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Information about British Degree Abbreviations

Degree abbreviations are used as an alternative way to specify an academic degree instead of spelling out the title in full, such as in reference books like Who's Who and on business cards. Many degrees have more than one abbreviation.

Overview

Note that usage in some Scottish universities, particularly the ancient universities, differs from that in England and Wales in that MAs are given out in place of BAs as first degrees, where the course of study is four years rather than the three years typical in England.

The usage in the two ancient English universities of Oxford and Cambridge also differs slightly from that in other UK universities - the MA degree is not a substantive qualification, but reflects the ancient practice of these universities of raising BAs to MAs (and thus full membership of the University) a few years after graduating. Conversely, some bachelor's degrees in the higher faculties (i.e. those other than arts) at those universities are postgraduate qualifications (e.g. the BCL and BMus at Oxford). Many have been changed to the corresponding masters degree (e.g. BSc is now MSc), but only within the last generation. The BD remains a higher degree at a some older universities (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews and Durham) but is an undergraduate degree at most (e.g. London, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow). Oxford and Cambridge grant BAs after three years to students on undergraduate courses lasting longer than this (the undergraduate masters degrees and the MB, ChB in medicine).

Undergraduate degrees may be awarded "with Honours" or may be "Ordinary" or "Pass" degrees. The meaning of non-Honours degrees changed in the course of the twentieth century, and varies somewhat between England and Wales on the one hand and Scotland and Northern Ireland on the other, and also between institutions. Honours degrees are usually awarded with first, upper-second, lower-second or third class honours.

Usage of titles of masters degrees (in particular the undergraduate masters degrees) is in continuing flux, not least because of discussions of harmonisation of qualifications within the European Union as part of the Bologna process.

This is an incomplete list. Please add to this list if you are aware of an omission.

Bachelor's degrees

In England and Wales, almost all bachelor's degrees are awarded as honours degrees, sometimes indicated by '(Hons)' after the degree abbreviation without a space, for example 'BA(Hons)'.

At the Ancient universities of Scotland (St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee), a BSc(Hons) indicates a four year course, being the equivalent of the Scottish MA for science degrees. A Scottish BSc without honours indicates a three year course with less specialisation (a General Degree).

Some of the following are postgraduate degrees in a few universities, but generally bachelors are undergraduate degrees.

See also Bachelor's degree.

Master's degrees

See also Master's degree.

Undergraduate

These, like most bachelors degrees, are honours degrees, indicated by putting '(Hons)' after the degree abbreviation. The majority of undergraduate master's degrees are within science and engineering subjects. The undergraduate MAs of the ancient universities of Scotland are also honours degrees and may also add '(Hons)'. MEng used to be offered by some universities as a postgraduate degree, but is now an undergraduate degree.

Postgraduate

Postgraduate degrees are not honours degrees, and do not add '(Hons)' to indicate this. MA (Hons) is only used for the undergraduate degree of the ancient Scottish universities: as there are no examinations for the MAs in Oxford and Cambridge there are consequently no honours to be awarded. The Oxbridge MA may be differentiated by putting the name of the institution after the degree, thus 'MA (Oxon)' or 'MA (Cantab)'. The MPhil is normally reserved for longer (often two year) research-based masters degrees (as at Oxford), although at Cambridge the MPhil is generally a nine-month, mostly taught, degree. The MUniv is only ever an honorary degree. Postgraduate masters degrees are considered higher status than undergraduate masters. Postgraduate masters degrees are generally classfied as pass, pass with merit and pass with distinction, although not all universities incorporate merit. The percentage bandings for these award levels are usually 50%-59% (pass), 60%-69% (merit) and 70%+ (distinction), although a merit banding of only 65%-69% is used in some universities whilst a single pass banding of 50%-69% is usually used at universities that do not award a merit.

