نظرة عامة على البرنامج

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Key Information

Start Date

September

Duration

1-year full-time, (up to) 5-years part-time

Attendance Mode

Full-time or part-time

Location

On campus

Fees

• Home: £12,220
• International: £25,320

Entry Requirements

We will consider all applications with 2:2 (or international equivalent) or higher. In addition to degree classification, we take into account other elements of the application such as supporting statement. References are optional, but can help build a stronger application if you fall below the 2:2 requirement or have non-traditional qualifications.

International Entry Requirements

• Afghanistan: Master's degree, 80% or 3.3/4.0
• Argentina: Titulo / Grado de Licenciado, 7/10
• Australia: Bachelor degree, 2:2 or Credit or 65%
• Austria: Bachelor degree, 2.5/5.0 and overall Pass (Bestanden)
• Bahrain: Bachelor degree, 75% or GPA 3.0/4.0
• Bangladesh: Bachelor’s from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology or Master's degree, 60% or GPA 3.0/4.0
• Belgium: Licentiaat or Licencié, 13/20 or 65%
• Botswana: Bachelor degree (5-year) or Master's from University of Botswana, GPA 3.5/5.0 or 65% or B- or Good
• Brazil: Título de Bacharel / Título de Licenciado (4-year), 7/10 or 70%
• Brunei: Bachelor degree, Lower Second Class Honours with 50% overall
• Bulgaria: Bachelor degree, 4.3/6
• Cameroon: Diplôme d'Ingénieur/ Diplôme d'Études Supérieures de Commerce (5-year), 12-13 assez bien (fair); 70-74; or B+
• Canada: Bachelor degree, GPA 3.0/4.0 or 74-77% or overall B
• China: Bachelor degree (4-year), 73% or 2.6/4.0 (C9 unis), 75% or 2.8/4.0 (Double First unis), 80% or 3.25/4.0 (all other unis)
• Colombia: Licenciado / Titulo (4-year), 3.5/5.0
• Croatia: Baccalaureus / Baccalaurea (Bachelor degree), Overall score 3/5
• Cyprus: Bachelor degree, 6.5/10
• Czech Republic: Bachelor degree (180 ECTS), 1.75/4.0 or High C 'dobre’ (good)
• Denmark: Bachelor degree, 7/12 or 8/13 or grade C
• Egypt: Bachelor degree, 70% or 3.0/4.0
• Estonia: Bakalaurusekraad / University Specialist's Diploma / Professional Higher Education Diploma, 4.0/5.0
• Finland: Bachelor / Kandidaatti / Kandidat (180 ECTS credits), 3/5 or 2/3
• France: Licence or Diplôme from a grande école, 11.5 out 20
• Gambia: Master's degree (2-year), GPA 3.0/4.3 or 64% or B
• Germany: Bachelor degree (180 ECTS), 2.6/5
• Ghana: Bachelor degree, 2:2 (Second Class Lower Division) or GPA 3.25/5.0 or 60%
• Greece: Bachelor degree, 6.50/10
• Hong Kong: Bachelor degree, Upper second class or GPA 2.7/4.0 or 75% or B Minus
• Hungary: Bachelor (Alapfokozat) or Diploma (Egyetemi Oklevél), 3.5/5.0
• Iceland: Bachelor degree (Baccalaureus or Bakkalarprof), 7.0 out of 10
• India: Bachelor degree, CGPA: 55-60% or 5.5/10 - 6.0/10
• Iraq: Bachelor degree (Licence/Karshani), 0.7
• Israel: Bachelor degree, 70% or C+
• Italy: Laurea (180 ECTS), 100/110
• Japan: Bachelor degree, 70% or C+ or 3.0
• Jordan: Bachelor degree, 3.0/4.0 or 70%
• Kazakhstan: Bachelors (Bakalavr Diplomi) or Specialist Diploma, GPA 3.0/4.0 or GPA 4.0/5.0 or B
• Kenya: Bachelor degree, 2:2 or 60%
• Kuwait: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, GPA 2.67/4.0
