Talk:Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin)

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In the case of Oxbridge the B.A. degree is awarded first and can be changed to an M.A. three years later on payment of a modest fee.

Is the BA changed into an MA or is the MA a separate degree? JimProfit 18:02, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

The former, IIRC - You don't hold a BA and an MA at the same time. PS the fee has gone too I think now. Bob (still BA...)—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Linuxlad (talk • contribs) 18:44, 16 November 2006 (UTC).

At Oxford the University fee (£10) was still in place as at 2005. JimProfit 15:05, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

At Cambridge you hold both the BA and the MA, but it's conventional to cite only the highest degree in each Faculty (Faculty meaning something such as Arts or Philosophy), so someone with BA, MA, MPhil and PhD would normally only cite MA, PhD. Joseph Myers 01:07, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Many thanks for the responses. I think that answers the point for Cambridge, but can anyone confirm the position for Oxford? JimProfit 15:05, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

The position in Oxford is that you cannot be both a bachelor and a master of arts at the same time - it would be like simultaneously being both an undergraduate and a graduate. When you are admitted to the degree of master of arts, that is your degree or rank in the faculty of arts; you are no longer a bachelor any more than you are an undergraduate. I am therefore very sceptical about the position stated above for Cambridge. Andrew Yong 19:36, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification. Do you know the answer to my question below, about the convention on degree classes for the BA/MA?JimProfit 16:36, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

I thought it was 7 years at Cambridge? Badgerpatrol 13:41, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

I seem to remember from when I got mine a few years ago that the technical requirement it was awarded nine terms after graduating with a BA. Certainly I got mine in March 1998, having got my BA in June 1994. The ceremonies take place after the entitlement to the degree, and in practice not until the Spring following. This does make it nearly seven years after matriculation. David | Talk 17:33, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

No, it's some number of terms after matriculation – something daft, like 19 or 20 terms. And you don't pay for the Cam ones (at least, didn't in the 1990s). JackyR 17:43, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

At Oxford you are entitled to supplicate for your MA twenty-one terms after matriculation. JimProfit 15:05, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

What is the convention on citing degree classes when you hold an MA? For example if you obtained a 2:1 for the BA, and then you obtained the MA, does the degree class carry over to the MA or does it only apply to the BA? JimProfit 15:05, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

In Oxford, the class of the First Public Examination is ignored and the class of Final Honours Schools is treated as the overall class of the degree for the BA, but not for the MA, as the MA is unexamined. In Cambridge, under the Tripos system there is no overall degree class, even for the BA, so it is strictly speaking incorrect to put a degree class next to the degree. Andrew Yong 03:55, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Since when were Masters' degrees, however gained, undergraduate degrees. They're all postgraduate degrees surely. I shall edit unless someone corrects me Bob aka Linuxlad 18:40, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, the Scottish universities (and a few courses elsewhere) offer them to people who have not yet had a graduation. So they're definitely not postgraduates. Is an "undergraduate degree" a degree studied for by undergraduates (the point of award is a tricky one!)? I If so, one could argue that the Cambridge MA is the degree studied for by undergraduates.(*) But do what you think best. JackyR 22:35, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

• Not in my day it wasn't - (and if you use your logic, a PhD also counts as an undergraduate degree, if it's your first degree awarded at Oxford or Cambridge)(**). Masters have always been clearly postgraduate degree in my book - Bob (BA)

(**) Eh? Which century was your day?! Most of us consider a degree from another university to qualify one as a graduate... :-) (Indeed, isn't there some fiddle where post-grads from other unis get an honorary Cantab MA when they start their PhD? Thus becoming Cam grads? Sorry don't know Oxon rules). But like I say, I'm not too bothered what you put in the article. JackyR 22:44, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Ageism! That aside, there's really only one real question and one further point -

do you know of a course where a Masters is the lowest degree you _can_ get out of it?

I think you can argue that anyone who has got more than 300 CATS points (or equivalent) is at least technically a 'graduand' (ie someone qualified to proceed to a degree), not an undergraduate.

In Scotland, yes [1]. In Cambridge I've never heard of such a thing. I really only was exploring the arguments: one can just as easily say "The MA is post-grad because you never see an Oxbridge indergraduate turn up for an MA ceremony." PUT WHAT YOU LIKE! :-D JackyR 14:19, 13 March 2006 (UTC)