Doctor's degrees

Due to the flexibility of Latin word order, there are two schools in the abbreviation of doctor's degrees. At Cambridge, D follows the faculty (e.g. PhD, LittD.), while at Oxford the abbreviation D precedes the faculty (e.g. DPhil, DLitt). Most universities in the UK followed Oxford for the higher doctorates but followed international precedent in using PhD for Doctor of Philosophy. Doctor of Medicine (MD or DM) is sometimes a professional doctorate (e.g. in the US and others) and sometimes a research doctorate (e.g. in the UK and some of the Commonwealth). The degree of Doctor of Medicine is considered by some as a higher doctorate. However, the MD/DM research degree often requires a shorter period of study than, for example, a PhD and is considered by some universities to be more on par with an MPhil than a PhD (at least in the UK, e.g. Manchester University). Doctor of Philosophy is normally reserved for doctorates awarded on the basis of original research, other junior doctorates have substantial taught elements. Higher doctorates are normally awarded as honorary degrees (honoris causa), but can also be awarded on the basis of published work. DUniv is only ever an honorary degree. The sorting between junior doctorates and higher doctorates below is dependent on the granting institution. Several institutions consider some of the junior doctorates listed below as higher doctorates.

See also Doctorate.

Junior Doctorates

Higher Doctorates

See also

A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study.
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Who's Who or Who is Who is the name of a number of publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people. It is also used as an expression meaning a collection or group of noted persons.
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Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company affiliation (usually with a logo) and contact
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Ancient university is a term used to describe the medieval and renaissance universities of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that have continued to exist.

The British Isles

The ancient universities in the British Isles are, in order of formation:

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Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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Motto
Cymru am byth   (Welsh)
"Wales forever"
Anthem
"Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau"
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University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. for post-nominals, from "Oxoniensis"), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
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University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the world's most prestigious universities.
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University of St Andrews (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Chill Rìmhinn) is the oldest university in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world, having been founded between 1410 and 1413.
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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Motto
Nemo me impune lacessit   (Latin)
"No one provokes me with impunity"
"Cha togar m'fhearg gun dioladh"   
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The Union Flag is the official flag used by the government to represent Northern Ireland. The former official flag, the Ulster Banner, continues to be used by groups (such as some sports teams) representing the territory in an unofficial manner (see Northern Ireland flags issue).
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“EU” redirects here. For other uses, see EU (disambiguation).


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The purpose of the Bologna process (or Bologna accords) is to create the European higher education area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe.
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For other degrees, see .


A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years.
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Ancient university is a term used to describe the medieval and renaissance universities of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that have continued to exist.

The British Isles

The ancient universities in the British Isles are, in order of formation:

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For other uses, see Master of Arts.


A Master of Arts in Scotland is an academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland, the University of Glasgow, Edinburgh University, St Andrews University and
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For other degrees, see .


A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years.
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Bachelor of Arts (B.A., BA or A.B., from the Latin language, and four years in Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, the rest of Canada and the United States.
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A Bachelor of Applied Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course of study that generally lasts three years in the United Kingdom and Australia, and four to five years in Canada, the Netherlands and the United States.
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Bachelor of Civil Law or BCL is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. Historically, it originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but many universities now offer the BCL as an undergraduate degree.
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In Western Christian theology, a Bachelor of Divinity (BD or BDiv) is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a courses taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies.
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A Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts three or four years.

Examples of B.Des.
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surgery (from the Greek χειρουργική meaning "hand work") is the medical specialty that treats diseases or injuries by operative manual and instrumental treatment.
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For other degrees, see .


A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years.
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A Bachelor of Education (BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which qualifies the graduate as a teacher in schools.

North America

In North America the degree is awarded for courses taken that generally last two years (one year in some Canadian universities).
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Bachelor of Engineering (commonly abbreviated as BE or BEng) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited university in Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Korea,
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The Bachelor of Fine Arts, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. Also named in some countries the Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA.
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Midwifery is the term traditionally used to describe the art of assisting a woman through childbirth. In the modern context, this term is used to describe the activities of those health care providers who are experts in women's health care including giving prenatal care to
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