Classical Art and Archaeology MSc

Level: Postgraduate taught

Subject: Classics

Year of entry: 2026

Study options

Mode of study

On campus

Full-time
  • MSc | 1 year | Start date: September 2026

Key facts

School

School of History, Classics and Archaeology

College

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Study location

Central Area

Accreditation

Not available

Apply now

19 to 21 November 2025: Postgraduate Virtual Open Days

Join us live to explore postgraduate taught and research study at Edinburgh and gain key insights before you apply.

Register now

About the degree programme

Edinburgh, the ‘Athens of the North’, is one of the leading centres for the study of the ancient world in all its aspects, and our MSc in Classical Art and Archaeology offers one of the broadest disciplinary approaches anywhere in the UK and beyond.

This programme covers the ancient Greek and Roman worlds from the Bronze Age to the late Roman and early Christian period through their material remains, including, but not limited to, topics such as sculpture, funerary art, topography and visual cultures. A key feature of the programme is the study of ancient civilisations that came into contact with the Greeks and Romans. 

Additionally, our vast expertise in Greek and Latin language, literature and thought, ancient history, political thought and practice, as well as Classical reception studies, allows for rewarding interdisciplinary approaches. Moreover, we take a broad diachronic view of the discipline, from the archaic through to the late antique period and beyond: for those wishing to expand their chronological range, we offer comprehensive options in both post-Roman medieval and Byzantine history.

Drawing on the diverse interests of our academic staff in Classics, which numbers more than 30, the programme content is highly flexible, allowing you to choose a specialised path or a more interdisciplinary approach. As a student on this programme, you will develop your skills in critical thinking and analysis, clear writing and interdisciplinary research, and verbal presentation.

This programme will give you the tools and context needed to study specific periods and/or regions of ancient civilisation. Above all, you will have the opportunity to closely analyse material culture informed by current theories and approaches and/or develop your skills in Greek and Latin: Beginners and intermediate Greek and Latin language courses are always offered. In addition, several members of Classics have ongoing excavations in Italy, Georgia and Macedonia, which students are welcome to attend.

During the semester, our weekly Classics research seminar series offers you the opportunity to hear from distinguished speakers, while our Classics graduate seminar allows you to share your research with your peers.

Edinburgh is the ideal location for studying Classical Art and Archaeology – a stunningly beautiful city with a worldwide reputation as a cultural and academic capital.

This short video gives you an introduction to our MSc Classical Art and Archaeology programme from Professor Lucy Grig.

Study options

The full-time MSc lasts for 12 months from September to the end of August in the following year. To be awarded an MSc, you must complete the coursework and a dissertation.  

The taught courses are worth a total of 120 credit points and are assessed mainly by essays and written work. Provided you achieve the required standard, you will proceed to a period of individual research from May to August, resulting in a final dissertation worth a further 60 credits.

Programme benefits

  • The programme allows you to explore not simply the archaeology of Greece and Rome, but also the Near East and north-western Europe.
  • The programme aims to familiarise you with the various methods used in the study of classics, enabling you to work in a manner that is theoretically and methodologically engaged.
  • We are one of the largest groups of classics-focused academics in the UK, with around 30 members of staff covering a variety of research interests.

What I love about the way that Edinburgh structures their Masters programs is the diversity in their courses. I found that a lot of other universities focus solely on preparing their students to go on to a PhD, whereas Edinburgh offers specialist courses such as Archaeological Illustration and GIS, which help prepare students for the possibility of going into commercial archaeology work as well.

Siena MSc Classical Art and Archaeology, graduated 2022

Tuition fees

Tuition fees by award and duration

Tuition fees for full-time and part-time options are listed for one academic year.

Full-time

Graduate discount

If you are a University of Edinburgh graduate, you will be eligible for a 10% discount on your tuition fees for this programme. You may also be eligible if you were a visiting undergraduate student.

Find out how to receive your graduate discount

Deposit

You do not have to pay a deposit to secure your place on this programme.

Costs

Accommodation and living costs

You need to cover your accommodation and living costs for the duration of your programme.

We estimate that you might spend £1,167 to £2,330 per month if you are a single student.

