Master of Arts (Scotland)

rdf:langString Master of Arts (Scotland)

rdf:langString The degree of Master of Arts (MA; Scots: Maister o Arts, Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir nan Ealan) in Scotland is an undergraduate degree. The degree can be either a three-year general or four-year Honours degree in humanities or social sciences, awarded by one of several institutions. Chiefly, these are the ancient universities of Scotland—the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen, and the University of Edinburgh. Other institutions which execute undergraduate MA programmes include the University of Dundee because of its history as a constituent college of the University of St Andrews, or Heriot-Watt University at honours level only. The first two years of the Scottish Master of Arts consist of ordinary Bachelor level courses; however, after these, students who are accepted to pursue the Honours route will complete more advanced subjects and write a dissertation in their fourth year. Students who choose to do a "general" degree will complete their third year at a lower level of specialisation, and receive a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or MA without Honours. For the postgraduate degree referred to in other places as "Master of Arts", Scottish universities usually award the degree of Master of Letters (MLitt) or Master of Science (MSc). Generally, non-ancient universities in Scotland (e.g. University of Strathclyde, The Robert Gordon University, Edinburgh Napier University, etc.), award arts degrees as Bachelor of Arts.