Program Overview

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Theology MTheol (Honours) 2025 entry

The MTheol (Hons) in Theology is intended for those who wish to focus their university career on topics directly related to theological and biblical studies. You will study the history of Israel, the person of Jesus of Nazareth, Paul’s letters and the rapid growth of the early church, and contacts between Christianity and Greek and Roman philosophy.

In addition, you will examine Christian thought in-depth, including church history and Christian ethics. Through your optional choices, you also have the opportunity to specialise within divinity by studying subjects like world religions, Greek, Hebrew, the anthropology of religion, the Dead Sea Scrolls, pastoral care or moral reasoning. You can also pursue interdisciplinary interests by taking advantage of the variety of subjects offered through the Faculties of Arts or Science.

As the founding subject of the modern university, divinity is inherently interdisciplinary and has profoundly shaped the humanities and sciences. Many of our modules place divinity in conversation with a variety of other cognate disciplines, including (but not limited to) anthropology, psychology, social science, philosophy, the arts, and the sciences.

UCAS code

V618

Start date

September 2025

End date

September 2029

Duration

Four years full time

School

School of Divinity

Entry requirements

The University offers different entry requirements, depending on your background. Find out more about Standard, Minimum and Gateway entry requirements using academic entry explained and see which entry requirements you need to look at using the entry requirements indicator.

For degrees combining more than one subject, the subject with the higher entry requirements determines the grades you need. You will also need to meet any further subject-specific entry requirements as outlined on their pages.

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: AAA
• 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 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?

No previous knowledge of biblical studies or theology is required.

Alternative study options

Study abroad

Students interested in this course may also be interested in studying abroad. Divinity students can apply to participate in the University-wide St Andrews Abroad programme. You may also have the opportunity to participate in the School Abroad exchange programme.

International applicants

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide an English language test score to evidence your English language ability.

Course details

The MTheol (Hons) in Theology is a four-year course run by the School of Divinity. The course focuses on the teachings and practices of the Christian faith as rooted in biblical and theological studies, and considers the significance of faith today as well as the challenges to it.

During your first two years, you will take modules covering both the Old and New Testaments, systematic theology, theological ethics, and the history of the early church. You will also be able to choose optional modules which allow you either to consolidate your divinity interests or to develop interdisciplinary ones.

The skills you gain in detailed analytical study will prepare you for your final two years, during which you will take reading-centred modules intended to bring you into close contact with the primary texts of Christian theology and biblical studies.

Final year students must also complete a 10,000-word dissertation on a theology topic chosen in consultation with teaching staff.

Modules

In the first two years of your degree (known as sub-honours) you will take the required modules in theology alongside additional divinity modules or modules offered by the Faculties of Art or Science.

Typically, you will take two theology modules per semester during your first two years, and two to four modules during your third and fourth year (known as Honours).

First year

• God and the World: Introducing Theology: addresses a variety of themes within Christian theology.
• Jesus and the Gospels: considers the historical contexts of the New Testament texts.
• The Art of Biblical Literature: Introducing the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: introduces the life, literature and religion of Ancient Israel.
• The Good Life, Christian Ethics and Human Flourishing: explores how leading theologians have agreed and disagreed about human flourishing.

Second year

• Christ, Paul, and the Origins of Christianity (English Texts): examines the literature and developing theology of the New Testament.
• Philosophical Theology: introduces students to the relations between philosophy and theology in thought about God.
• Early and Medieval Christianity: explores key themes in the organisation, practice and beliefs of the early and medieval church.
• Religion Today: will develop your skills in ‘reading religions’, understanding the tradition of a religion, some main concepts, the impact on ethics and politics, the internal structure and how religion shapes the understanding of being human from the internal perspective of one’s own religion, and with regard to other traditions to gain orientation in a religiously pluralist world.
• Reading the Women of the Old Testament A (English Texts): examines depictions of women and the feminine in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.
• Christianity and Modernity in Global Perspective: explores theological engagements with developing modernity with a particular focus on understanding how the shift from a European to a world faith has both influenced and been influenced by theological developments.

Teaching

Teaching in the first and second years is mainly by lectures (10 to 100 students), supplemented by regular small-group tutorials (10 to 15 students).

At Honours level, greater emphasis is put on individual study and on students taking a major role in preparing for, and conducting, seminars (5 to 15 students).

Assessment

All sub-honours modules are assessed by coursework and written examinations. At Honours level, at least 50% assessed work is coursework, with some modules including no exam element at all.

Fees

Scotland

£1,820

England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man

£9,535

EU and overseas

£31,670

Joint Honours degrees

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

Careers

A degree in divinity gives you the opportunity for significant intellectual and personal development, and you will acquire a wide range of transferable skills. Those who have studied theology or biblical studies have learnt a range of skills including:

• textual
• historical
• analytical
• creative
• interpersonal

Graduates are in demand with employers who need rigorous but flexible thinkers with a broad knowledge base and an understanding of people and their religious and social contexts.

Recent graduates from the School of Divinity have, for example, become:

• graduate students in the UK and abroad
• religious studies teachers
• lay chaplains at schools
• ordained ministers
• journalists with the national and religious press

Other divinity graduates have gone on to become:

• trainee manager at a national bank
• art gallery assistant
• solicitor
• theatre director
• college principal
• business consultant
• social worker
• wine taster

Graduates have also gone on to postgraduate degrees in related areas here and at other top universities in the UK and across the world.