Program Overview
The Ancient History and Comparative Literature at University of St Andrews is a MA programme in Humanities over 60 months, delivered On-campus. This programme equips graduates with advanced knowledge and practical skills for professional and academic careers in the field.
Students gain a rigorous grounding in both the theoretical foundations and applied dimensions of humanities. The programme combines coursework, research components, and practical projects that develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and specialist expertise relevant to industry and research needs.
Graduates of the Ancient History and Comparative Literature programme are well-prepared for careers in academia, industry, government, and the private sector across United Kingdom and internationally. The programme provides an internationally recognised qualification within the Bologna higher education framework.
Key Program Features
- Duration: 60 months
- Language of instruction: English
- Study mode: On-campus
- English requirement: IELTS 7
- Tuition: GBP 17,040 (Tuition (Year)) — International students; GBP 9,000 (Tuition (Year)) — EU/EEA students
- Location: St Andrews, United Kingdom
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the Ancient History and Comparative Literature programme are prepared for diverse careers in humanities:
- Researcher / Academic
- Cultural Programme Manager
- Editor / Writer
- Translator / Interpreter
- Museum Curator
- Communications Specialist
Program Curriculum
In the first two years of your degree (known as sub-honours), you will take the required modules in comparative literature along with modules from other subjects.
Typically, you will take one comparative literature module per semester during your first two years, and two modules per semester during your third and fourth years (known as Honours).
Find out more about the modular Scottish degree system.
Course information may change. Module information and course content, teaching and assessment may change each year and after you have accepted your offer to study at the University of St Andrews. We display the most up-to-date information possible, but this could be from a previous academic year. For the latest module information, see the module catalogue.
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Students are required to take the following compulsory modules in their first year:
- The Nineteenth-Century Novel of Adultery: introduces the study of comparative literature through 19th-century novels, typically from France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK.
- Political Drama in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: introduces the study of comparative literature through plays written in the 20th and 21st century from a range of literatures, typically China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US.
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Students are required to take the following compulsory modules in their second year (all texts are read in English translation):
- Good and Evil: examines a broad range of texts from a number of national literatures, periods and genres in which the theme of good and evil is explored in different literary, social, political and historical contexts.
- Journeys: explores a broad range of texts from different national literatures, periods and genres offering variants on the theme of journeys, explored in a range of literary, social, political and historical contexts.
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If you decide to take comparative literature in your third and fourth years, as well as advancing your theoretical engagement with the discipline, you will choose from a wide variety of advanced options, each based on at least three national literatures and taught by a team of experts from Modern Languages.
Here is a sample of Honours modules which have been offered in previous years:
- Autobiography and the visual arts
- Bad books
- Crossing the Mediterranean
- Cultural memory and literature
- Experiences of exile
- Folk and fairy tales
- Great works and their adaptations
- Issues in cultural studies
- Literature and the Bible
- The Literary Canon<
Admission Requirements
Academic Requirements
You need the following GPA score:
Applicants for graduate programs must have the equivalent of a bachelor\xe2\x80\x99s degree with a minimum GPA equivalent to Upper Second Class on the UK Honour scale. Admitted applicants typically have an undergraduate GPA of or better on the UK Honour scale. No exam grade should be lower than 4.5 (European grade scale) or D (American grade scale).
Your GPA (Grade Point Average) is calculated using the grades that you received in each course, and is determined by the points assigned to each grade (e.g. for the US grading scale from A-F).
A good 2.1 UK Honours Degree (or overseas equivalent). If first language is not English, an IELTS 7.0/TOEFL 100IB score is required.
English Proficiency: IELTS 7 or equivalent.
Tuition & Financial Information
Tuition Fee
GBP 17,040 (Tuition (Year)) — International students; GBP 9,000 (Tuition (Year)) — EU/EEA students
Tuition fees: GBP 17,040 (Tuition (Year)) — International students; GBP 9,000 (Tuition (Year)) — EU/EEA students
IELTS requirement: 7
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Contact University of St Andrews directly for scholarship, grant, and financial aid information for this programme. Many European universities offer merit-based and need-based funding for international and domestic students.
About University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
St Andrews, United Kingdom
The University of St Andrews, founded in 1413, is Scotland’s oldest university and one of the most prestigious institutions in the United Kingdom. Located in the historic coastal town of St...
University Profile- Start Date September 2025
- Language English
- Duration 60 months