Postgraduate means study or qualifications after you’ve already finished a first degree (usually a bachelor’s).

What “postgraduate” means

  • It refers to education that comes after an undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree.
  • Common postgraduate qualifications include:
    • Master’s degrees (MA, MSc, MBA, etc.)
* Doctoral degrees (PhD, professional doctorates)

* Postgraduate diplomas and certificates.
  • In many countries outside North America, “postgraduate” is the usual term; in the US and Canada, people more often say “graduate” instead.

The word in everyday use

  • As an adjective: “postgraduate course,” “postgraduate degree,” “postgraduate education” – all meaning education after a first degree.
  • As a noun: a “postgraduate” (or “postgrad”) is a student who already has a first degree and is doing advanced study or research.

Example: Someone who finished a bachelor’s in 2024 and is now doing a 1‑year MSc in 2025 is a postgraduate student doing postgraduate study.

Does it mean master’s only, or PhD too?

  • In most British and international university contexts, “postgraduate” is an umbrella term covering:
    • Taught master’s (e.g., MSc, MA)
    • Research master’s
    • PhD and other doctorates
    • Postgraduate certificates and diplomas.
  • Some people casually use “postgraduate” to mean “master’s” when chatting, but formally both master’s and PhD are postgraduate.

On forums you’ll see debates about this, but official dictionaries and university definitions treat “postgraduate” as anything beyond the first degree, not “after a master’s.”

Quick FAQ

Is postgraduate the same as graduate?

  • In the UK and many other countries: “postgraduate” ≈ “graduate-level”.
  • In North America: “graduate” is the common term; “postgraduate” is less used and can sometimes mean more advanced work, but this is not the global norm.

Do you need a bachelor’s to be postgraduate?

  • Yes, it normally assumes you already hold an undergraduate/first degree.

TL;DR:
“Postgraduate” means any study or qualification you do after finishing your first degree (usually a bachelor’s) – including master’s, PhD, and other advanced certificates or diplomas.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.