Living costs include:

  • food
  • utility bills
  • travel, clothes, books and stationery
  • recreational costs (for example, TV subscriptions and social events)

Living costs

Accommodation costs depend on where you live while studying and the type of accommodation you choose.

University postgraduate accommodation options and costs

Funding opportunities

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

  • borrowing money
    • taking out a loan
    • family support
  • personal savings
  • income from work
  • employer sponsorship
  • scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Search for other funding opportunities

You can find scholarships, bursaries and other funding you might be eligible for on our Scholarships and Student Funding site.

Postgraduate funding opportunities

These entry requirements are for the 2026-27 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2027-28 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2026.

Qualifications

A UK 2:1 honours degree, a minimum US 3.25 GPA or its international equivalent, in a subject related to this programme, preferably Classics, Classical Civilization, Ancient History or Classical Archaeology.

We will also consider an honours degree in another subject if your personal statement demonstrates how you are equipped to undertake the programme. Relevant experience, or professional or other qualifications will also be considered.

International qualifications

To find international equivalent qualifications, select where you studied from the country or region list.

English language requirements

You must prove that your English language abilities are at a high enough level to study this degree programme.

This is the case for all applicants, including UK nationals.

You can meet our English language requirements with one of the following:

  • an English language test
  • a degree that was taught and assessed in English
  • certain professional qualifications

English language tests we accept

We accept any of the following English language tests, at the specified grade or higher:

  • IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.0 in each component We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 20 in each component We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
  • C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 169 in each component.
  • Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
  • Oxford ELLT: total 8 with at least 6 in each component.
  • Oxford Test of English Advanced: total 155 with at least 135 in each component.
How old your English language tests can be
Tests no more than two years old

The following English language tests must be no more than two years old on the 1st of the month in which your programme starts, regardless of your nationality:

  • IELTS Academic
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition)
  • Trinity ISE
  • Oxford ELLT
  • Oxford Test of English Advanced
Tests no more than three and a half years old

All other English language tests must be no more than three and a half years old on the 1st of the month in which your programme starts, regardless of your nationality.   

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English-speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration.

UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English-speaking countries (non-MESC).

Approved universities in non-MESC

How old your degree can be

If you are not a national of a majority English-speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old on the 1st of the month in which your programme starts.

This time limit does not apply to your degree if you are a national of a majority English-speaking country.

Find out more about our English language requirements

Find out about other English language qualifications we accept, including professional qualifications.

English language requirements

What you will study

You will complete one compulsory (core) courses and select a further five options from a wide range on offer, followed by independent research in the form of a supervised dissertation.

Compulsory courses

There is one required training course in classical research methods and skills that runs across the two teaching semesters (20 credits). This course is specially designed for classicists and aims to introduce you to areas of the discipline beyond your own specialities and to help you with the practical skills of finding and presenting information; it also equips you with the independent skills you need to complete your dissertation.

The compulsory course is:

  • Skills and Methods in Classics

Option courses

Option courses previously offered include those listed below: 

  • Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: The Basics and Beyond
  • Archaeological Illustration
  • Archaeology of 'Celtic' Europe: Communities and Interactions
  • Archaeomaterials Analysis
  • Bronze Age Civilisations of the Near East and Greece
  • Conflict archaeology: materialities of violence
  • GIS and Spatial Analysis for Archaeologists
  • Greek Text Seminar 1
  • Heritage Studies and the Archaeology of the Contemporary World: Investigating How the Past Shapes the Present
  • Island Worlds: Prehistoric Societies in the Mediterranean Sea from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age
  • Judaea under Roman Rule
  • Marine Archaeology
  • Popular unrest, revolts, and rebellions in the Byzantine world
  • Roman Archaeology
  • Space, Place and Time: the archaeology of built environments
  • The Archaeology of Children and Childhood
  • The Athenian Akropolis
  • The Hittites: The Archaeology of an Ancient Near Eastern Civilisation
  • The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A World between Empires
  • Themes in Egyptian archaeology: the foundations of the state to the end of the Middle Kingdom

Find courses for this programme

Find out what courses you can study on this programme and how each of them are taught and assessed.

