification. You must attend all mandatory instruction sessions and preparatory briefings before being permitted to attend your School Experience, and you must normally have achieved 80% attendance in all taught courses taken before beginning your School Experience.

Subject to the requirements of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, you will also be awarded a teaching qualification if you have satisfied the requirements of the programme.

This programme does not award endorsements of Merit or Distinction.

6.10 Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma in Childhood Practice

You must achieve grade D3 or above in all courses before progressing to the next year.

If you do not achieve grade D3 or above in a course assessment after two attempts, you will be excluded from further study. In exceptional circumstances, your performance may be considered by an Academic Review Panel that may permit one further attempt at this assessment.

6.11 Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Neuropsychology Practice

You must achieve grade D3 or above in the 60-credit Portfolio of Clinical Competence.

Endorsements for this programme are determined by the grade achieved on the Portfolio rather than by GPA: Merit is awarded for grade B3 or above and Distinction for grade A5 or above.

7. Award and Graduation

Your award may have an endorsement of Merit or Distinction, which is calculated from your grades at first attempt. The Assessment Regulations detail how this operates.

Further endorsements may also be applied to your award title if your programme offers it (for example, 'MSc Economic History with a specialism in Econometrics'). This applies to pre-arranged combinations which will be advertised to you by your College if they are available to you.

7.1 Masters degrees

To graduate with a Masters degree, you must achieve a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses with no course graded below F3, and grade D3 or above in your substantial independent work. Where section 6 specifies different requirements for your programme, those apply instead.

If you do not achieve grade D3 or above for your substantial independent work, you may resubmit once, normally within three months of the initial Board of Examiners meeting. The Board will set the conditions for resubmission. If you resubmit the substantial independent work, you are not entitled to additional supervision, to repeat any practical work, or to undertake new practical work.

7.2 Postgraduate Diplomas

To be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma, you must achieve a GPA of at least 9.0 in 120 taught credits.

7.3 Postgraduate Certificates

To be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate, you must achieve a GPA of at least 9.0 in 60 taught credits.

7.4 Exit awards from a Masters programme

If you do not complete your Masters programme, or do not meet the requirements for the Masters degree, you may be eligible for:

Award	Requirement
Postgraduate Diploma	120 credits with a GPA of at least 9.0
Postgraduate Certificate	60 credits with a GPA of at least 9.0

Your exit award normally carries the same title as your Masters programme (for example, a student leaving the MSc Applied Linguistics would receive a 'Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics' or 'Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Linguistics'). Some programmes will award a different title for a Postgraduate Certificate exit award, which will be listed on the programme specification.

If you have completed courses that carry more credits than the minimum for the exit award, we calculate your GPA using only the credits needed for the award. We select the combination that gives you the highest possible GPA, provided that any courses identified as compulsory for that award are included.

Your award may have an endorsement of Merit or Distinction, which is calculated from your grades at first attempt. The Assessment Regulations detail how this operates.

The following programmes have specific exit awards:

PGDE

Award	Requirement
Postgraduate Certificate in Education	Courses worth 60 credits from the PGDE programme
Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Education	Courses worth 60 credits from the Primary PGDE programme
Postgraduate Certificate in Secondary Education	Courses worth 60 credits from the Secondary PGDE programme

These awards do not carry a teaching qualification.

MPhil Book & Paper Conservation; MPhil Textile Conservation

Award	Requirement
MSc	Courses worth 120 taught credits at GPA 12.0 with no course below grade F3, plus grade D3 or above in the 60 credit placement
Postgraduate Diploma	Courses worth 120 taught credits at GPA 9.0
Postgraduate Certificate	Courses worth 60 taught credits at GPA 9.0

The MSc exit award is classified using the same thresholds as section 7, calculated across the 180 credits of taught courses and placement.

