How many students here went straight on to study for their MA and how many left it a while before recommencing study?

I started working soon after my undergraduate degree. Then, after a few years, I had the opportunity to do some TA work at Uni and it became apparent that I wouldn't have gone very far without a PhD. As I have an undergraduate degree from a foreign uni, doing a Masters was a must! So I did that and I am at the end of the first year of my PhD. It worked very well for me. I don't think I could have achieved so much if I had done it straight after the BA. I am much more focussed and motivated now.

I spent a year temping after my first degree before starting an MA. This was for 3 reasons:
a) By the time I realised I wanted to do postgrad work I'd missed the funding deadline anyway.
b) It seemed like a good idea to save up in case I didn't get any funding at all when applying the following year
c) I was interested in two completely different courses and it took a long time to decide which one to go for.