In the UK, you don't take classes, because you don't take a Masters. You do three years in and out. Four if you struggle, but that's it. What people are talkin

In the UK, you don't take classes, because you don't take a Masters. You do three years in and out. Four if you struggle, but that's it. What people are talking about here is usually the US system, where your PhD path includes Masters classes. You get a Masters along the way (I have mine in a drawer somewhere), but this is incidental along the path to the PhD. It takes 2-3 years to get those classes out the way, then you're all research. The system is the same as you are describing, except that Americans don't tend to split them up in their heads.