Management MA (Honours)

Program Overview

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Management MA (Honours) 2025 entry

The MA (Hons) in Management will introduce you to a variety of organisations in all sectors of the economy and will teach you to understand techniques which are subject specific including marketing, organisational behaviour, and analysing financial data. From your studies, you acquire interpersonal skills in problem solving, critical thinking and self-reliance, and will be empowered to interrogate evidence, challenge logic, and question established ways of practising management.

You will learn from a team of international scholars whose teaching and research are centered on the concept of responsible enterprise, which entails an ethical approach to managing organisations and considers social and environmental impacts of organisations.

UCAS code

N200

Start date

September 2025

End date

September 2029

Duration

Four years full time

School

Business School

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: AAAAB
• 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: 38 (HL 6,6,6)
• 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 this subject is required.

Alternative study options

BSc

Management is available as both a Bachelor of Science (BSc) and a Master of Arts (MA) degree. The content of the subjects is the same irrespective of Faculty. Students who have a background in the arts or who wish to study Management alongside Art subjects at St Andrews should apply for the MA. For those interested in studying Management alongside Science subjects, the BSc in Management may be of interest instead. The entry requirements are the same for all single Honours Management degrees, and the chance of receiving an offer is the same for each of these degrees.

Study abroad

Management 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. For information about study abroad options, please see the study abroad site.

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. Find out more about approved English language tests and scores for this course.

Course details

The MA (Hons) in Management is a four-year course run by the Department of Management in the University of St Andrews Business School.

In the first two years, you will learn about organisations and how they operate in society as well as the core functions of managers within these organisations.

Alongside management, in the first year of your studies, you will be required to study an additional two subjects. In the second year, you will usually carry on at least one of these subjects, sometimes two. Find out more about how academic years are organised.

From there, you will be able to explore a wide range of specialist subjects at a more advanced level in your third and fourth years.

During your studies, you will receive advanced training in quantitative and qualitative techniques that are relevant to the analysis of managerial problems. Presentation skills, group working, and self-reliance provide vocational relevance and preparation for life beyond graduation. You will develop an understanding of core organisational issues as well as developing key transferable skills and graduate attributes. You will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to critically assess and challenge established practices of management, promoting the use of creative and innovative approaches to managing complex organisational problems.

An emphasis is placed on responsible enterprise, which will enable you to develop your social and environmental awareness, and will encourage you to be a self-reliant, critical and creative thinker.

The University of St Andrews operates on a flexible modular degree system by which degrees are obtained through the accumulation of credits. More information on the structure of the modules system can be found on the flexible degree structure web page.

Modules

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

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

First year

• Organisations and Society: introduces students to management in the external and internal environment, focusing on two key aspects – understanding the business environment, and people and organisations.
• Organisations and Analysis: examines some of the main analytical approaches and techniques required by managers and provides an introduction to financial accounting concepts and techniques.

Second year

• Management and Society: examines the conceptual frameworks and techniques of marketing and organisational behaviour.
• Management and Analysis: examines some of the alternative perspectives on management and the changing policy and business environment for organisations, and engages with accounting from a broader sociological perspective.

Honours - compulsory

• Organisation Studies: examines major organisational theories, surveys key topics in this area, and explores organisational forms that have emerged in recent times.
• Contemporary Issues in Management: provides a learning experience in which you can understand and respond to current and likely future challenges that you will face in the near and intermediate future as a manager and citizen.

Honours - optional

• Corporate Finance and Control
• Dynamic Strategic Management
• Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development
• Human Resource Management
• International Business
• Management Accounting
• Public Sector Management

Teaching

Teaching is delivered through lectures; class sizes are around 200 to 400 students at sub-honours level and 20 to 250 students at Honours level.

Lectures are often supplemented by small-group tutorials of around 15 students. These tutorials are structured around material that coordinates with lectures, and are small enough that tutors can give special attention to particular needs.

In addition to lectures and tutorials, students are expected to undertake substantial independent, but guided, work outside of the classroom.

Typically, this will involve:

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

Students’ progress is carefully monitored through a system of continuous assessment and tutorials. All management modules are assessed by at least 30% coursework, with the balance made up of either written examinations or more coursework.

Written examinations are held at the end of each semester during a dedicated exam diet with revision time provided beforehand.

The Business School aims to provide feedback on every assessment within three 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 management. 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 Management as part of a joint Honours degree in which you will take core modules of your chosen subjects.

• Arabic and Management (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• Bachelor of Science (Honours) Computer Science and Management
• Bachelor of Science (Honours) Economics and Management
• Bachelor of Science (Honours) Financial Economics and Management
• Bachelor of Science (Honours) Geography and Management
• Bachelor of Science (Honours) Management and Sustainable Development
• Chinese Studies and Management (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• French and Management (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• German and Management (With Integrated Year Abroad)
• Italian and Management (With Integrated Year Abroad)

It is also possible to combine a degree in Management with two modern languages. Any combination of Arabic, French, German, Italian, Persian, or Spanish is available. Combinations involving Management and German are only available to those with previous knowledge of German.

Additional joint degree options are available for students who take the BSc in Management.

"With" degrees

You can take Management 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 Management:

• Master of Arts (Honours) Management with Religion in Society - UCAS code LT28

Careers

Recent graduates have found employment in the fields of general management, consultancy, marketing, accountancy and the financial services industry. Employment has been secured in a broad range of internationally recognised organisations in the public and private sector. While a degree in Management provides an excellent basis for a career in management, it can also be used as a springboard into a wide variety of other careers.

Many Management graduates continue their education by enrolling into further study at Masters and PhD level in the UK and beyond.

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.