| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year full time 2 years part time |
| Entry year | September 2025 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Discipline | Classics and Ancient History |
| Contact | Web: Enquire online |
| Typical offer | 2:2 Honours degree |
|---|---|
Overview
- Gain an understanding of Greek and Roman culture and society through guided study and independent research
- Develop advanced research skills and specialist methodologies for the use and analysis of a range of forms of textural and material evidence
- Tailor your programme by choosing a selection of modules to match your interests
- Become part of a friendly and lively community of students and scholars. Exeter has one of the largest and most successful teams of Classics and Ancient History scholars in the country
Fast Track (current Exeter students)
Discover MA Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter.
We are 4th in the UK for world-leading Classics research
Based on 4* research in the Research Excellence Framework 2021
Top 50 in the world for Classics and Ancient History
QS World University Subject Rankings 2024
Top 10 in the UK for Classics and Ancient History
7th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
Proactive Classics Society with successful student tutor scheme
We are 4th in the UK for world-leading Classics research
Based on 4* research in the Research Excellence Framework 2021
Top 50 in the world for Classics and Ancient History
QS World University Subject Rankings 2024
Entry requirements
We will consider applicants with a 2:2 Honours degree with 53% or above in their first degree in a relevant subject area. While we normally only consider applicants who meet this criteria, if you are coming from a different academic background which is equivalent to degree level, or have relevant work experience, we would welcome your application.
Entry requirements for international students
English language requirements
International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.
Course content
The MA Classics and Ancient History is fully flexible allowing you to create your own programme based on your particular interests and aims. We provide a wide variety of specialist modules based on our diverse areas of research, together with optional language teaching at all levels. You will undertake training in specific research skills designed to help you succeed across your MA studies and beyond.
We also offer a range of international opportunities that vary from year to year.
The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
90 credits of compulsory modules and 90 credits of optional modules.
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM043 | Dissertation in Classics and Ancient History | 60 |
| CTHM007 | Research Skills in Classics, Ancient History and Theology | 30 |
Optional modules
a - If you are beginning a classical language, you should take 30-60 credits from CLAM090 and CLAM091 as well as CLAM088 and CLAM089.
b - If you have a classical language at beginners' level, you should take 30 credits from either CLAM252 or CLAM202.
c - If you have a classical language at intermediate level, you should take 30 credits from CLAM254, CLAM255 or CLAM204, or CLAM205.
d - If you have a classical language at Degree level, you should take CLAM012A.
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CLAM090 | Classical Language and Texts: Latin I (A) [See note a above] | 15 |
| CLAM091 | Classical Language and Texts: Latin I (B) [See note a above] | 15 |
| CLAM088 | Classical Language and Texts Greek I (A) [See note a above] | 15 |
| CLAM089 | Classical Language and Texts: Greek I (B) [See note a above] | 15 |
| CLAM252 | Classical Language and Texts: Latin II [See note b above] | 30 |
| CLAM202 | Classical Language and Texts: Greek II [See note b above] | 30 |
| CLAM254 | Latin III [See note c above] | 30 |
| CLAM255 | Latin IV [See note c above] | 30 |
| CLAM204 | Greek III [See note c above] | 30 |
| CLAM205 | Greek IV [See note c above] | 30 |
| CLAM012A | Latin Epic [See note d above] | 30 |
| Classics and Ancient History PGT option modules 2024-5 | ||
| CLAM108 | Rome: Globalisation, Materiality | 15 |
| CLAM077 | Ancient Texts and their Interpretation | 15 |
| CLAM101 | The Western Dragon in Lore, Literature and Art | 15 |
| CLAM259 | Ancient Epigraphy | 15 |
| CLAM078 | Classical Reception: An Introduction | 15 |
| CLAM079 | Cultures of the Body in the Roman Empire | 15 |
| CLAM260 | Greek Papyrology: An Introduction | 15 |
| CLAM263 | Magic and Folklore in the Greek and Roman Worlds | 15 |
| CLAM107 | Roman Myth | 15 |
| CLAM262 | Pandemics and disease in the ancient Mediterranean | 15 |
| CLAM106 | Ancient Philosophy | 15 |
| CLAM261 | Homers Odyssey and the Caribbean | 15 |
| CLAM111 | Ancient Drama in its Social and Cultural Context | 15 |
| CLAM046 | The City of Rome | 30 |
Fees
2025/26 entry
UK fees per year:
£12,500 full-time; £6,250 part-time
International fees per year:
£25,300 full-time; £12,650 part-time
Scholarships
We invest heavily in scholarships for talented prospective Masters students. This includes over £5 million in scholarships for international students, such as our Global Excellence Scholarships*.
