A masters degree isn't sufficient either - engineers are people with "hands on" experience and even the best Masters programmes simply cannot deliver that.

I understand that - but you have to start somewhere. Its a catch 22 situation if you can't get the job without experience and can't the experience without the job.

Are you afraid that you won't be able to get a job? I mean, at all?

I have no idea about Newcastle or the Midlands but from what I understand Edinburgh, Dublin and London have a lot of opportunities for you to chase, either at small to medium companies or at startups. Same applies to Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.

If there was ever going to be a time for software developers I think it is our time right now, don't worry that much.

Unless, as someone mentioned above, you want to be an academic or work for very big companies: in that case an MSc is a must and I believe you should aim for a higher ranked university.

The Degree is technically an MComp not an MSc - and I understand that Newcastle is not the highest ranked University (it seems to sit around 13th for Computer Science) but financially it is not viable for me to switch to another University at this stage. I would like to work for a large corporation - but I accept the reality that that may not be possible straight away. Thanks for all the comments by the way - peoples varied opinions have been very instructive.

For the record, I asked the same question 680 days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2441751

What happened after that is a some interviews (most of the successful) that, in a turn of events, led to a very well paying job in Greece (yes, that collapsing economy), a very short internship in Berlin, a 3 months gig as an iOS developer in one of Berlin's most upcoming startups and a few more offers for jobs.

With that "average" mark from that "average" university and that "average" skillset. :)

Thanks for coming back and helping me out!

I think the difficulty I am having is that despite anecdotal evidence of people doing fine without it (which is fantastic) people continue to underscore the fact that an advanced degree is a plus for larger corporations (Google etc...).

Whilst I am not someone who is married to a dream of working for MS/Goog etc... I certainly wouldn't want to rule it out entirely and would perhaps even like to aspire to it one day.

A key concern for me is that the MComp course itself is 'deferred graduation' which means that I wouldn't leave University with a First class Bachelors and a distinction class MComp - just the MComp.

This has often been the recourse for people who achieved less than a First at Bsc level to improve their employment prospects.

I do not want employers to perceive it in that light as that would not be the case for me.