• Kyrgyzstan: Bachelor's degree or specialist diploma (min 4 years) from a recognised institution, 3.5/5.0 or 2.67/4.0
• Latvia: Bakalaura Diploms (Bachelor's) or Profesionālā Bakalaura Diploms (Professional Bachelor's) from a recognised institution, 6/10
• Lebanon: Bachelor's degree / Licence from a recognised institution, 70% or C or 2.7/4.0 or 12/20
• Liberia: Master's degree from a recognised institution, 75% or 2.8/4.0
• Libya: Bachelor's degree from selected institution, 65% or 2.8/4.0
• Lithuania: Bachelors/Bakalauro (180 ECTS) from a recognised institution, 7/10
• Luxembourg: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 12/20
• Macedonia: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 7/10 or 2:2
• Malawi: Master's degree from a recognised institution, 60% or 2.4/4.0
• Malaysia: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 2.6/4.0 or B- (Class 2 Division 2)
• Maldives: Bachelor's degree from the Maldives National University (MNU), 50%
• Malta: Bachelor degree from a recognised institution, Lower Second Class / 60% / Category IIB
• Mexico: Titulo de Licenciado from a recognised institution, 7.5/10
• Morocco: Licence/Licence d'Etudes Fondamentales/Licence Professionnelle from a recognised institution, 11/20
• Namibia: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 60% or 2.5/4.0
• Nepal: Master's degree / Bachelor's (4-year) from select institutions, 55% or 2.4/4.0
• Netherlands: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 6/10 or 2.7/4.0
• New Zealand: Bachelor's degree (3 or 4 years) from a recognised institution, Lower Second Class Hons
• Nigeria: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, Lower Second Class Hons
• Norway: Bachelors/Bachelorgrad (180 ECTS) or Candidatus/a magisterii from a recognised institution, Overall C
• Oman: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 2.7/4.0
• Pakistan: Bachelor's degree (4-year) from HEC recognised institution or 2 year BA + 2 year MA from HEC recognised institution, CGPA 2.7 or 55%
• Palestine (State of): Bachelor degree (4-year) from a recognised institution, 75% or or 2.7/4.0
• Papua New Guinea: Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised institution, Class II Division B
• Peru: Licenciado or Professional Title from a recognised institution, 12/20
• Philippines: Master’s from recognised institution or Centre of Excellence; or Bachelor's from prestigious institution or Centre of Excellence, 2.5/4.0 or 80% or 2.5/5.0 or Cum Laude
• Poland: Licencjat or Inżynier from a recognised institution, 3.8/5.0
• Portugal: Licenciado (180 ECTS) from a recognised institution, 12/20
• Qatar: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 2.7/4.0 or 3.3/5.0
• Romania: Diplomă de Licenţă/Diplomă de Inginer/Diplomă de Urbanist Diplomat from a recognised university, 7/10
• Russia: Diplom Bakalavra or Specialist Diploma from a recognised institution, 3.5/5.0
• Rwanda: Bachelor's degree (4-year) from a recognised institution, Lower Second Class Hons; 60%; or 13/20
• Saudi Arabia: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 3.5/5.0 or 2.7/4.0 or 70%
• Serbia and Montenegro: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 7 / Good
