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Social and Cultural Anthropology MSc

London, Bloomsbury

This is the programme information for 2025 entry

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Social and Cultural Anthropology MSc (2024), click here

Immerse yourself in the study of social and cultural worlds while stretching your skills in qualitative research. During your year in one of the largest anthropology departments in the UK, you’ll gain in-depth expertise of anthropological theory and analysis, enhanced with specialist knowledge of ethnographic approaches. The practice-based research training you receive is relevant to careers in international development, education, local and national government or the creative industries.

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2025/26)

£18,400

£9,200

Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)

£33,000

£16,500

Duration

1 calendar year

2 calendar years

Programme starts

September 2025

Applications accepted

Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

The Social and Cultural Anthropology MSc will provide you with comprehensive training in theoretical, ethnographic and methodological debates in social anthropology.

You will learn to develop, pursue and analyse research questions, materials and projects across different societies and cultures, and graduate equipped with the latest anthropological knowledge and insights in the field.
You will join a world-leading research community and benefit from research-embedded teaching in nationalism, ethnicity and race, the global economy, the environment, religion, social media, fashion and the aftermaths of war.
You will specialise in the elements of social anthropology that interest you most, choosing from a range of optional modules to enhance your learning experience.
Through your independent research project and dissertation, you will develop skills highly sought after by employers, including data analysis and interpretation, and the communication of complex ideas. These will also prepare you for PhD level study should you wish to pursue it.

You will study at the top university in London, and 4th in the world, for Anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024) and The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year 2024.

You will study in a warm and welcoming department that is also one of the largest and broadest anthropology departments in the UK, which researches and teaches across five sub-sections, and which continually works to expand and reshape the discipline.

Who this course is for

The Social and Cultural Anthropology MSc is best suited to students looking to gain a qualification and training in integrating anthropological and wider social science approaches to social challenges as a foundation for professional practice or doctoral research, or for graduates from other fields or careers looking to supplement their existing knowledge and experience.

The degree is well-suited to working professionals who wish to study part-time over two years.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

You will receive advanced academic training in the fundamentals of scientific inquiry, including independent research design and implementation; ethics; critical evaluation; and different genres of academic and professional writing, including writing for grant and project proposals.

You will also develop demonstrable practical competencies transferable to any profession, including complex problem solving and creative initiative; communication skills, including the ability to interpret and present complex data to diverse audiences; independent and team working; leadership; and time and project management.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Graduates of this degree will be equipped to pursue a range of careers, including:

Consultancy.
Design.
Ethnographic and visual research in both academic and commercial settings.
Marketing and communications.
Media and journalism, including TV, radio and publishing.
Policy and advocacy in governmental, non-governmental (NGOs) and intergovernmental (IGOs) organisations, including community development and conservation.
Social and market research.

A number of our graduates choose to progress to PhD-level study (Graduate Outcomes survey 2017-2022).

Employability

There is growing demand in diverse professional fields for critically trained anthropologists, with advanced research skills increasingly relevant in non-academic contexts.

You will graduate an expert in the study of human society and cultures and applying anthropological approaches to real-world challenges, fully equipped to pursue PhD level study or a successful career in any professional setting requiring strong project management, problem-solving and communication skills.

Networking

As a student in the Department you have access to many opportunities to help further your career:

You will become part of the department's Social Anthropology section, learning from and networking with leading internal and external researchers through a weekly research seminar series.
You will be encouraged to attend complementary departmental seminars given by active researchers and expert creative practitioners in environmental, evolutionary, medical and public anthropology and material, visual and digital culture throughout your studies.
You will be encouraged to take advantage of the broader anthropology and society communities at UCL, our neighbouring institutions and across London more widely, including attending and participating in seminars, conferences, exhibitions and research partnership opportunities to help you establish industry connections and extend your professional networks.
You will be encouraged to engage with the department’s active careers support activities and initiatives, which include regular career development seminars and networking events.

The department's central London location presents a range of opportunities to work, volunteer and carry out fieldwork in major government, business and third sector organisations.

