MA (Hons) Russian Studies and History

Studying Russian and History helps you understand the contemporary world, as well as shedding light on the past. Today, around 150 million people in the world speak Russian, and it is widely used in global cultural and political contexts.

Russian is the official language of four countries and is understood throughout Eastern Europe. The last thirty years have seen transnational mobility on an unprecedented scale. For example, there are large communities of Russian-speakers in China, Central Asia, the United States, and Western Europe.
On this joint honours programme, you will have the opportunity to develop advanced speaking, writing, reading, listening and translating skills in Russian.

Our Year 1 Russian courses are streamed according to how much of the language you already know, so it does not matter if you are a complete beginner.

Over the course of your four years, you will explore Russian literature and culture, past and present. You will also develop an awareness of Russia's international political and historical contexts.
In History, you will study the human past more broadly, interacting with evidence in primary form, and through critical reading of a wide body of historical writing.

The Edinburgh experience is distinctive for its range of historical themes, chronological periods and geographical areas. You can choose from courses covering:

the early Middle Ages to the most recent past
Britain and Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas
Further, our courses offer a rich variety of approaches to the past, including:

political history
cultural history
social history
economic history
intellectual history
gender history
global and transnational history

Standard entry requirement
The standard entry requirement is:

SQA Highers: AAAB-ABBB by end of S5 or AAAA-AABB/ABBBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6.
A Levels: AAB - ABB.
IB: 36 points with 665 at HL - 34 points with 655 at HL.
Minimum entry requirement
The minimum entry requirement for widening access applicants is:

SQA Highers: ABBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6.
A Levels: ABB.
IB: 34 points with 655 at HL.
IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 5.5 in each component.
TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.