Social Anthropology MA (Honours) 2025 entry

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:

  AAB

  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.

More information on how to apply via other entry routes or accreditation of prior learning and experience can be found on the University’s entry requirements web page.

Do I need to have studied this subject before?

No previous knowledge of social anthropology is required.

Alternative study options

Study abroad

Social anthropology 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 Social Anthropology is a four-year course run by the Department of Social Anthropology. The course explores the diversity of human experience from a standpoint that is reflexive and critically aware. You will learn to study the lives of others while examining your own position in the world.

In the first two years, you will be introduced to the wide variety of issues that anthropologists study, to their methods, and to some key theoretical approaches. This is a good opportunity to explore different anthropological topics and find out where your interests lie.

Alongside social anthropology, in the first year of your studies you will be required to study two additional 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.

During your final two years (Honours), you will build on what you have already learned and be able to advance into more specialised topics that suit your individual interests. Specialist subject areas may include: 

• how and why people move and migrate across the world
• capitalism, colonialism and postcolonialism, and their impact on local lives
• how justice and ethics are conceptualised and implemented by different groups
• how humans make and understand art and material culture
• how people across the globe understand and deal with illness
• how different groups view and deal with the body, sex and gender
• how the past is understood, represented and mobilised
• how war and conflict are experienced at local level
• how resource extraction and energy issues shape local and global relations
• theoretical and methodological approaches such as historical, medical, visual or feminist anthropology

Modules in anthropological theory and research methods will prepare you to undertake a 10,000-word dissertation in your final year on a topic of interest chosen in consultation with your supervisor.

Graduates in social anthropology from St Andrews will gain key practical skills in analysing social and cultural dynamics and how they shape relations, attitudes and experiences. They will learn how to communicate cross-culturally and to examine problems reflexively and holistically, revealing and questioning taken-for-granted assumptions. These skills are transferable to many different careers, and are particularly sought after in development, the non-profit sector, the civil service, human resources, museums and curation, business, and education.

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 social anthropology alongside modules in one or two other subjects. 

Typically, you will take one social anthropology module per semester during your first two years, and one or two modules per semester during your third and fourth year, known as Honours, depending on whether you are studying anthropology as a single or joint Honours student. 

Fees

Scotland
£1,820

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

Following the decision of the UK Government to raise undergraduate tuition fees and maintenance loans in line with inflation from April 2025, we are reviewing the consequences of that decision for fees payable by students from the rest of the UK who have chosen to study in Scotland. We will update the information on this page as soon as possible.

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 Social Anthropology as part of a joint Honours degree in which you will take core modules of your chosen subjects.

It is also possible to combine a degree in Social Anthropology with both Arabic and Russian.

Joint degrees taken with Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and the triple degree with Arabic and Russian are also available 'With Integrated Year Abroad'.

"With" degrees

You can take Social Anthropology 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 Social Anthropology:

• Master of Arts (Honours) Economics with Social Anthropology - UCAS code L1L6
• Master of Arts (Honours) Geography with Social Anthropology - UCAS code L7L6
• Master of Arts (Honours) Social Anthropology with Geography - UCAS code L6L7
• Master of Arts (Honours) Social Anthropology with Religion in Society - UCAS code LT30

Careers

A degree in social anthropology is important for any career where knowledge of other worldviews and of cross-cultural communication is vital, such as in development, human resources or community relations work. A degree in social anthropology gives you the skills to decode social contexts and cultural scripts, and to reflexively evaluate your own position in society. Graduates from the Social Anthropology MA have entered into a wide range of careers, including the diplomatic service, media, social work, journalism, technology and communications, the voluntary sector, law, museums and business. 

Popular career paths for social anthropology graduates include: 

• advertising and marketing 
• civil service 
• education and social work 
• human rights 
• humanitarian aid 
• international or non-profit organisations 
• media and journalism
• museums and curating
• human resources
• technology

The insight of an anthropologist is valued in any occupation that requires a sensitivity to different ways of life and thought, and that assesses complex human needs. A full understanding of 'the human element' in technological processes is increasingly in demand. 

In your degree, you will also gain a number of transferable skills which are highly valued by employers across all sectors. These include the ability to: 

• understand how human beings are shaped by and interact with social, cultural and physical environments 
• understand how your own position in society may shape your own perceptions and views of the world
• read and interpret texts within their historical, social and theoretical contexts 
• express ideas in writing, summarise arguments and distinguish between them 
• use skills in information technology and oral and written communication 
• recognise the politics of language, indirect forms of communication, forms of power, theoretical statements and claims of authority

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.

Contact us

Phone

+44 (0)1334 46 2486

Address

School of Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies

School of Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies website