Names of our degrees

Depending on the subject, our undergraduate degrees may be called 'bachelors' or 'masters'. Our undergraduate masters is a different qualification from a postgraduate masters.

Scottish names for undergraduate degrees

Like at other Scottish universities, many of our undergraduate degrees are called 'masters'.   

This is unlike elsewhere in the UK, where undergraduate degrees are usually called 'bachelor' degrees and postgraduate degrees are usually called 'masters' degrees. 

  • BA: Bachelor of Arts
  • BA (Hons): Bachelor of Arts with Honours
  • BA (DIV): Bachelor of Arts (Divinity)
  • BA (RS): Bachelor of Arts (Religious Studies)
  • BD: Bachelor of Divinity
  • BD (Hons): Bachelor of Divinity with Honours
  • BEd: Bachelor of Education
  • BEd (Hons): Bachelor of Education with Honours
  • BEng: Bachelor of Engineering
  • BEng (Hons): Bachelor of Engineering with Honours
  • BMus: Bachelor of Music
  • BMus (Hons): Bachelor of Music with Honours
  • BN: Bachelor of Nursing
  • BN (Hons): Bachelor of Nursing with Honours
  • BSc: Bachelor of Science
  • BSc (Hons): Bachelor of Science with Honours
  • BVMS: Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
  • LLB: Bachelor of Laws
  • LLB (Hons): Bachelor of Laws with Honours
  • MA: Master of Arts
  • MA (Hons): Master of Arts with Honours
  • MBChB: Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery/Chirurgery
  • MBiol: Master of Biology
  • MChem: Master of Chemistry
  • MChem (Hons): Master of Chemistry with Honours
  • MChemPhys: Master of Chemical Physics
  • MChemPhys (Hons): Master of Chemical Physics with Honours
  • MEarthSci: Master of Earth Science
  • MEarthSci (Hons): Master of Earth Science with Honours
  • MEng: Master of Engineering
  • MEng (Hons): Master of Engineering with Honours
  • MInf: Master of Informatics
  • MInf (Hons): Master of Informatics with Honours
  • MMath: Master of Mathematics
  • MMath (Hons): Master of Mathematics with Honours
  • MPhys: Master of Physics
  • MPhys (Hons): Master of Physics with Honours
  • MSc: Master of Science
  • MSc (Hons): Master of Science with Honours 

Arts, humanities and social science degrees

Arts, humanities and social science degrees at Edinburgh have a variety of awards. You will come across: 

  • MA (Hons) for most arts, humanities and social science degrees. This is a conventional undergraduate degree and is not equivalent to a postgraduate masters.
  • BA (Hons) for most art degrees at the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA). They are equivalent to Edinburgh undergraduate degrees named MA – the difference in the name is historical.
  • Bachelor of Laws or LLB (Hons) for undergraduate law degrees
  • Bachelor of Divinity or BD (Hons)/MDiv (Hons) as well as MA (Hons) for undergraduate degrees in divinity

Science and engineering degrees

Science and engineering subjects also have a variety of awards. You will come across: 

  • Bachelor of Science (BSc), which normally takes four years
  • MPhys, MChem or MEng, which are known as integrated masters degrees and involve a further year of in-depth study at masters level  

Medical, veterinary and biomedical science degrees

For degrees in the medical or veterinary fields, you will come across: 

  • MBChB, or Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, for our undergraduate medicine programme
  • BVM&S, or Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, for our undergraduate veterinary medicine programme
  • BSc for undergraduate degrees in biomedical sciences

How our degrees are structured

The structure of our undergraduate degrees, including how many years it takes, varies depending on the subject area you are interested in. 

Degree structures

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