• Sierra Leone: Bachelor's Honours degree from a recognised institution, Lower Second Class Hons; 55%; 3.4/5.0; 2.75/4.0
• Singapore: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 3.3/5.0 or 2.8/4.0
• Slovakia: Bachelor's degree (Bakalár) from a recognised institution, 70%; or 2.0 overall; or C
• Slovenia: Diploma o pridobljeni univerzitetni izobrazbi (University Degree) or Diploma o pridobljeni visoki strokovni izobrazbi / Diplomirani (Diploma of Professional Higher Education) or Diplomant or Univerzitetni diplomant (first degree), 7 out of 10
• Solomon Islands: Bachelor's degree (4-year) from the University of the South Pacific, B/3.0
• Somalia: Do not accept national qualifications for direct entry, N/A
• South Africa: Bachelor's degree (4-year) from a recognised institution, 60%
• South Korea: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, GPA 2.5/4.0; or 2.8/4.3; or 3.0/4.5
• Spain: Título de Grado / Título de Licenciado / Título de Ingeniero / Titulo de Arquitecto from a recognised institution, 6/10 or 1.5/4.0
• Sri Lanka: Bachelor Special Degree or Professional Degree (4-year) from a recognised institution, 55% or 2:2 or 3.0/4.0
• Saint Kitts and Nevis: Bachelor's degree from the University of the West Indies, 2.7/4, B-, 60% or Lower Second Class Hons
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Bachelor's degree from the University of the West Indies, 2.7/4, B-, 60% or Lower Second Class Hons
• Sudan: Bachelor's degree (5-year) from a recognised institution, 60% or B
• Sweden: Bachelor's Degree/Kandidatexamen/Yrkesexamen from a recognised institution, Pass OR Godkänd (with a minimum of 90 credits at Good - C)
• Switzerland: Diplom/Diplôme;Lizentiat;Staatsdiplom/Diplôme d’Etat from a recognised institution, 4/6; or 6/10: or 3/5
• Syria: Bachelor's degree (Licence/ al-ijaza-fi) from a recognised institution, 65%+ or 'Good' from a public university
• Taiwan: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 65-70% or GPA 2.6/4.0 - 2.8/4.0
• Tanzania: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 2:2; or Lower Second; or GPA 2.7/5.0
• Thailand: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 2.6/4.0
• Trinidad and Tobago: Bachelor's Degree from UWI, B-, 60% or 2.5; or Lower Second Class Hons
• Trinidad and Tobago: Diplôme National d'Ingénieur/ Diplôme National d'Architecture/ Docteur en Médecine / Vétérinaire/ Licence/ Maîtrise from recognised institution, 11 out of 20
• Turkey: Lisans Diplomasi from a recognised institution, Top Unis: 2.5/4.0 All others: 2.8/4.0
• UAE: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, GPA 2.6/4.0 or 75% or C+
• Uganda: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, 2:2 (Lower Second) or 3.0/5.0 or B
• Ukraine: Bachelor's degree or specialist diploma from a recognised institution, 7 out of 12; or 3.5 out of 5
• USA: Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution, GPA 2.7/4.0
• Vietnam: Bachelor's degree (4-year) from a recognised institution, 6.0/10 or 2.5/4.0
• Yemen: Master's degree from a recognised institution, 70% or 2.7/4.0
• Zambia: Master's degree from a recognised institution, 65%; B; Credit; 1.7/2.5; or 2.7/4.0; or 3.3/5.0
• Zimbabwe: Bachelor's degree (3 or 4 years) from a recognised institution, 2:2 (60%)

