University course · real outcomes from HESA / Discover Uni · part of Careermash

University degree

Art History and Philosophy

University of St Andrews

Qualification

Degree

Length

4 yrs

UK fees / yr

£9,535

Study

full-time

Robin · your guide

Here's the honest picture on this course - what you'd study, whether you'd likely get in, what it pays, and where it leads. Everything's real data.

About this course

Art history and philosophy make a pairing of genuine intellectual depth and mutual enrichment. Art history analyses the history, context, style, and meaning of images, objects, and built environments, developing visual literacy and the ability to engage with different critical approaches and theoretical frameworks. Philosophy provides the conceptual rigour to investigate the underlying questions that art raises: what is beauty, what counts as art, how do images communicate meaning, and what is the relationship between aesthetic experience and ethical or political life?

Together, they equip you to engage with visual culture at a high level of critical sophistication.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year full-time degree develops your ability to analyse visual culture in its full complexity, exploring how art and its display have both reflected and shaped human history and experience across aesthetics, politics, power, and identity. You will engage with art history across a wide chronological and geographical range, developing skills in formal analysis, historical research, and contextual interpretation, alongside philosophical inquiry into the foundations of aesthetic experience and the nature of visual meaning. A year abroad is integrated into the programme.

The typical entry tariff for this programme is not specified in the available data, but St Andrews is a highly selective institution.

Graduates from art history and philosophy programmes carry skills in visual analysis, philosophical reasoning, historical research, and critical writing that are valued across many fields. Careers in museums, galleries, auction houses, publishing, journalism, arts administration, education, and cultural policy are natural destinations. The philosophical component adds particular value in any context requiring ethical reasoning, conceptual clarity, or the analysis of arguments.

Postgraduate study in art history, philosophy, aesthetics, curatorial practice, or cultural studies is a natural continuation.

Could you get in?

The grades students arrived with

112-127 pts2%

128-143 pts5%

144-159 pts8%

160-175 pts8%

176-191 pts3%

192-207 pts3%

208-223 pts3%

224-239 pts6%

240+ pts8%

How they qualified

90% got in with A-levels. The rest came in a mix of ways:

A-levels90%

the IB7%

a foundation year2%

Other1%

Could I get in? Try your grades

120 UCAS pts

Pay & prospects

95%

In work or further study after

93%

Continue past first year

92%

Student satisfaction

What graduates earn over time

£27,500

3 years on

£33,000

5 years on

What graduates actually go on to do % of leavers

Business and public service associate professionalsHighly skilled20%

Teaching ProfessionalsHighly skilled20%

Elementary occupations20%

Skilled trades occupations5%

Administrative occupations10%

Artistic, literary and media occupationsHighly skilled10%

Information Technology ProfessionalsHighly skilled10%

Managers, directors and senior officialsHighly skilled5%

What students say National Student Survey

92%

of students are satisfied with the course overall

Teaching94%

Assessment & feedback82%

Academic support81%

Well organised96%

Learning resources93%

Student community94%

In students' own words

★★★★★

Highly recommend

The programme genuinely lives up to its reputation. The best part: the teaching staff are genuinely world-class and accessible. If I'm honest, accommodation allocation was stressful in the first year. On the city — the city is a brilliant s…

Final year · Full-time

★★★★★

A great decision

Honestly, one of the best decisions I've made. The best part: the course strikes a good balance between theory and practical application. If I'm honest, first-year classes can be quite large. On the city — good transport links make it easy …

Class of 2022 · Full-time

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