Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin) - Requirements

Requirements

In all three universities, a Bachelor of Arts may "incept" as a Master of Arts as soon as he is of the required academic standing. No further examinations or residence are required, but some institutions may require the incipient to pay a fee.

• At Oxford, the MA may be conferred during or after the twenty-first term from matriculation (i.e. ordinarily seven years after joining the University) upon anyone holding an Oxford BA or Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree. An exception is that a Bachelor of Arts who attains the degree of Doctor of Philosophy may immediately incept as a Master of Arts, before the requisite number of terms have passed.
• At Cambridge, the MA may be conferred six years after the end of the first term in residence upon anyone holding a Cambridge Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. There is no university charge for the degree, although many colleges require an administration fee to be paid.

• At Dublin, the MA may be conferred to anyone holding a Dublin BA (or other bachelor degree of at least nine terms') for at least three years. A fee (€637 in 2012) is payable, but is waived in the case of graduates of more than fifty years' standing.

There are a number of other situations in which the MA may be conferred, but these are by far the most common; details of these other instances may be found in the sections referenced.

In accordance with the formula of ad eundem gradum recognition that exists between the three universities, a graduate of Oxford, Cambridge or Dublin who is entitled to an MA may be conferred with the equivalent degree at either of the other two universities without further examination. The Board of Trinity College, Dublin currently restricts its ad eundem awards to eligible members of the Dublin academic staff, or those who wish to register for a higher degree at Dublin; Cambridge restricts its awards to those "matriculated as a member of the University"; Oxford considers applicants who are undertaking a course of study or fulfil some educational role at Oxford, or who have "rendered valuable services to the University or to its members."