Medieval History MA (Honours)

Program Overview

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Medieval History MA (Honours) 2025 entry

The MA (Hons) in Medieval History will teach you to engage with sophisticated modes of thought and expression across medieval Europe and the Middle East. You will grapple with complex issues and gain a clear understanding of the historical background which underlies the present day.

Overview

Students who study medieval history will engage with a wide variety of historical issues and geographic locations to suit different interests, whether that be in early Islamic Iran, the Britons and Saxons, medieval political thought, or queenship. The Department of Medieval History at St Andrews is one of the biggest in the UK, and medieval history has been taught at St Andrews for over 50 years.

UCAS code

V130

Start date

September 2025

End date

September 2029

Duration

Four years full time

School

School of History

Entry requirements

The University offers different entry requirements, depending on your background. Find out more about Standard, Minimum and Gateway entry requirements.

SQA Highers

• Standard entry grades: AAAAB, including A in History.
• Minimum entry grades: AABB, including B in History.
• 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: AAA, including A in History.
• Minimum entry grades: ABB, including B in History.

IB points

• Standard entry grades: 38 (HL 6,6,6), including HL6 in History.
• Minimum entry grades: 36 (HL 6,5,5), including HL5 in History.

General entry requirements

All applicants must have attained the following qualifications, or equivalent, in addition to the specific entry requirements for individual programmes.

SQA qualifications

• SQA National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing science
  • Geography
  • Applications of Mathematics
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology.

GCSE qualifications

• GCSE (5) in English language or English literature, and one GCSE (5) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing Science
  • Geography
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology.

Other qualifications

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry on to our programmes. Please see our entry requirements for more information.

Do I need to have studied this subject before?

Students must have studied History at SQA Higher, GCE A-Level or equivalent.

Course details

The MA (Hons) in Medieval History is a four-year course run by the School of History. In the first two years, you will be introduced to the medieval world by studying the societies of Britain, continental Europe, and the Middle East from around 500 to 1500 AD. You will gain a firm grounding in the major themes and developments of history as a scholarly discipline, and will be able to examine primary sources critically.

Modules

In the first two years of your degree (known as sub-honours), you will take the required modules in medieval history alongside modules in at least one other subject.

Typically, you will take one medieval history module per semester during your first two years, and two modules per semester during your third and fourth year (known as Honours).

First year

• The Fall of Rome and the Origins of Europe: examines how political, cultural and social life changed in the Byzantine, British and ‘barbarian’ worlds in response to major upheavals.
• The Kingdom of the Scots, c.: explores Scotland's long history as an independent kingdom between the tenth and the early eighteenth century. It places particular emphasis on the use of museum collections and built heritage as historical evidence.

Second year

• Medieval Europe (11th - 15th c.): examines key themes that helped to shape continental Western Europe from the aftermath of the Carolingian Empire and beginning of the Crusades to the Black Death and the Hundred Years War.
• History as a Discipline: Development and Key Concepts: provides an introduction to key theoretical and methodological approaches which have characterised the emergence of history as a discipline since medieval times.
• Introduction to Middle Eastern History: provides an introduction to Middle Eastern history from the dramatic reconfiguration of the Middle East in late antiquity to its contested and contentious recent past.
• Scotland, Britain and Empire (c. 1700 - 2000): provides an introduction to how and why the British nation state evolved from the separate kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland and how and why it has survived over the last three centuries.

Honours

If you decide to take medieval history in your third and fourth years, you choose from a wide variety of advanced options, with topics ranging from the fall of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the modern age, and from Britain to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Here is a sample of Honours modules which have been offered in previous years:

• Death and the Afterlife in Later Medieval Europe
• Holy Lives in Late Antiquity
• Queens and Queenship in Early Medieval Europe
• Sex and Gender in Medieval Europe
• The Mamluks and the Mamluk Sultanate.

In fourth year, students also undertake a dissertation of around 12,000 words on a topic of their choice. This independent project enables you to develop key research skills which are desired by both prospective employers and by graduate schools offering postgraduate degrees.

Teaching

Teaching at sub-honours level is delivered primarily through lectures (120 to 200 students) and small group tutorials (6 to 9 students). Lectures are given by all members of the School, enabling students to hear active researchers in each field talk about their specialism. Tutorials are an opportunity for students to discuss and develop their thinking in a small and friendly atmosphere, guided by a professional expert.

Teaching at Honours level moves away from large group lecturing. Students meet in groups of about 10 to 16 students for longer classes in which they are expected to participate fully.

When not attending lectures and tutorials, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve:

• working on individual and group projects
• undertaking research in the library
• preparing coursework assignments and presentations
• preparing for examinations.

During your Medieval History degree, you will be assessed by a combination of coursework and examinations. Coursework includes:

• research essays
• class presentations
• source analyses.

Classroom examinations often incorporate essays and source exercises. In addition, many modules include an examination held at the end of each semester during a dedicated exam diet with revision time provided beforehand.

The School aims to provide feedback on every assessment within two weeks to help you improve on future assessments.

Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews must achieve at least 7.0 on the St Andrews 20-point grade scale to pass a module. To gain access to Honours-level modules, students must achieve the relevant requisites as specified in the policy on entry to Honours and in the relevant programme requirements. To find out the classification equivalent of points, please see the common reporting scale.

You will be taught by an experienced teaching team with expertise and knowledge of medieval history. Postgraduate research students who have undertaken teacher training may also contribute to the teaching of tutorials under the supervision of the module leader.

Fees

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

More information on tuition fees can be found on the undergraduate fees and funding page.

Accommodation fees

Find out about accommodation fees for University accommodation.

Funding and scholarships

The University of St Andrews offers a number of scholarships and support packages to undergraduate students each year.

Joint Honours degrees

You can also take Medieval History as part of a joint Honours degree in which you will take core modules of your chosen subjects.

• Arabic and Medieval History (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• French and Medieval History (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• German and Medieval History (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• Italian and Medieval History (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• Master of Arts (Honours) Ancient History and Medieval History
• Master of Arts (Honours) Arabic and Medieval History
• Master of Arts (Honours) Art History and Medieval History
• Master of Arts (Honours) Biblical Studies and Medieval History
• Master of Arts (Honours) Classical Studies and Medieval History
• Master of Arts (Honours) Comparative Literature and Medieval History

"With" degrees

You can take Medieval History as part of a "with" Honours degree in which the majority of the course deals with the first name subject. St Andrews offers the following "with" degrees in Medieval History:

• Master of Arts (Honours) Medieval History with Bible and Culture - UCAS code MB02
• Master of Arts (Honours) Medieval History with Persian - UCAS code 96T2

Careers

History students at St Andrews have traditionally moved into a very wide range of careers on graduating. Some continue their academic careers via a postgraduate training degree to doctoral study either in St Andrews or at another university. Other students have often progressed to postgraduate qualifications in teaching, law or accountancy.

Recent medieval history graduates have found careers as:

• development officer for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland
• inspector of taxes for HMRC.

A degree in history will provide you with transferable skills that will equip you for a future career in many sectors. These skills include:

• focused research and critical analysis
• group work
• oral and written expression
• project planning
• time management.

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students to build their employability skills.