Chinese Studies MA (joint degree)

Program Overview

Chinese Studies MA (joint degree) 2025 entry

Overview

Chinese Studies at St Andrews will offer you exposure to the breadth and depth of Chinese linguistic and cultural practices. Going beyond the traditional model of language and literature, Chinese Studies will also include visual and popular cultures.

Start and End Dates

• Start date: September 2025
• End date: June 2029
• Duration: Four years full time

School

• Department of Chinese Studies

Entry Requirements

SQA Highers

• Standard entry grades: AAAB
• Minimum entry grades: AABB
• Gateway entry grades: Applicants who have narrowly missed the minimum entry grades, but meet the University's contextual criteria, may be interested in one of the University’s Gateway programmes.

GCE A-Levels

• Standard entry grades: AAB
• Minimum entry grades: ABB

IB points

• Standard entry grades: 36 (HL 6,6,5)
• Minimum entry grades: 36 (HL 6,5,5)

General Entry Requirements

• All applicants must have attained the following qualifications, or equivalent, in addition to the specific entry requirements for individual programmes.
• SQA National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing science
  • Geography
  • Lifeskills Mathematics (A grade)
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology.
• GCSE (5) in English language or English literature, and one GCSE (5) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing Science
  • Geography
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology.

Course Details

• The Chinese portion of the four-year joint Honours degree is run by the School of Modern Languages.
• Your time at St Andrews will focus on the linguistic and cultural entity that is China and the Chinese-speaking world today.
• Chinese Studies at St Andrews will offer you exposure to the breadth and depth of Chinese cultural practices.
• Looking beyond a model of language and literature, Chinese Studies will also include visual and popular cultures.

First Year

• Students are required to take the following compulsory modules in their first year:
  • Either:
    • Beginners Chinese Language 1: provides a grounding in Chinese grammar and cultural history.
    • Beginners Chinese Language 2: building on 'Beginners Chinese Language 1', you will practise speaking the language, increase your understanding of tone, and follow lectures on cultural history.
  • Or:
    • Chinese Language and Textual Practices 1: develop your existing communicative and written competence in Chinese language and broaden your knowledge of China’s cultural history.
    • Chinese Language and Textual Practices 2: this follows on from Chinese Language and Textual Practice 1, is intended for students with prior learning, and allows you to further develop your communicative and written competence in Chinese, and broaden your knowledge of China’s cultural history.

Second Year

• Students are required to take the following compulsory modules in their second year:
  • Either:
    • Intermediate Chinese Language 1: you will continue to acquire Chinese characters (900 characters and 2,000 words) while studying more complex texts and enhancing your spoken language skills.
    • Intermediate Chinese Language 2: you will continue to acquire Chinese characters (1,200 characters and 3,000 words) while studying more complex texts and enhancing your spoken language skills.
  • Or:
    • Chinese Language and Textual Practices 3: you will broaden your vocabulary, and focus on consolidating existing and new grammar points and on building familiarity with the strongly idiomatic nature of the Chinese language.
    • Chinese Language and Textual Practices 4: you will continue to broaden your vocabulary and focus on consolidating existing and new grammar points and on building familiarity with the strongly idiomatic nature of the Chinese language.

Third and Fourth Years

• If you take Chinese Studies in your third and fourth years, you must take the following compulsory modules:
  • Chinese Language, Texts and Cultural Practices 1: you will study more complex texts and be able to recognise and have working knowledge of 1,800 to 2,300 characters.
  • Chinese Language, Texts and Cultural Practices 2: you will study more complex texts and be able to recognise and have a working knowledge of 2,300 to 2,600 characters.
  • Chinese Language, Texts and Cultural Practices 3: you will be able to speak, read and write at a high level, use 2,900 to 3,300 characters and comprehend academic texts.
  • Chinese Language, Texts and Cultural Practices 4: you will be able to speak, read and write at a high level, use 3,200 to 3,600 characters and understand sophisticated academic texts.

Teaching

• Teaching format: lectures, tutorials, and practical languages classes.
• Assessment: coursework (40%) and end-of-semester examinations (60%).
• Support: tutors advise you closely on the preparation of written and oral work and give individual assessments of your performance.

Fees

• Scotland: £1,820
• England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland: £9,535
• Channel Islands, Isle of Man: £9,535
• EU and overseas: £31,670

Joint Honours Degrees

• You can take Chinese Studies MA (joint degree) as part of a joint Honours degree in which you will take core modules of your chosen subjects.
• The following joint subject options are available with Chinese Studies:
  • Arabic
  • Art History
  • Comparative Literature
  • Economics
  • Film Studies
  • French
  • German
  • International Relations
  • Italian
  • Management
  • Modern History
  • Persian
  • Russian
  • Spanish.

Careers

• China is the world's second-largest economy and its most populous nation-state.
• Knowledge of the Chinese language, along with an understanding of global issues in a Chinese context, will prepare you for an international career in a variety of industries.
• This course will also prepare you to handle differences in working practices in Chinese-speaking contexts.
• You will learn to develop interpersonal skills and traits highly valued by Chinese-speaking partners, including:
  • non-confrontational patterns of behaviour
  • ability to identify the person or people with decision-making power in any given structure or organisation
  • swift and appropriate decision making
  • ability to deliver on promises made
  • willingness to attend and enthusiastically engage in social events
  • awareness of the way influential sectors of Chinese society perceive modern world history
• Typically, graduates of Chinese embark on careers in:
  • journalism
  • cultural diplomacy
  • diplomacy
  • consultancy and research
  • business
  • NGO-related work
  • literary translation
  • teaching and research professions