MA French
About this course
MA (Hons) in French, a French and Francophone Studies degree exploring the language, culture and history of the Francophone world. The course includes a compulsory year abroad where students can study, work or volunteer in one or two destinations. The first year covers foundational subjects including resistance and collaboration, the Fifth Republic, colonisation and decolonisation, and linguistics and language sciences. The second year builds upon this with options such as Cultural Responses to War, Migration, Exile, Diaspora, Crime and Detection in Literature, and Introduction to European Cinema. The third year is spent abroad studying at an institution or working through an established placement scheme. The final year offers advanced study through specialist modules such as The French New Wave, The Modern City: Paris, Twentieth-Century French Political Thought, and Women Writers in Early Modern France.
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: from AAA to AAB (required: a language other than English at B) IB: from 36 points with 665 at HL to 34 points with 655 at HL
See the highest paying Languages & English degrees in the UK →
Admissions (2022 entry, home applicants)
Offer rate 31%: 16 offers from 52 applications, from the university's Freedom of Information return.
What students say
Based on about 10 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 95%
- Learning opportunities: 77%
- Assessment and feedback: 67%
- Academic support: 83%
- Organisation and management: 57%
- Learning resources: 96%
- Student voice: 91%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 85%
- Left higher education: 15%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 75 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North West: 4%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 10%
- East Midlands: 1%
- West Midlands: 5%
- East of England: 3%
- London: 44%
- South East: 10%
- South West: 3%
- Scotland: 20%
Who gets in
Based on about 15 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 100%
Modules
- resistance and collaboration
- the Fifth Republic
- colonisation and decolonisation
- May 1968
- feminism
- linguistics and language sciences
- business, economics and informatics
- politics, social policy, social anthropology and international relations
- art and architectural history
- history, classics and archaeology
- Celtic and Scottish ethnology
- philosophy, divinity and law
- Cultural Responses to War
- Migration, Exile, Diaspora
- Crime and Detection in Literature
- Gender and Culture
- The Coming-of-Age Narrative
- Introduction to European Cinema
- Dynamics of Language and Power
- Languages Beyond University
- study in one or two destinations
- work in one or two destinations
- study in one destination and work in another
- two semesters at a single institution
- one semester at two different institutions (in different destinations)
- arrange to work or volunteer with a private company or charity
- apply to an established placement scheme, such as the British Council’s English Language Assistants programme
- Student Wellbeing Service
- Student Counselling
- Student Disability and Learning Support
- University emergency helpline (available 24 hours a day)
- Documentary Forms in French and Francophone Culture
- Exploring Belgian Identities through Literature and Film
- Film at the Margins: The Cinema of Agnès Varda
- The French New Wave
- French Theatre and the Making of Revolutions: Politics, Love and Fantasy
- Images of Japan in French and Francophone culture from the 19th to the 21st Century
- Intimate Exposures: Fifty Years of French First-Person Cinema
- Intimacy, Power, Identity: The Films of Claire Denis
- Literature and Film: The Challenge of Adaptation
- Medieval Bodies: Integrity, Rupture and Metamorphosis
- Recognition Struggles in Contemporary France
- The Francophone Black Radical Tradition
- The Modern City: Paris
- Twentieth-Century French Political Thought
- Women Writers in Early Modern France
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of MA French at University of Edinburgh earn?
The median salary is £28,000 after 3 years, £38,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £29,000 and £49,500. The £38,000 median after five years is £4,000 more than the UK median for French studies.
Are students happy with the teaching on MA French at University of Edinburgh?
95% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for MA French at University of Edinburgh?
The typical offer is AAB at A level, or 36 points in the IB. The average entrant had 176 UCAS points.
What is the offer rate for MA French at University of Edinburgh?
31% of home applicants received an offer for 2022 entry: 16 offers from 52 applications, according to the university's Freedom of Information return.
Does MA French at University of Edinburgh include a placement year or year abroad?
The course has a compulsory year abroad.
How many students continue on MA French at University of Edinburgh?
85% of students continued into their second year, and 15% left higher education.