The courses on offer may change from year to year, but the course information will give you an idea of what to expect on this programme.

Full-time

We link to the latest information available. This may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Disclaimer

Option courses change from year to year and those available when you start your studies may be different from those shown in the list.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Teaching takes place in small groups with most courses taught via weekly seminars. 

Assessment

The majority of the 20-credit courses are assessed by single pieces of coursework, usually essays of 4-5000 words, while the language courses are assessed by weekly exercises and a final exam.

Research dissertation

You will undertake a research project and produce a dissertation which is submitted on an assigned date in mid-August.

The dissertation is an independent research project supervised by one or more members of the academic staff. You have considerable freedom to define your own dissertation project — so long as it is a feasible project that one or more staff members have the expertise to supervise. You will meet with the Programme Director and other members of the department to decide on a topic, usually in Semester 2 and you will put together a research proposal as part of the training course.

Past dissertation topics include:

  • Royal monuments of Hellenistic Numidia
  • The Usk and Wye valleys in the Roman period
  • The cult of Isis in central Italy
  • Ptolemaic interventions at Philae

Learning outcomes

The programme aims to:

  • provide students with the intellectual background, training and support necessary for the conduct and critical assessment of research in Classical Art and Archaeology
  • give students an advanced knowledge of and competency in a specific area of Classics
  • familiarise students with various methods used in the study of Classical Art and Archaeology
  • enable students to work in a manner that is theoretically and methodologically engaged
  • equip students with knowledge of Greek and/or Roman artefacts and their interpretation through study of original objects and monuments and careful analysis of secondary literature
  • develop and test the ability of students to formulate and sustain a substantial piece of research in Classical Art and Archaeology

Support for your studies

You will have access to a range of support services if you need them throughout your degree.

We will assign you to a student adviser, and this should be the first person to contact if you need help. They can guide you to other University service teams depending on what support you need.  

How we support you

Where you will study

Study location

The majority of teaching will take place in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology.

The School of History, Classics and Archaeology is located in the heart of the city, in the University's Central Area. The Central Area is located on the edge of Edinburgh's historic Old Town, surrounded by lots of green space.

Our building, the William Robertson Wing of the Old Medical School, is Grade A-listed. The building is in the Northern Italian Renaissance style, incorporating design influences from Venice and Bologna, including red-tiled roofs, a corbelled stair turret and palazzo frontages.

Academic facilities

Postgraduate students have access to a wide range of resources and facilities both within the William Robertson Wing of the historic Old Medical School, and nearby in the vibrant heart of the city of Edinburgh. 

Study spaces

Our location, right in the heart of Edinburgh, means you will be based close to the city’s cultural attractions and facilities, including a wealth of libraries, archives, museums and galleries, which provide uniquely rich support for the disciplines we teach.

A tour of our postgraduate spaces:
Scottish History Collection - Room 3.07

This small library houses the Scottish History Collection.  While the library itself is available for use by all students, the desk space within the room is reserved for the use of  PhD students.

Postgraduate Study Room - Room 2.35

This room is available to all postgraduate students and is intended to provide students with a quiet working environment. It is a dedicated study and computing lab with printing, copying and scanning facilities, overlooking the Meadows, one of the city’s best-loved green spaces.

Computer Teaching Lab - Room 2.36 

Room 2.36 is a 24-seater computer lab on the second floor, which is available to HCA students at postgraduate and undergraduate Honours level when it isn't booked for teaching.  The computers in this room are of a high specification and are particularly suitable for work requiring intensive computation or graphical manipulation. They also have some specialist software and may be particularly useful to students who have lab sessions in the room, using specific pieces of software.

Student Research Room - Room 2M.25

The Student Reading Room (2M.25) is a quiet study facility and houses some of the School's book collections. The room also contains a small number of PCs, and printing facilities are available. Please note that these rooms are not exclusively postgraduate resources, and access is shared with our Undergraduate student community. The Student Research Room contains nine collections of books from previous class libraries and special collections donated to the School over many years.

Career opportunities

Our students view the programme and a graduate degree from Edinburgh as an advanced qualification valued and respected by many employers, others are interested in pursuing long-term academic careers and therefore consider the MSc as preparation for a PhD.

