History (Online Learning) MSc, PgDip, PgCert

The online MSc History is delivered entirely online. Both the core and option units are taught through a combination of live virtual seminars and discussion board forums. We aim to provide advanced knowledge and understanding of selected topics in history, as well as enhancing skills in independent research, critical analysis, and both oral and written presentation.

All of our teaching is divided into themed weeks. The method of teaching will vary from course to course and may include podcast lectures, group work and reflective diary posts. Each course has a dedicated lecturer responsible for running it and you can expect to receive regular feedback on your discussion posts and all written assignments from them.

Studying online at Edinburgh

Find out more about the benefits and practicalities of studying for an online degree:

• Postgraduate online learning

This programme can be taken at your own pace and can be completed in a period of between one and six years. You can exit the programme at any stage with the qualification you have earned which is determined by the number of credits successfully achieved at the required level. You will be examined through a combination of coursework and discussion forum tasks, source reviews, article reviews or recordings of oral presentations. To complete the MSc you will complete two compulsory courses and select a further four options from a wide range on offer, followed by independent research in the form of a supervised dissertation.

Many students balance their studies alongside other commitments and the programme’s flexible structure supports this, allowing part-time students to take up to two fallow semesters, in which you remain on programme but do not register for courses.

Compulsory courses:

• Historical Research: Approaches to History
• Historical Research: Skills and Sources

Option courses previously offered include those listed below. Option courses change from year to year and those available when you start your studies may be different from those shown in the list:

• Empire or Continent?: British Foreign Policy in the Era of the Great War
• Theories of Empire in the Early Modern Period
• The Lords of the Isles: Clan Donald, c.1336 - c.1545
• Ideology and Politics in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Space
• The Rise of Modern US Conservatism
• Questioning the 'Revolutions' in Economic and Social History
• Modern Latin American History
• The Holocaust
• The Closest of Enemies: Cuban-American Relations, 1898-2014
• The Trial of the Templars
• Athens of the North - The Origins and Ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment
• Willingly to War? The Origins of the First World War
• The Crusades and the Euro-Mediterranean World
• British Politics and Policy in the Second World War
• Consensus to Thatcherism: Government and Politics in Post-War Britain
• The American Civil War and Reconstruction
• Myth and the History of Scholarship in Early Modern Europe
• The Shadow of Versailles: Interwar Europe, 1918-1939
• Seeking 'Japan' in a Westernizing World: Revolution, Romance and Imperialism 1868-1945
• Scotland and Ireland, 1800 - 1945
• British Empires, 1601-1948
• Diaspora, Migration and Exile: The History of the Global Irish since 1600
• Ancient Egyptian Religion and the Afterlife
• Society and Culture in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Space

We aim to provide a Programme that will result in an advanced qualification valued and respected by many employers. Many choose to take this degree for personal satisfaction and to further their study of a discipline close to their hearts, while others are interested in long-term academic careers and consider the MSc as preparation for a PhD. The combination of skills training, specialised seminars, and independent research provides you with transferable skills that will be beneficial whatever path you choose.

Graduates work in related areas such as education (though additional training may be required), museums, policy think tanks, national and international civil services, non-governmental organisations, galleries, libraries and historic trusts while others build their transferable skills to enter business, media, public administration or marketing.

This video gives you details of how online degrees are taught:

Watch a short video introducing our MSc History (Online Learning):

These entry requirements are for the 2023/24 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2024/25 academic year will be published on 2 October 2023.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, a minimum US 3.25 GPA or international equivalent, in a subject related to this programme.

It is not necessary to have a full degree in History, but some previous study in History at honours/'upper undergraduate' level is strongly advised.

Relevant experience, or professional or other qualifications will also be considered.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.0 in each component.
• 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.
• PTE Academic: total 70 with at least 59 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also 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

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Read our general information on tuition fees and studying costs:

• Fees and costs

Featured funding

• School of History, Classics & Archaeology Masters Scholarships
• Online Learning Scholarships

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding