Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Arts (MA)
- Duration
- MA 1/2 years (ft/pt); PGDip 9/18 months (ft/pt)
- Entry requirements
-
We require a UK bachelor's degree with a First or Upper Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline for entry to our MA programme.
We require a UK bachelor's degree with a Lower-Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline for entry to our Postgraduate Diploma.
When assessing your academic record we consider your degree subject, grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.
- How to apply
- Apply online
Course options
Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
---|---|---|---|---|
MA | Y | Y | N | N |
PGDip | Y | Y | N | N |
Course overview
- Question taken-for-granted assumptions and view the world from a new perspective
- Acquire the ability to read ethnography and use it in comparative anthropological interpretations of what it means to be human
- Benefit from a course offering personalised and specialist supervision
Open days
The University holds regular open days, where you will have the opportunity to find out more about our facilities and courses.
On this day, you will find out more about the School, our resources, and meet academic and admissions staff who will be able to answer any questions you have.
See open days and visits for more information.
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2024, the tuition fees are as follows:
-
MA (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £17,000
International, including EU, students (per annum): £29,000 -
MA (part-time)
UK students (per annum): £8,500
International, including EU, students (per annum): £14,500 -
PGDip (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £11,333
International, including EU, students (per annum): £19,333 -
PGDip (part-time)
UK students (per annum): £5,667
International, including EU, students (per annum): £9,667
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.
All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.
Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
We offer a number of postgraduate taught scholarships and awards to outstanding applicants, such as the Manchester Humanities International Excellence Scholarship .
The Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme offers a £3,000 fee reduction to Manchester alumni who achieved a first-class bachelor's degree within the last three years and are progressing to postgraduate study.
For more information, see our Fees and funding page.
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Social Sciences
- Contact name
- School of Social Sciences Admissions Office
- Telephone
- +44 (0) 161 804 9198
- pg-soss@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- https://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/social-anthropology/
- School/Faculty
-
See: School Subjects
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
We require a UK bachelor's degree with a First or Upper Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline for entry to our MA programme.
We require a UK bachelor's degree with a Lower-Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline for entry to our Postgraduate Diploma.
When assessing your academic record we consider your degree subject, grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.
English language
Applicants whose first language is not English should meet the following language requirements:
- IELTS Academic test score of 7 overall, including 7 in writing with no further component score below 6.5
- TOEFL IBT 100 with 25 in writing and no further score below 22 in each section. TOEFL code for Manchester is 0757
- Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 76 overall, with 76 in writing and no further score below 70
Pre-Sessional English Courses
We will consider applicants who do not meet these scores but you may be required to complete a pre-sessional English language course at the University of Manchester prior to the start of the course.
To be considered for a pre-sessional English language course for this programme we require the following minimum IELTS (Academic) scores:
6 Week Pre-Sessional Course : IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and no more than one sub-skill of 6.0.
10 Week Pre-sessional Course : IELTS 6.0 overall with 6.0 or above in each sub-skill
If you have not yet completed your current academic study and are interested in studying a pre-sessional course, you must hold an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) test certificate to ensure that you are eligible for a separate visa for the English language course.
English language test validity
Some English Language test results are only valid for two years. Your English Language test report must be valid on the start date of the course.
Applicants from Majority English-speaking countries
If you are a national of a majority English-speaking country (or have studied for a full bachelor's degree or higher from one of these countries) you may be exempt from submitting further evidence of English language proficiency.
Other international entry requirements
We accept a range of qualifications from across the globe. To help international students, the university provides specific information for many individual countries. Please see our country-specific information page for guidance on the academic and English language qualifications which may be accepted from your country.
Application and selection
How to apply
Advice to applicants
Application deadline: 31st July 2024
Please note, due to the high volume of applications we receive the course may close before the advertised deadline and as such, early application is advised.
If you meet our entry requirements but we are unable to make you an offer you may be placed on a waiting list. Candidates on a waiting list will receive an offer only if places become available.
Re-applications
Course details
Course description
Through a set of core course units, comprising about a third of coursework credits, you are provided with a comprehensive grounding in classical as well as contemporary debates in social anthropology and are introduced to the distinctive research methods and ethical positions associated with the discipline. You can select units of study from a good number of elective modules offered by staff working at the forward edge of their fields of study, and complete augment these by choosing from a broad range of units offered around the Faculty of Humanities.
Through these options, you apply the social anthropological theories and methods learnt on the core units to particular substantive themes and topics.
Diploma students complete their coursework in May and formally graduate in July. Over the summer holidays, MA students carry out research for a 15,000 word dissertation that is submitted in September; normally graduating in December.
Teaching and learning
You will take four 15-credit core course units to a total of 60 credits, including Key Approaches to Social Anthropology, Ethnography Reading Seminar, Contemporary Debates, and Image Text and Fieldwork, and a selection of optional units that you choose shortly after arrival.
Many elective units are worth 15 credits.
In total, you are required to achieve 120 coursework credits.
Over the Summer holidays, you are required to write a dissertation which is worth a further 60 credits.
Part-time students complete the full-time course over two years.
There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time course.
You must first check the schedule of the compulsory units and then select your optional units to suit your requirements.
Updated timetable information will be available from mid-August and you will have the opportunity to discuss your unit choices during induction week with your course director.
Coursework and assessment
Most units are assessed by means of an extended assessment essay. Typically, for 15 credit units, these will be 4000 words, whilst for 30 credit courses, they are normally 6000 words.
Certain options involving practical instruction in research methods, audio-visual media or museum display may also be assessed by means of presentations and/or portfolios of practical work. In addition, all MA students are required to write a 15,000 word dissertation.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Images, Text, Fieldwork | SOAN70452 | 15 | Mandatory |
MA Ethnography Reading Seminar | SOAN70691 | 15 | Mandatory |
Key Approaches in Social Anthropology | SOAN70811 | 15 | Mandatory |
Contemporary Debates in Social Anthropology | SOAN70822 | 15 | Mandatory |
Anthropology of Development and Humanitarianism | SOAN60111 | 15 | Optional |
Anthropology of Displacement and Migration: Why and how do people move? | SOAN60252 | 15 | Optional |
Anthropology of Human Learning: Childhood and Education | SOAN60372 | 15 | Optional |
Ethnographies and Adventures in Manchester | SOAN60382 | 15 | Optional |
Anthropology of Health and Wellbeing | SOAN60411 | 15 | Optional |
Food and Eating: The Cultural Body | SOAN60882 | 15 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 13 course units | |||
Display all course units |
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
The MA Social Anthropology course trains you in a broad range of transferable skills that are useful in many walks of life, including assessing basic research reports, effective essay-writing, oral presentational skills in seminars and other contexts, basic computing skills, using the internet as a research tool and conducting bibliographic research.
Past graduates have gone on to many different careers, both inside and outside of academic life. As it is a 'conversion' course aimed at those who want to explore anthropology after undergraduate studies in another field, or at least within a different anthropological tradition, it often represents a major change of career direction, opening up a wide range of different possibilities.
The course also provides appropriate preparation for careers in which an informed awareness of social and cultural diversity is important. Other graduates have gone on to work in the voluntary sector, either in the UK or with overseas development agencies, while others have gone on to work in the media or cultural industries, or in education at many different levels.
A number of graduates have found opportunities in business or the civil service, where ethnography-based studies are increasingly popular as a way of finding out how people - from consumers to employees - interact with their everyday worlds.
The University also has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help boost your employability .