MSc PUBLIC POLICY

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Student comments

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Dinara Saliyeva (MSc Public Policy - 2009 cohort)

Dinara SaliyevaHello, I am Dinara Saliyeva from Kazakhstan. I am doing a Masters degree in Public Policy at the School for Policy Studies. Before I came to Bristol, I was worried about things like finding my accommodation because this is my first stay in the UK, but everything had been arranged before my arrival by the Meet and Greet Service offered by the University. When I arrived, I was met by the student ambassadors who helped me to get started here and who are now my good friends.

I am really enjoying my studies and stay in Bristol. It is a friendly and multinational city that combines the historical and high-tech. For example the SS Great Britain and the Clifton Suspension Bridge are among the many historical attractions. It is very inspiring when you are standing on the top of the Suspension Bridge looking at the gorgeous landscape - you feel a bit like this is the realisation of your dream! As for the newer city attractions, there is the Millennium Square, where I like to go with my friends - it is a lovely place to relax after working hard in class.

I am interested in housing and urban development as these are among the current issues being tackled in Kazakhstan and in Astana, its rapidly developing capital city. So I was pleased to find that the School offers a unit on Cities, Housing and Public Policy. I chose this as an elective unit and I would like to conduct further research in this particular area. The unit explores social, economic and political aspects of urban growth on a global scale. It also dwells on new forms of urban governance and has given me an opportunity to study the experience of developed countries. The course also offers a unit on the Economics of Public Policy where I have learned about economics-based policy analysis and using economics as a basis for the policy making process.

Apart from my studies I have a social life as well! There is a myriad of student societies and I am a member of the Public Speaking Society which really helps me to enhance my public speaking skills. From time to time, we have very interesting meetings with politicians and professional trainers in public speaking who share their experiences of being a public figure and delivering speeches. I also belong to the Bristol Kazakh Society. We are a group of enthusiastic young people who are all living a long way from our home country. The society gives us the chance to celebrate our national holidays and explore the UK with other students from Kazakhstan.

In Bristol I have met people from almost every continent and I am learning something new from my international friends every day, be it their language, culture or socio-political system. I have had such a positive experience here in the UK and with the multinational environment here at Bristol, the whole experience has certainly contributed to my personal development. I have found my soul-city – it is definitely Bristol!

Donald Wallace (MSc Public Policy 2008)

Donald WallaceChoosing Bristol was easy for me as it is a city I know and love and it is a University with a great reputation. It is a city with something for everyone: vibrant without being pretentious, modern but with a strong sense of identity. And people here know how to have a good time.

I really enjoyed the international mix of students on the course and the opportunity to gain from a diverse range of previous experiences. The academics at Bristol were very willing to engage with you on a one-to-one basis and I felt I was able to develop my writing hugely through this process.

The course gave me an excellent understanding of the policy process and introduced me to new ways of analysing policy. It's helped me to understand the broader context in which I now work - a regional policy body - and I believe it stands me in good stead for a future policy career.

Gemma Heath (MSc Public Policy 2008) 1

Gemma Heath gained an MSc in Public Policy at the School for Policy Studies in 2008 and hopes to go on to work for an NGO.

My reasons for choosing a Masters at Bristol were based on the reputation of the institution, its location and, most importantly, the fact that it offered a course I would enjoy studying. The University of Bristol’s reputation was clearly apparent, but it was also the structure of the course and the modules offered that attracted me to the MSc in Public Policy at the School for Policy Studies.Gemma Heath

I began university life at the University of Manchester, where I studied a BA in Historical Studies and Social Sciences. Almost immediately after graduating I realised that I still did not feel like I had gained as much knowledge as I would have liked; I felt there was so much more out there to learn. I wasn’t ready to give up on education, so I decided to apply for a taught Masters.

Before I started my Masters, I found myself a job as a claims advisor for an insurance company and also spent some time helping a local candidate with his election campaign, which allowed me to observe some of the theories I had learnt during my first degree in practice within local politics.

I have sometimes been given the impression that postgraduate study can be viewed as a disadvantage to obtaining real life work experience by certain employers. However, for me, postgraduate study was a way to carry on learning more about a subject which I love, and I still think my Masters puts me in a good position for the future.

When I complete my Masters I am hoping to find work within an NGO so I can make an impact on policy decisions through that route. But there are several career areas I could attempt to enter as a result of my postgraduate studies, such as local or national government, or working within a charity.

I think that postgraduate study is worth the cost because skills from a Masters programme are easily transferable to many careers, and, with the hunt for graduate jobs becoming increasingly competitive, it is quite possibly something that will give you an edge over thousands of undergraduate students.

1. Extract reproduced with kind permission from Prospects.ac.uk