Philosophy - MA

University of Bristol Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Full time & Part time September MA 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time

Visit Institution website Register interest

About the course

The MA in Philosophy will give you a thorough grounding in the core knowledge and skills required for philosophical research, while also allowing you to pursue your own philosophical interests in depth.

Bristol ranks as one of the top ten philosophy departments in the UK in the Philosophical Gourmet Report. Our staff have diverse research interests and expertise across a wide range of philosophical areas.

You can design a path to match your interests by choosing one of the following seven specialist pathways, each dedicated to a key area of contemporary philosophical research:

Entry Requirements

You will typically need a strong upper second-class honours degree (65% or higher) or an international equivalent in any subject. If your degree is not in philosophy, we may ask you to provide a sample of your writing to demonstrate writing and research capability.

Many students gain admission to our programme with prior training in philosophy. However, the pathways within our programme also make it particularly suited to students with non-philosophy backgrounds.

Please visit the programme page on the University of Bristol website for accepted modules and full entry requirements.

Fees

Please see the university website for further information on fees for this course.

Where will I study?

University of Bristol

Since Bristol was founded in 1876, we’ve had a reputation for doing things a little differently. Bristol was the first institute of higher education in the UK to admit women on an equal basis with men. More recently, in 2019, we became the first UK university to declare a climate emergency. Bristol is one of the top ten universities in the UK (QS World University Rankings 2026). We’re a member of the Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities and one of the country's top five for research (THE analysis of REF 2021). We welcome students and staff from over 140 countries, creating an exciting and diverse community with 33% of our students being international.