Integrated year abroad Russian MA (Honours) 2025 entry

It is possible for students applying for the MA (Honours) in Russian to study abroad in a Russian-speaking country between their second and third year of study. This adds an extra year to the MA (Hons) course, making it a total of five years in length.

Students who spend a year abroad develop their linguistic skills, intercultural competence, and self-confidence. 

Students can either spend their year studying on an academic programme in a Russian-speaking country or take up a work placement that they organise themselves. All work placements must be approved by the Russian Department in advance.

It is possible either to spend a full year abroad studying or working in a Russian-speaking country or, for students studying multiple languages, to split the year abroad between a semester in a Russian-speaking country and a semester studying or working in a country of their other language.

Places are granted on merit during the second year of study and do not take into account the initial UCAS application. If students are unsuccessful with their year abroad application, they will be moved to the four-year Russian MA single Honours degree programme.

To find out more information, or to discuss the possibility of an integrated year abroad, please contact the Department of Russian.

UCAS code
R711
Start date
September 2025
End date
September 2030
Duration
Five years full time
School
School of Modern Languages

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for Russian with a year abroad are the same as the Russian MA (Hons) degree.

To be eligible for Russian with a year abroad, students must gain Honours entry in all subjects that they intend on taking at Honours level. Students who do not achieve entry to Honours level in their chosen subjects must withdraw from their selected year abroad destination at that point.

Beginners in Russian are encouraged to spend a year abroad in a Russian-speaking country before advancing to Honours years (fourth and fifth year). If you are a beginner in Russian and another language (through a joint degree), please consult your year abroad coordinators in both departments.

Course details

The MA (Hons) in Russian with an integrated year abroad follows the same course structure as the Russian MA (Honours) degree, with the addition of a year abroad in between second and third years of study.

During their integrated year abroad, students are required to take the following compulsory module:

  • Russian Integrated Year Abroad: language learning and cultural familiarisation through a study or work placement in a Russian-speaking country.

The assessment for this module includes a supervised research project chosen in consultation with the module coordinator, and an oral exam in Russian which is sat upon the student’s return to St Andrews after their year abroad, during which the year abroad experience will be presented and discussed.

More information about the Russian modules currently on offer can be found in our module catalogue.

Joint Honours degrees

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

"With" degrees

You can take Russian (WIYA) 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 Russian (WIYA):

  • Master of Arts (Honours) Economics with Russian (With Integrated Year Abroad) - UCAS code L1RR
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Economics with Russian - UCAS code L1RT
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Mathematics with Russian (With Integrated Year Abroad) - UCAS code G1R9
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Mathematics with Russian - UCAS code G1RT
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Russian with Geography (With Integrated Year Abroad) - UCAS code R7L7
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Russian with Geography - UCAS code R7LR

"With" degrees taken with Russian are also available 'With Integrated Year Abroad'.

Careers

Russia’s political and economic significance in the world means ever-multiplying career prospects for those who can communicate in Russian.

Graduates of Russian have gone on to successful careers in: 

  • accountancy
  • the armed services
  • the British Foreign Office
  • Civil Service
  • finance
  • journalism
  • law
  • management consultancy
  • translation and interpreting 
  • teaching. 

Others work as educators in Russia and Eastern Europe or pursue graduate study.

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.

What to do next

Online information events

Join us for one of our information events where you can find out about different levels of study and specific courses we run. There are also sessions available for parents and college counsellors.

Undergraduate visiting days

We encourage all students who are thinking of applying to the University to attend one of our online or in-person visiting days.

Contact us

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 2948
Email
russianhod@st-andrews.ac.uk
Address
Department of Russian
Buchanan Building
Union Street
St Andrews
KY16 9PH

Department of Russian website

Discover Uni

Discover Uni provides official statistics about higher education courses taken from national surveys and data collected from universities and colleges about all their students. You can use this data to compare information for different degree programmes to help you make a decision about what and where to study.