For more information on scholarships, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
*Selected programmes only. Please see the Terms and Conditions for each scheme for further details.
Teaching and research
Teaching
Before you begin your MA we will sit down with you to discuss your module choices and help you build your programme of study. Throughout the course we will support you, mainly through a personal tutor who will meet with you regularly to discuss progress, results and feedback.
Your teaching will mainly be through small group discussions and seminars where you will present your work and take part in debates. We use a variety of methods including seminars, student-led groups and one-to-one supervision. You will also have the opportunity to join postgraduate reading groups and benefit from working collaboratively with your fellow students.
Throughout your programme you will have the opportunity to explore your personal interests through directed independent study.
In your final term you will continue shaping, researching, and writing your dissertation which will be an original project on a topic of your choice. We will teach you the skills and train you in the methodologies you need to be a success.
Research
Exeter has one of the largest and most successful teams of Classics and Ancient History scholars in the country. We are all active academic researchers, working at the forefront of our fields, and are confident in the benefits that our discipline can bring to the wider world.
We have a real research culture at Exeter with international conferences that you could help organise. You will be taught by research-active staff who are at the top of their field. We hope you will become part of that culture and add to our research strength.
Our academic staff have a broad range of expertise and ground-breaking research interests. Some of the areas we have a special research interest include:
- Ancient and modern philosophy, especially metaphysics and ethics
- Ancient political thought and its reception in later societies
- Archaeology and material culture, especially of the Roman world
- Papyrology
- Classical reception
- The history of sexuality and gender
- Digital Humanities
- Greek and Roman epic, tragedy and comedy
- Greek and Roman mythology, religion and magic
- Greek and Roman socio-economic history
- Greek literature in the Roman empire
- Hellenistic history and historiography, especially the Hellenistic dynasties, the barbarian interface and the Greek culture of Asia Minor
- Ancient medicine
- Late Antiquity and religious change
- Latin literature
- Migration, mobility, and connectivity, especially in Italy and the Roman empire
- Global Classics
Facilities
We have a number of dynamic research centres grouped around shared themes in our work.
The Centre for Hellenistic and Romano-Greek Culture and Society is an internationally recognised hub for the study of the history and culture of the post-classical Greek world. Research interests include ancient Macedonia and the Hellenistic dynasties, religion, cultural exchange and heritage, historiography, and the literature of magic.
The Centre for Connectivity in the Roman World examines the ways in which connectivity contributed to the shaping of distinctive cultures, economies and societies across the breadth of the Roman world (and its immediate neighbours).
The Centre for Knowledge in Culture in Antiquity and Beyond brings together research in specialised areas including ancient medicine, ancient science and the scientific imagination, metaphysics, philosophy, ethics, sexual knowledge, military strategy and political thought, and on ancient technical writings from across the Classical world.
The Exeter Centre for Classical Reception brings together an extraordinary concentration of colleagues in English, History, Modern Languages, as well as Classics and Ancient History with an interest in the different ways in which the Greek and Roman world has been presented, interpreted, and reimagined in both the past and the present. We also have close links with other disciplines within the university, particularly digital humanities, archaeology, and theology.
Find out more about our research on the Classics and Ancient History website.
My research interests lie in Roman social and economic history, particularly urban economies, the experience of living in the ancient city, and Roman demography.
I am especially interested in Rome itself, and have published work on the city's retail trade, demography, and street life, as well as editing A Companion to the City of Rome with Amanda Claridge (Wiley-Blackwell, 2018).
Read more from Dr Claire Holleran
Dr Claire Holleran
Programme Director
Careers
PhD
Many of our students decide to take their studies on to doctoral level and we are very happy to help you prepare with one-to-one mentoring as you develop a research proposal and submit applications for funding. Of course, a PhD isn’t the only option available to you on completing our MA.
Careers
During your time with us you will have a developed an excellent range of skills in logical thinking, interpreting, analysing and evaluating information, and communication. A range of options will be open to you, you might take a career path in a related area such as museum and cultural heritage work or teaching. Alternatively, you might choose to pursue a different profession using your relevant skills, perhaps joining the Civil Service or working in business, law or management.
Some destinations of graduates from Classics and Ancient History programmes are:
- Actor
- Classics Teacher
- Client Executive
- Executive Search Researcher
- Human Resources Adviser
- Lecturer
- Legal Assistant
- Personal Incident Manager
- Producer of West End Shows
- Project Manager
- Property Manager
- Publishing Assistant
- Quality Controller
- Researcher
Top 10 in the UK for Classics and Ancient History
7th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025
Proactive Classics Society with successful student tutor scheme