Course Overview

Religion remains a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary global geopolitical landscape.

As a result, there is a pressing need to reassess predominant understandings of secularisation, as well as the meanings of, and tensions inherent within, secular assumptions and secularist positions. The so-called 'resurgence' of religion in the public sphere in recent decades is now a significant area of interdisciplinary scholarship eliciting a complex array of responses, ranging from vehement opposition to the very idea that religious concepts and commitments have a right to expression in political debates, to a reassessment of the origins and implications of divisions between the secular and the religious and their relationship to the nation state.

The notion that there is no singular secularism, but rather a plurality of secularisms, and of ‘religion’ as an invention of European modernity and colonial interests are two of many emerging efforts to re-conceptualise the meanings of religion and the secular and the entangled relationship between them.

SOAS’s MA Religion, Politics, and Society programme offers a unique and intellectually rich opportunity to examine these questions and issues at an advanced and interdisciplinary level by studying the complex relationships between religion and politics in the histories and contemporary political contexts (both national and international) of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

A core, decolonial objective is to actively challenge the Eurocentrism of current debates around secularism, secularisation, the nature of the public sphere within modernity, by drawing substantive attention to the plurality and contested nature of conceptions of both religion and the secular when considered in a global framework. The programme is designed to appeal to policy-makers, analysts, journalists and researchers in either international, national or regional institutions and organisations engaged in policy formation, inter-religious dialogue and community development, social work, development, conflict resolution, peace building or diversity management.

Why Study MA Religion, Politics and Society and Intensive Language at SOAS?

• SOAS is ranked top 30 in the UK for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings 2025)
• SOAS is ranked top 10 in the UK for Theology, Divinity and Religion (QS World University Rankings 2025)
• SOAS is ranked 13th in the UK for Modern Languages (QS World University Rankings 2025)
• Our department has been ranked 3rd for research outputs and 7th place overall in the Theology and Religious Studies research rankings (Research Excellence Framework REF 2021)
• Theology and Religious Studies scored above sector in the following categories: research culture, community, progression, research skills, and professional development (2023 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey)
• All of our Theology & Religious Studies impact case-studies were world-leading/internationally excellent (REF 2021)
• 85.4% of our Theology & Religious Studies research outputs were world-leading/internationally excellent – 56.3% of our submitted outputs were deemed world-leading (REF 2021)
• Our Theology & Religious Studies research environment score was 85% world-leading/internationally excellent (REF 2021)
• 88.4% of our Politics & International Studies research outputs were world-leading/internationally excellent (REF 2021)

Teaching and Learning

The MA Religion, Politics, and Society is designed both as a professional development qualification and as a platform preparing students for doctoral research.

Students are required to follow taught modules to the equivalent of 120 credits and in addition to submit a dissertation of 10,000 words, worth 60 credits. Modules are assessed through a variety of methods including short and long essays, examinations, oral presentations, and response papers. An overall percentage mark is awarded for each module, based on the marks awarded for individual assessment items within the courses. The MA may be awarded at Distinction, Merit or Pass level in accordance with the common regulations for MA/MSc at SOAS.

We recommend that part-time students have between two and a half and three days free in the week to pursue their course of study.

Programme Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

• Inter-and multidisciplinary specialist understanding of the relationship between religion/secularism and the public sphere;
• Knowledge of the comparative and historical contexts of religion and secularism;
• Theories and practices of criticism and analysis in relation to core topics in the field of religion and politics in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe;
• Understanding of the disciplinary range of the field and the necessity of engagement with the topic of religion for the understanding of politics;
• Familiarity with various frameworks and key concepts that enable the integration of a variety of perspectives around the problematic of the role of religion in the public sphere and of the interrelationship of state and religious structures, values, and commitments.

Intellectual (thinking) skills

• Precision in assessment of evidence and argumentation;
• Capacity to discuss theoretical and epistemological issues in an articulate, informed, and intellectual manner;
• Precision and critical acumen in the assessment of scholarly arguments and interpretations;
• The ability to assess evidence and arguments independently;
• Effective presentation of complex theoretical arguments and their relationship to empirical data;
• Theoretical and regional expertise in order to develop and apply self-reflexive approaches to dominant issues in the comparative study of religion and politics.

Subject-based practical skills

• Academic and professional writing to the highest standards;
• IT-based information retrieval, processing and data organisation;
• Fieldwork and archival research techniques;
• Research project design;
• Presentational skills;
• Independent study skills;
• Reflexive learning.

Transferable skills

• Problem solving and research skills;
• Oral and written communication;
• Critical and independent thought;
• Synthesising of difficult and wide ranging empirical material;
• Regional specialism;
• Working to deadlines and to high standards of presentation and argumentation;
• Ability to make assessments involving complex factors.

Employment

In addition to an understanding of global faiths, histories and cultures, graduates from the Department of Religions and Philosophies develop the skills to analyse and communicate ideas in a clear, rational and comprehensive manner. These key proficiencies are valuable in many careers and are transferable to a wide range of sectors and roles.

Find out about our Careers Service.