Honours degree
Almost all students apply to study for an Honours degree at the University of St Andrews. Our undergraduate degrees, like those at other Scottish universities, are usually studied full time over four years. The first two years (also known as ‘sub-honours’) allow you to get a broad understanding of the subject that you applied to study at St Andrews, as well as other courses of interest to you. The final two years (also known as ‘Honours’) give the opportunity to specialise in your chosen subject or subjects.
All students who undertake an Honours degree do so in one of the University's four Faculties: Arts, Divinity, Medicine, and Science. The structure that your Honours degree takes will depend on the subjects you choose to study and which Faculty you are studying in.
The University offers four different types of Honours degrees which are distinguished from one another by the subjects you choose to study in your final two years:
- Single Honours degrees, which involve the specialist study of just one subject in the final two years.
- Joint Honours degrees, which involve the specialist study of two (or occasionally three) subjects in equal proportions in the final two years.
- Honours degrees with a major, which allow the majority of modules to be taken in one specialist subject alongside another minor subject in the final two years.
- Integrated Masters degrees, which are usually Science degrees and involve three years of study at Honours level.