Persian MA (joint degree)

Whilst St Andrews does not offer Persian as a single Honours degree, you can take Persian in combination with a wide variety of other subjects as part of a joint Honours degree. Persian is the second language of the Middle East and the Islamic world and is primarily known in Europe for its unique literary tradition and the cinematic achievements of the Iranian New Wave. Therefore, Persian offers a good opportunity for comparative analyses between different languages, literatures, cultures, national cinemas, histories, politics and economics.

At St Andrews, the focus is on Modern Persian, with emphasis on language, literature, drama, visual culture and cinema, but students are also given the opportunity to become familiar with classical literary and historical texts.

Students taking Persian with another language will have the opportunity to apply to take an integrated year abroad between second and third year to a country in your other chosen language. Find out about more about integrated year abroad options.

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.

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry on to our programmes, please see our entry requirements for more information.

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.

• 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.

• Standard entry grades:

  AAB

  Minimum entry grades:

  ABB

• 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 National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing science
  • Geography
  • Lifeskills Mathematics (A grade)
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology.

• 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.

Alternative study options

Students studying Persian 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.

Do I need to have studied this subject before?

You do not need previous knowledge of Persian to apply. Modules are not designed for native speakers.

Careers

Persian-speaking graduates are becoming increasingly in demand with the potential rapprochement between Iran and the west. Graduates in Persian go on to pursue a wide range of careers in:

• academia as international culture experts
• banking
• government
• international relations
• journalism
• museum curators
• oil industry

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.