BA (Hons) and Masters Degrees

[paulab35]

Hello, Can someone please confirm the difference between a BA (Hons) and Masters degree?

Thanks
Paula

[Quizmonster]

A Bachelor's degree is a basic one awarded after a course of study according to regulations set by individual universities. An Honours degree is a variant of that, usually involving spending longer on given elements of the subject. For example, the basic degree might involve studying various subjects, but none of them for more than two years during the three-year course. On the other hand, the Honours degree will involve studying one - eg English - or two elements - eg French and German - for all three years.
The Master's degree is a higher academic award, which students undertake only after acquiring the basic or honours degree. Again, it involves different regulations...for example, it may be gained by one year's full-time study or two to three years' part-time. Generally, but not always, it includes a dissertation on a particular, narrow aspect of the subject involved. That is, it involves detailed research rather than just study.

[BigMac]

Agree with Quizmonster, but with one caveat.

Certainly Oxford University (and possibly Cambridge University) allows undergraduates to 'buy' their MA - I think it used to be a tenner in the mid-late 1980s.

So if you see "MA (Oxon)" after a person's name, it does not necessarily mean any more than "BA (Hons)" from Leeds or Durham or Edinburgh or wherever.

[ugly_bob]

Also, Masters degrees are often slightly more specific.
Whereas you may be awarded a MMath, MPhys or MSc for example, study of all these subjects would result in the award of a BSc

[saxy_jag]

Most English universities work on a points system - you earn points for each unit/module/term/year studied, have to earn a minimum number of points for an award, and you have to take more to gain enough points for an honours degree (the extra is often in the form of a dissertation). Otherwise you just end up with a straight BA, BSc etc. If you take the extra, then the level of honours you receive (1st, Upper 2nd etc) will depend on your combined grades for the course.

[EuanC]

A Master of Arts in Scotland is an undergraduate academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the four ancient universities of Scotland and the University of Dundee. Although the degree is named Master of Arts, it is considered generally equivalent to the BA (Bachelor of Arts) awarded elsewhere by most universities. The degree course usually lasts four years, while the Bachelor of Arts course in England usually lasts three years - the Scottish MA generally consists of two years of honours-level courses as opposed to the one year of honours studied as part of the BA, although there exist three-year MA (Pass)/(General) degrees with a different layout.

Scottish/Oxbridge undergraduate MAs are seen by some as being within the cohort of advanced undergraduate degrees such as MMath or MSci, mostly as a combination of the title of "Master of Arts" (as opposed to the title of Bachelor) and also by virtue of being granted by a leading research university with a long history. This uncertain status of an MA (Hons) with regards to a BA (Hons) is the source of some antagonism, particularly by the graduates of newer universities (such as the "Red Brick" universities or the post-1960/1992 universities).

[Peter Pedant]

Yeah I was gonna say the difference between a BA and an MA is about �25

That is BA Cantab by the way - The modern BA is BA Camb and you cant convert that by waiting three years and paying �25

Some master's degrees are examination only, some have a thesis component and some are thesis only

At Oxbridge, you could get a science degree as a BA (no B Sc available)

[caelin]

Generally, a BA (Bachelor of Arts) Honours degree from an English University takes three years to complete and involves mainly taught or instructional modules. So, the work is mainly done in lectures, discussion groups, tutorials and practicals (if a science subject - some universities award BA degrees in science, rather than BSc). It may involve a short dissertation or research project in the third year where some independent study is required.

An MA (Master of Arts) degree involves usually one further year's study, but this is usually all independent research work carried out under the supervision of a tutor.