Scottish History

Scottish history is a subject with a distinctive and in some ways paradoxical quality: it is both deeply local, concerned with the particular institutions, cultures, and experiences of a small nation on the northern edge of Europe, and simultaneously of considerable international significance. Scotland's history encompasses medieval kingship and ecclesiastical politics, the Reformation, the union with England, the Enlightenment, industrialisation and emigration, empire, and the modern politics of devolution and national identity. These themes connect to European, Atlantic, and global histories in ways that make Scottish history a genuinely comparative and internationally minded field.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year full-time programme provides an ideal introduction to Scotland's unique historical development and its place in the wider world, as the current description notes. Studying at St Andrews, itself one of the oldest universities in Scotland and situated in a town whose medieval and early modern history is palpable in its built environment, gives a particular resonance to the historical study you undertake. You will engage with the full span of Scottish history from the early medieval period to the present, developing skills in historical research including the use of primary sources in archives and collections, the evaluation of secondary literature, and the construction of written arguments.

The programme also gives you broader grounding in historical method and in European and world history, so that Scottish history is understood in comparative perspective rather than in isolation.

The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner university and to engage with different historiographical traditions and approaches.

Graduates from Scottish history programmes pursue careers in education, museums and heritage, archives, journalism, public sector roles in Scotland and beyond, and academic research. The analytical, research, and writing skills developed through historical study are transferable across many professional contexts. Postgraduate study in Scottish history, history, or heritage management is a common progression for those with research or curatorial ambitions.