DEAR POSTGRADS,
Here are two texts below for your independent work:

Task 1. Retell the text.                                                       

Higher degrees in UK

Master’s degree: (магистерская степень)

Originally, this was a degree awarded on acceptance of a thesis based on a short period of research, usually soon after graduation. It was taken either as an additional qualification for a profession, for example, teaching, or as an introduction to real research, that is, work on a doctoral thesis.

In some universities this is still so. During recent years, however, there has been an increasing tendency to make Master’s degree an advanced examination degree, awarded after a year’s postgraduate course of study, rather than a degree by thesis.

The name of a particular degree depends on the faculty. Thus a Master’s degree in the faculty of arts is called Master of Arts (MA), in the faculty of science Master of Science (MSc), and so on.

The place of the traditional MA, awarded on the acceptance of a thesis, has been taken in some universities be a new Master’s degree, the Master of Philosophy, or the MPhil, as it is usually called in conversation. The use of the word philosophy does not mean that the degree is restricted to philosophy. The name is the same for all faculties, and one may have an MPhil in English, or mathematics, or geography. From a particular point of view philosophy here means the same as “наук” in the names “кандидат” and “доктор наук”.

An MPhil thesis must contain original material, but it is of a lower standard than the PhD.

Task 2. Give a summary of the text.  

Doctorate: (кандидатская степень)

This is called in full Doctor of Philosophy, but is usually referred to as PhD. The word order is that of the original Latin (philosophiae doctor). As in the case described above, philosophy has no special reference to philosophy; the name is invariable for all faculties.

A PhD is awarded on acceptance of a thesis which must be an original contribution to knowledge. Research for this degree usually takes about three years, although the length of time needed varies considerably according to the subject. This degree is generally considered to be of an equivalent standard to the Russian “кандидатская степень”.

There is another type of doctorate, which is called in full a senior doctorate, to avoid confusion with PhD. The name of a particular senior doctorate depends on field of specialisation, e.g. Doctor of Letters – for arts subjects or DLitt from the Latin doctor litterarum; Doctor of Science – for science subjects or DSc.

These degrees are much higher than the PhD, and are comparable in importance to the Russian doctor’s degree. However, they differ from the latter in that they do not involve the writing of a thesis. A person wishing to apply for such a degree submits his published works to a board, or committee, who then decide whether these works justify the award of the degree. There is no direct equivalent in England to the Russian doctorate.