All students are encouraged to host and/or participate in a Reading and Research Group (RRG), which are open spaces to exchange ideas on themes of mutual interest and welcome staff and student participation from across UCL and our neighbouring institutions.

The department also houses London's global non-fiction film festival, Open City Documentary Festival, which all students are invited to volunteer to support to network with non-fiction film industry leading professionals.

Teaching and learning

You will learn through lectures; interactive seminars involving critical discussion; collaborative exercises including group presentations; practical exercises; and independent directed and self-directed reading.

While planning and producing your dissertation, you will benefit from one-to-one academic supervision.

You will be assessed through a series of formative (exercises for which you will receive feedback but do not count toward the degree) and summative exercises (exercises for which you will receive feedback and do count toward the degree), including essays; practical tests; presentations; take-home exercises; and your dissertation.

The compulsory modules typically amount to 72 contact hours (a mix of weekly 1 hour lectures, 2 hour seminars and 3 hour workshops). The three optional 15 credit modules typically amount to 54 contact hours but will vary according to module selection. Dissertation supervision typically amounts to 4 hours.

Modules

The degree runs over one full academic year for full-time students and comprises three basic elements:

Two compulsory modules

The seminar series in Critical Issues in Social Anthropology and research training in Methods in Ethnography

Three optional modules

You must take at least one optional module from within the Social Anthropology section.

Dissertation

For this module, you will conduct original research on an anthropological topic of your choice.

The degree runs over two full academic years for part-time students. In the first year, you will take both compulsory modules and typically one or two optional modules. In the second year, you will take your remaining optional modules and complete your dissertation.

Compulsory modules

Critical Issues

Method in Ethnography

Social Anthropology Dissertation

Optional modules

Anthropology of Crime

The Anthropology of Nationalism, Ethnicity and Race

Anthropology of Capitalisms

Art in the Public Sphere

The Anthropology of Violent Aftermaths

Practical Documentary Filmmaking

Anthropology of Religion

The Anthropology of Social Media

The Anthropology of Fashion

Visualizing Others: Colonial and Postcolonial Visual Culture

Anthropology of Technics and Technology

Anthropology of the Built Environment

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Social and Cultural Anthropology.

Fieldwork

You will spend the summer term researching and writing your dissertation, for which you can choose to conduct ethnographic, archival and/or library-based, original research, with many students choosing to undertake self-funded fieldwork-based projects in the UK or abroad.

The scope and nature of fieldwork is formulated in discussion with your appointed supervisor, and subject to departmental approval.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£18,400	£9,200
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£33,000	£16,500

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

Students can choose to conduct ethnographic, archival and/or library-based research for their final dissertation projects, with many students taking the opportunity to do fieldwork-based projects in the UK or abroad. This can entail additional costs, including travel, accommodation and living costs, which students must cover themselves.

As this degree is based at the Bloomsbury campus, students choosing to take an optional module only available at the UCL East campus in Stratford will need to fund their own travel between campuses. Tickets from zone 1 to zone 2 costs £8.50 for students or a travel card zone 1-4 for £15.90.

There are a number of small to moderate grants available from funding organisations both within UCL and further afield. In recent years, our students have received fieldwork funding from the department’s Turing Scheme and Anna Sturm Law Travel Prize.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

: Aziz Foundation Scholarships in Social and Historical Sciences

Value: Full tuition fees (equivalent to 1yr full-time) (1 year)

Criteria Based on financial need

Eligibility: UK

UCL East London Scholarship

Deadline: 26 June 2025

Value: Tuition fees plus £16,000 stipend ()

Criteria Based on financial need

Eligibility: UK

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

• why you want to study Social and Cultural Anthropology at graduate level
• why you want to study Social and Cultural Anthropology at UCL
• how your personal, academic and professional skills and experience inform your interest in, and will enable you to succeed on, this MSc degree
• where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This programme only requires one reference in support of your application. Your reference should be academic unless you have been out of university education for more than four years. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.