Appendix 1: Partnership Programmes

Some awards are delivered in partnership with other institutions, described in this appendix. For these awards, the following apply:

a) Courses taught by a partner institution are assessed by that partner according to its assessment regulations and grading scheme. The equivalence of partner grades to University of Glasgow grades is governed by the grade equivalence table published for your programme.

b) Academic appeals relating to courses taught by a partner institution follow the appeals procedure of that partner institution. Appeals relating to the overall programme follow the University of Glasgow’s procedure.

c) These Regulations refer throughout to academic decisions taken by ‘the School’, ‘an Academic Review Panel’, ‘the Board of Examiners’ or other University of Glasgow decision-making body. For partnership programmes, the University will identify the appropriate equivalent joint academic decision-making body and will advise you about this.

d) Any early exit awards available at the University of Glasgow will be awarded by the University alone.

A1.1 Awards governed by regulations of a partner institution

Programme	Awarding partner institution(s)
MRes Photonic Integration & Advanced Data Storage	The Queen’s University Belfast

A1.2 International Masters Degrees governed by these Regulations

Note that all of these programmes involve multiple partner institutions.

Programme

IntM Central and East European, Russian & Eurasian Studies

IntM Children’s Literature, Media & Cultural Entrepreneurship

IntM Education in Museums & Heritage

IntM Environmental Geoscience

IntM Environmental Social Science

IntM Global Education for Education Policies

IntM Global Markets, Local Creativities

IntM International Law of Security, Peace & Sustainable Development

IntM Managing Art & Cultural Heritage in Global Markets

IntM Security, Intelligence & Strategic Studies

For these programmes, you will normally take 120 taught credits (equivalent to 60 ECTS) in the first academic session, and 60 taught credits (30 ECTS) and a 60-credit (30 ECTS) substantial independent work during the second academic session.

If you do not meet the requirements to progress through your programme or are unable for another reason to complete the programme, you may be permitted to transfer your registration to a cognate programme of study leading to the award of a University of Glasgow Masters degree. Such a degree may also have provision for the exit awards of Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma. In order to be eligible for such an award, completion of additional taught courses may be required.

A1.2.1 IntM Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies

a) Submission of the substantial independent work

You will be required to submit a draft of your substantial independent work on a date to be advised. If your two co-supervisors judge that the draft cannot be brought up to the standard required for award of the degree by the time of the submission deadline you will not be permitted to submit the work for marking until the next assessment period.

b) Award of the IntM degree

To graduate with the degree, you must achieve a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses with no course graded below F3, and both grade D3 or above in your substantial independent work and grade D3 or above in the oral examination component of that work.

A1.2.2 IntM Education in Museums & Heritage

To progress to the substantial independent work you must achieve a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses with no course graded below E2.

To graduate with the degree you must achieve a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses, with no course graded below E2, and grade D3 or above in your substantial independent work.

A1.2.3 IntM Global Markets, Local Creativities

To progress to the substantial independent work you must achieve grade C3 or above in every taught course.

To graduate with the degree you must achieve a grade of C3 or above in every taught course and grade D3 or above in your substantial independent work.

A1.2.4 IntM Security, Intelligence & Strategic Studies

To graduate with the degree, you must achieve:

a GPA of at least 12.0 in your taught courses with no course graded below F3, and grade D3 or above in your substantial independent work;
grade D3 or above in all components of the Czech State Examination (comprising written and oral examination);
for the degree awarded jointly by the University of Trento, you must achieve a Pass in the compulsory Italian language component (identified on the programme specification). This component is assessed on a Pass/Fail scale and therefore does not contribute to your GPA.

The Czech State Examination and any extra-curricular non-credit bearing modern language courses taken in association with the programme will not contribute to your GPA.

A1.3 Other partnership awards governed by these Regulations

Programme	Awarding partner institution(s)
MSc Environmental Science	Nankai University
MSc International Relations	Nankai University
MSc Translation Studies: Translation & Professional Practice	Nankai University
MSc Urban & Regional Planning	Nankai University
MSc Precision Medicine & Pharmacological Innovation	University of Aberdeen; University of Strathclyde
MSc Sensor & Imaging Systems	University of Edinburgh

A1.3.1 MSc Sensor & Imaging Systems

For the 60 credits of taught courses taken at the University of Edinburgh:

you must achieve a grade of 40% to be awarded credit for a course; and
for any course where you achieve less than 50% you will have one reassessment opportunity.

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