Is studying a Phd Degree in the US or Canada more difficult and complicated than in Britain?

Answer 1

Doctoral degrees are usually shorter in the UK (approx 3 years full-time vs. 4-5 in Canada and the US) and US schools require more entrance exams (i.e. Graduate Requisite Examination - GRE). Of course it depends on where you're from too - the application and student visa process can be quite complicated if you're studying overseas. Generally degrees from all these countries are well-regarded internationally. You need to look at which school has the best program in your area of specialization, especially if you want to teach. Professors tend to know quite well the traditions and faculty of other schools. So talk to your current professors - ask them where they went and what they would recommend.

Answer 2

It is my impression they would be pretty similar. Or to put it another way, I think you would find much variation among institutions, but those differences would not be national in scope. After all, both Canada and the US learned much of what they know about how to organize a university and what standards to have from Oxford and Cambridge, the grandfathers of the academic world.