MA English and History
About this course
MA in English and History. Core topics include Research Methods, Historical Research, Communication & Writing, and Critical & Analytical Thinking. Students undertake a major dissertation project in their final year, drawing on primary and secondary material under academic supervision.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
A level: BBC IB: 32 points including 5, 5, 5 at HL. SL in English is also required. SQA Highers: BBBB. BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma: DMM in related subjects. Note: BTEC Level 3 Extended Certificate (Subsidiary Diploma) achieved at Distinction level, is normally acceptable in lieu of one A Level at grade B.) GCSE English (or equivalent) is required at Grade C/4 or above. GCSE Mathematics at Grade C/4 is also required for Accountancy, Economics and Finance programmes. Irish Leaving Certificate: Five subjects at Higher at H3.
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What students say
Based on about 9 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 93%
- Learning opportunities: 87%
- Assessment and feedback: 80%
- Academic support: 100%
- Organisation and management: 91%
- Learning resources: 91%
- Student voice: 93%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 10 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 100%
What graduates do next
Based on about 41 graduates who answered, across similar courses at this university
- Working: 65%
- Working and studying: 12%
- Further study: 13%
- Unemployed: 1%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 15%
- Elementary occupations: 10%
- Administrative occupations: 10%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 10%
- Customer service occupations: 10%
- Find their work meaningful: 60%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 40%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 35%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 80 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 2%
- North West: 4%
- East Midlands: 1%
- West Midlands: 2%
- East of England: 2%
- London: 13%
- South East: 3%
- South West: 2%
- Scotland: 68%
- Northern Ireland: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 90%
- Other HE qualification: 10%
Modules
- Academic Writing for Language & Literature
- Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen
- Acts of Reading
- Making History
- Controversial Classics
- Rethinking Reading
- Encounters with Shakespeare
- The Tragedy of Knowledge
- Thinking History
- Page and Stage: Renaissance Writings 1500 - 1640 (EL30CP)
- Knights, Virgins and Viragos: Chaucer and Medieval Writing (EL35DQ)
- Fallen Women and Self - Made Men (EL35VC)
- Romanticism (EL30XR)
- Sympathy for the Devil: Scottish Short Stories (EL30QA)
- Britain and the Nineteenth - Century World (EL35SB)
- Modernism: Make IT New (EL30FF)
- American Voices: Self and Society, 1850 - 1930 (EL30RD)
- Haunted Texts (EL35KN)
- Art and Atrocity: Representations of Violence and Trauma (EL35UT)
- Architecture and Power
- History of Medicine (ME33HM)
- Painting in Tudor and Early Stuart England
- English Dissertation
- History in Practice
- Undergraduate Dissertation in History
- Special Sub: Enlightenment Compared: Ireland, Scotland, Central Europe
- Special Subject: History of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict
- Special Sub: the Child as Subject in the British World
- Spec Sub: Court Society in Late Medieval Europe (C. 1300 – C. 1500)
- Special Sub:european Constitutional Monarchies in the Long 19thcentury
- Special Sub.: Britain and Revolutionary Russia 1917 - 1924
- Special Subject: Myths of the North
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of MA English and History at University of Aberdeen earn?
The median salary is £25,000 after 15 months, £24,000 after 3 years, £28,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £23,500 and £38,500. The £28,000 median after five years is £1,000 less than the UK median for English studies.
What do graduates of MA English and History at University of Aberdeen do next?
90% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on MA English and History at University of Aberdeen?
93% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for MA English and History at University of Aberdeen?
The typical offer is BBC at A level, or 32 points in the IB. The average entrant had 166 UCAS points.
Does MA English and History at University of Aberdeen include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has an optional year abroad.
How many students continue on MA English and History at University of Aberdeen?
100% of students continued into their second year, and 0% left higher education.