The entry requirements for the MSt in Ancient Philosophy state the following:
"As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the equivalent of the following UK qualifications:
- a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in philosophy, classics or a closely-related discipline.
For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.6 out of 4.0. However, entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a GPA of 3.7 or above, a first-class degree or the equivalent."
The entry requirements state that the Faculty of Philosophy usually ask for an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Classics or a closely-related discipline for admission to the MSt in Ancient Philosophy. However, the admissions board may decide to consider you for admission to the MSt in Ancient Philosophy, but this cannot be guaranteed. The Faculty cannot unfortunately give you an assessment as to whether your current degree makes you eligible – as someone’s whole application (including, and especially, the writing sample and references) is reviewed in order to make a decision on admissions to the course and it is therefore impossible to predict the judgement that will be made by the admissions board.
If you are serious about studying a masters (and/or doctoral) degree in Philosophy at the University of Oxford, you could possibly look into studying a philosophy conversion course after you have finished your undergraduate degree. A philosophy conversion course (in the UK these are usually called a “Graduate Diploma in Philosophy”) offers you a way to earn another undergraduate degree (but this time in Philosophy) in one year instead of three years (it is shorter because you already have an undergraduate degree). Oxford University unfortunately does not have such a course but there are other universities in the UK that do. You can do a web search for “philosophy conversion course UK” or “graduate diploma in Philosophy UK” to find them. There may also be one-year masters courses elsewhere which allow you to enter without an undergraduate degree in philosophy, upon completion of which you may be eligible for our graduate degrees in Philosophy.
It should be noted that if you do have a Philosophy degree and have specific interests in Ancient Philosophy, you could also apply for the BPhil in Philosophy at the same time as applying for the MSt in Ancient Philosophy (please see the course page for the BPhil entry requirements to see if you are eligible). This is not a separate course from the BPhil in Philosophy, but a way of maximising the study of this topic within the existing BPhil structure. Specifically, it is envisaged that a student on the Ancient Philosophy track would write two of their six assessed essays on Ancient Philosophy, and the thesis would be written on some aspect of Ancient Philosophy. They would also tailor their other essays on some of their chosen topics for Theoretical Philosophy and Practical Philosophy appropriately, to match their interest in issues arising from ancient metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, etc.
The MSt in Ancient Philosophy entry requirements state that the Faculty usually asks for an undergraduate degree with honours in Philosophy, Classics or a closely-related discipline. It is not possible to provide a list of degrees that would be considered as closely related to Philosophy or Classics as it is not the degree name that is taken into account when considering admissions, but the quantity of philosophy or classics-related modules/topics/content taken as part of the degree. But this judgement is to be made by the admissions board once it is in receipt of your complete application. It is therefore not possible for the Faculty to give you an assessment as to whether your degree is sufficiently closely related to make you eligible to apply for the MSt in Ancient Philosophy as someone’s whole application (including, and especially, the writing sample and references) is reviewed in order to make a decision on admissions to the course and it is therefore impossible to predict the judgement that will be made by the admissions board.
There is no formal requirement for applicants to have previously studied Ancient Greek for entry to the MSt in Ancient Philosophy, but applicants with no prior knowledge of Ancient Greek are recommended to study some Ancient Greek before their entry to the course.
It should also be noted that although there is no course requirement that MSt in Ancient Philosophy students without any (or with little) Ancient Greek should attend the Ancient Greek language classes currently run by the Faculty of Classics, it is nonetheless highly recommended that they do so, as being able to read philosophical texts in the original language is an advantage for Ancient Philosophy studies. Specifically, if you intend to continue to the DPhil in Philosophy, you are normally required to have attended the relevant classes in Ancient Greek.
Students with intermediate or advanced Greek may choose to attend more advanced Ancient Greek classes.
An applicant will not be automatically excluded if they do not meet the minimum degree result(s) or GPA listed in the entry requirements but the Faculty cannot unfortunately give you an assessment as to whether your application would or could result in an offer – as someone’s whole application (including, and especially, the writing sample and references) is reviewed in order to make a decision on admissions to the course and it is therefore impossible to predict the judgement that will be made by the admissions board.
Please do note that admissions to our graduate courses is very competitive, so you may want to take this into account when deciding to apply if you hold a degree that falls short of the advertised minimum entry requirements.
You are not required to have any publications.
If your degree is not from the UK, visit the University's International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifcations and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University's minimum entry requirements. If your degree is from a country not included in that list, then you should contact the UK National Information Centre for the recognition and evaluation of international qualifications and skills (UK ENIC).