Can you tell me how many years a master's degree lasts in different countries because in the UK it is just one year?

Your master's duration depends heavily on where you study: the UK stands out with a highly intensive 1 year format, while the US and Canada typically take 1.5 to 2 years requiring 30 to 60 credit hours, and most of Europe follows the Bologna Process 3 plus 2 model, landing at 2 years for 120 ECTS credits. Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America generally fall in the 1.5 to 2 year range too, with Latin American programs usually requiring a formal thesis defense. Here's the full regional breakdown.

Master's Duration by Region

Why the Duration Varies So Much

• Bachelor's degree structure: the UK's 3 year, hyper-focused undergraduate degree lets its master's stay short, while the US's broader 4 year model shifts more specialization to graduate level.
• The Bologna Process standardizes most of continental Europe around a 3 plus 2 model, 3 years for a bachelor's and 2 years for a master's.
• Mandatory internships: countries like France and Germany often integrate 6 to 12 month corporate internships into business and engineering master's, stretching timelines to 1.5 or even 3 years.
• Research versus taught focus: research-heavy master's programs generally run longer than taught programs across every region listed here.

My Advice

If you're comparing a UK 1 year master's to a 2 year European or US program, remember you're comparing workload density, not quality, since the UK simply compresses the same core content into fewer months without a summer break. If your target program includes a mandatory internship, like many French or German business degrees do, budget the extra 6 to 12 months into your timeline and financial plan from the start rather than treating it as an unexpected delay.