Classics and Ancient History MA

Year of entry: 2026

Course length: 12 months full-time | 24 months part-time

About the course

Our Classics and Ancient History MA is flexible and wide-ranging, enabling advanced study of ancient languages, literature, history, archaeology, and culture.

The course content reflects the broad, multidisciplinary nature of the subject, and of our specialisms here in Manchester, including Latin and Greek, the history of Greek and Roman antiquity, as well as Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, and culture.

We offer a specialist route through the MA - the City of Rome pathway - which involves taking a residential course unit at The British School at Rome.

As combined Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology, we also offer units on archaeology and climate in antiquity, on heritage theory and the ethics of museum practice, and on the history and art of Ancient Egypt. You may take one approved unit from another related subject area (e.g. Archaeology).

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Ranked joint-first for Classics research in the UK

(Research Excellence Framework 2021)

Work closely with the University’s award-winning museums: the Manchester Museum and The Whitworth.

Our graduates are among the most targeted by top UK's top graduate employers

(High Fliers 2025)

Compulsory Units

The Study of the Ancient World

Introducing you to the key research questions and methods involved in advanced study of the discipline and giving you the opportunity to develop and present your own research project.

Dissertation

Develop, research and craft a 10,000 word long original piece of advanced work.

Greek or Latin

Learn for the first time or advance your existing knowledge of an ancient language.

Optional Units

Climate and Environment in the Ancient World
Genre in Ancient Philosophy
Hellenistic Poetry
Heritage Museums and Conflict
Latin Letters
Urbanism in Ancient Egypt

This is a sample of the courses available on this course, a full and up to date list can be found on the course profile.

Where will your degree take you?

This non-vocational master's degree teaches and develops a wealth of transferable skills and enables students to keep a very wide range of career options open.

Researcher, Editorial Assistant, Secondary School Teacher, Museum/Gallery curator, Archivist, Academic Librarian, Barrister, Accountant, Civil Service, Heritage Manager, Museum Education, Journalist, Solicitor, Journalist are all professions that are directly drawing on the skills and expertise you develop during your MA degree. If you wish to continue with your research this Master's course also sets you up well for a PhD in Classics and Ancient History.

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Sam Holt

Audio/Visual Transcriber

MA Classics and Ancient History

"Studying Classics has given me great research and analytical skills as well as helping to improve my written English, which has helped me immensely in my current role as a transcriber, and will continue to be beneficial as I pursue a career in archivism and go on to further study. The most surprising aspect of my postgraduate studies that has helped me since graduating is the improvement of my communicational skills and the ability to articulate my ideas in coherent and concise terms, which has helped me in my professional and personal life.’’