The programme provides a toolkit of transferable skills in organisation, research and analysis that will be highly prized in any field of work.

This programme can form the stepping stone to many career options, such as:

  • further academic research
  • law
  • museum and art curation
  • literary translation or analysis
  • education
  • public heritage

Recent graduates in Classics are now putting their skills to use as:

  • tutors
  • archivists
  • writers
  • editors
  • civil servants

Further study

After completing this programme, you may wish to consider applying for a PhD or other research programme.

Applying for research degrees

Moving on to a PhD (advice from the University's Careers Service)

Careers Service

Our Careers Service can help you to fully develop your potential and achieve your future goals. 

The Careers Service supports you not only while you are studying at the University, but also for up to two years after you finish your studies. 

With the Careers Service, you can: 

  • access digital resources to help you understand your skills and strengths
  • try different types of experiences and reflect on how and what you develop
  • get help finding work, including part-time jobs, vacation work, internships and graduate jobs
  • attend careers events and practice interviews
  • get information and advice to help you make informed decisions 

Visit the Careers Service website 

How to apply

You apply online for this programme. After you read the application guidance, select your preferred programme, then choose 'Start your application' to begin.

If you are considering applying to more than one programme, you should be aware that we cannot consider more than 5 applications from the same applicant.

When to apply

Programme start date Application deadline
14 September 2026 30 July 2026

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible so that we have enough time to process your application. This is particularly important if you are also applying for funding or will require a visa. Applications may close earlier than published deadlines if there is exceptionally high demand.

For an application to be reviewed, it must be a complete application by the application deadline with all supporting documentation uploaded, including your transcripts.

If you already have evidence that you meet the English language entry requirements, such as via an approved English language test, please upload this evidence at the time of your application. If you have not already met your English language requirements, we will still review your application and issue a decision providing it is otherwise complete.

Application fee

There is no fee to apply to this programme.

What you need to apply

As part of your online application, you will need to provide: 

You will also need to submit some or all of the following supporting documents:

When you start your application, you will be able to see the full list of documents you need to provide.

References

You do not need to provide a reference when you submit your application for this programme.

There may be certain circumstances when a reference will be required, for example if we need to verify work experience. If that is the case, we will contact you after we have reviewed your application to request a reference.

Apply

Select the award, duration and delivery mode you want to study. Then select the start date you want to apply for.

After you apply

Once you have applied for this programme, you will be able to track the progress of your application and accept or decline any offers.

Checking the status of your application

We will notify you by email once we have made a decision. Due to the large number of applications we receive, it might take a while until you hear from us.

Receiving our decision

What to do if you receive an offer:

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of University accommodation for all new, single postgraduate taught students from outside the UK and new, single postgraduate research (typically PhD) students who:

  • apply for accommodation by 31 July in the year when you start your programme
  • accept an unconditional firm offer to study at the University by 31 July
  • study at the University for the whole of the academic year starting in September

University accommodation website

Accommodation guarantee criteria

We also offer accommodation options for couples and families.

Accommodation for couples and families

If you prefer to live elsewhere, we can offer you advice on finding accommodation in Edinburgh.

Accommodation information from the Edinburgh University Students' Association Advice Place

Societies and clubs

Our societies and sports clubs will help you develop your interests, meet like-minded people, find a new hobby or simply socialise.

Societies

Sport Clubs

The city of Edinburgh

Scotland's inspiring capital will form the background to your studies — a city with an irresistible blend of history, natural beauty and modern city life. 

Find out more about living in Edinburgh

Health and wellbeing support

You will have access to free health and wellbeing services throughout your time at university if you need them.

The support services we offer include: 

  • a student counselling service
  • a health centre (doctor's surgery)
  • support if you're living in University accommodation
  • dedicated help and support if you have a disability or need adjustments

Health and wellbeing support services 

Disability and Learning Support

General enquiries

Have a question about postgraduate study?

Postgraduate enquiries

Academic contact

Dr Benjamin Harriman

Programme Director

Contact details

Related degree programmes

Other degrees in Classics