The programme also leads to a master's qualification and qualified social worker status.
They'll come out after two years with almost a master's qualification and we hope some will stay.
Usually called advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) or advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs), they are required to study for a master's qualification on top of their original training.
I have volunteer experience with NGOs abroad and with the Red Cross here in the UK but when I look at jobs they always ask for a master's qualification.
But despite the fact that doctoral studies predate master's programmes, most PhD programmes now require that those admitted hold a master's qualification.
I didn't explore the possibilities available to those with a master's qualification, even when my peer in the private sector prodded me by asking about my future plans.
The "diploma thesis" project that they do during the final year of their first degree entails at least 6 months of work, and it is essential in order to graduate with a "Magister" (master's) qualification.
Of the 414 teaching members involved in training at this level, two-thirds were full-time staff, 279 (67%) had a doctorate qualification, while 135 (33%) had a master's qualification.
One factor that was particularly strongly associated with retention in the public sectors was completion of a master's qualification (see Fig. 3), with 18 of 21 (85.7%) master's graduates still in the public sectors or temporarily overseas, compared with 15 of 42 (35.7%) diploma-only graduates (p = 0.0002).
And experts predict that the cost of postgraduate courses will rise when tuition fees triple from 2012, as universities won't want to offer master's qualifications that are cheaper than undergraduate ones.
Sarah Hernon, a principal consultant for Right Management, part of the ManpowerGroup, says encouraging "high-value staff" to do master's qualifications can be a creative way for employers to retain them when restructuring has reduced promotion prospects".An MBA makes people more marketable," she says.
