MatricMap

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Any degree abroad

A route that works from almost any degree.

Any degree: the master’s-abroad route 6years to moving No official count published

Where it leads: A local qualification, a local network and a post-study work visa. This is the most common route for fields with no licensing body: science, commerce, humanities and technology.

Worth knowing: International tuition is the big cost. The UK Graduate visa shortens from 2 years to 18 months for applications from 1 January 2027.

  1. Study · 4 yrs Bachelor’s (and Honours) in SA3-4 years at local fees
  2. Study · 2 yrs Master’s abroad1-2 years; taught in English in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and beyond
  3. Move Post-study work visaUK Graduate route, Irish Stamp 1G, Dutch orientation year, Canadian PGWP, Australian 485, NZ Post Study Work
  4. Work Skilled work visaSwitch once you have a qualifying job

Years are typical minimums from the first year at university. Steps after a bar take no set time. Open a route for where it leads and every step.

How to read the board

Timelines are typical minimums from the first year at university; visas, exams and job searches often take longer.

“Well-trodden” means at least 1 000 people counted on an official register (or 200 a year); “Established” means at least 200 (or 50 a year). Counts come from regulators and statistics offices and are never estimated.

Register counts are people working there today, by where they trained. Visa counts are people per year, by occupation, because no country publishes visas by degree. UK visa figures count visas issued abroad only and understate every route: in 2025 South Africans received 793 Skilled Worker visas from abroad but 2 256 more by switching from inside the UK.

Illustrative, well-trodden routes assembled from the MatricMap research. Employers named are examples of the kind of organisation that hires on each route, not endorsements or job offers.