Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic, BA (Hons)

Are you fascinated by medieval history, literature and languages? You can explore a range of medieval cultures on the Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic course. You’ll also have the chance to do your own research using original source materials.

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Overview

Number 2 in the UK for History (The Complete University Guide 2024)

Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at Cambridge

This course focuses on the history, material culture, languages and literature of the peoples of Britain, Ireland and the Scandinavian world in the earlier Middle Ages.

You’ll discover medieval history while learning one or more languages and reading great works of literature in the original languages. This includes the:

Old English poem ‘Beowulf’
epic medieval Irish tale ‘Táin Bó Cúailnge’ (‘The Cattle Raid of Cooley’)
Icelandic sagas

Exactly which areas you study and to what depth is largely up to you.

Facilities

Our department is located in the Faculty of English building. You’ll have access to:

our impressive Cambridge University Library, one of the world’s oldest university libraries
the English Faculty Library
libraries located within our Colleges

Course costs

When you go to university, you’ll need to consider two main costs – your tuition fees and your living costs (sometimes referred to as maintenance costs).

Your living costs will include costs related to your studies that are not covered by your tuition fees. There are some general study costs that will apply for all students – you can find details of these costs here.

There are no compulsory additional course costs for ASNC. If you have any queries about resources/materials, please contact the Department.

Your future career

This challenging degree will develop your powers of argument and sharpen your analysis.

It equips you for a wide range of careers where intellectual and analytical skills are important.

Some of our graduates take advantage of the specialist opportunities open to them. They go on to:

research and teaching in schools and universities (following further study)
work in museums and libraries

Other graduates choose to go into careers including:

journalism
publishing
banking
law
the Civil Service
industry and business
software development

Course outline

Teaching

Teaching is provided through lectures, classes, seminars and small-group supervisions.

In your first and second year, you can expect to have between 10 and 15 hours of lectures and classes per week.

Assessment

You'll be assessed through written exams and coursework. All students write a dissertation of between 9,000 and 12,000 words in their third year.

You won't usually be able to resit any of your exams.

Years 1 and 2 (Part I)

Year 1

You study the various disciplines which form the core of the course.

There are no compulsory papers. You choose 6 historical, language and literature subjects, from a choice of 10. You will take an examination in 4 of them.

Historical subjects:

Anglo-Saxon history
Scandinavian history
Gaelic history (Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man)
Brittonic history (Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, the Pictish kingdoms and the North Britons)

Language and literature subjects:

Old English
Old Norse
medieval Welsh
medieval Irish
medieval Latin
palaeography (the study of manuscripts and handwriting)

Year 2

You can continue to study your chosen subjects and take an examination in all 6 of them.

Or, you can replace up to 3 of your first-year subjects with a dissertation and/or one or two papers from related undergraduate courses:

Divinity
English
Modern and Medieval Languages

Year 3 (Part II)

This is where you develop and use the skills you learned in your first and second year.

You will explore your chosen fields and apply your newly acquired knowledge in original and imaginative ways.

You study 4 subjects selected from a range of 17 papers including, for example:

Rethinking the Viking Age
‘Beowulf’
Advanced Medieval Irish Language and Literature
Germanic Philology

You can replace one of these 4 papers with a paper from another related undergraduate course. The range of subjects currently includes:

medieval English literature
medieval French literature
historical linguistics
subject from the Faculty of Divinity

You can also replace one of your third year subjects with a paper that you didn’t take an exam in at the end of your second year.

You will also write a dissertation of between 9,000 and 12,000 words on a specific subject of your choice within the scope of the course.

For further information about this course and the papers you can take see the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic website.

Changing course

It’s really important to think carefully about which course you want to study before you apply.

In rare cases, it may be possible to change course once you’ve joined the University. You will usually have to get agreement from your College and the relevant departments. It’s not guaranteed that your course change will be approved.

You might also have to:

take part in an interview
complete an admissions test
produce some written work
achieve a particular grade in your current studies
do some catch-up work
start your new course from the beginning

For more information visit the Department website.

You can also apply to change to:

Management Studies at the Judge Business School

You can't apply to this course until you're at Cambridge. You would usually apply when you have completed 1 year or more of your original Cambridge course.

You should contact your College’s Admissions Office if you’re thinking of changing your course. They will be able to give you advice and explain how changing courses works.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed are for entry in 2025 or deferred entry in 2026. Entry requirements for future years will be published in due course. Check our guidance on choosing high school subjects.

Minimum offer level

A level: A*AA

IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level

Other qualifications: Check which other qualifications we accept

Subject requirements

While we don't ask for any specific subjects to apply to ASNC, we recommend certain subjects for a strong application:

English (language or literature)
History
Languages (ancient or modern)

You can find more information about the subjects our typical entrants have studied below.

What ASNC students have studied

Most ASNC students (who had studied A levels and started at Cambridge in 2018, 2019 and 2023) achieved at least A*AA. Almost all had studied at least one of the subjects recommended above.

Other subjects taken include:

Mathematics
Ancient History, Classical Civilisation, Economics, Further Mathematics, Geography, Politics, History of Art, Law, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, sciences (Biology, Chemistry or Physics) or Sociology.

Please note that the prevalence of a particular subject combination amongst our applicants or current students does not mean that these subject combinations are particularly favoured.

Check our guidance on choosing high school subjects. You should also check if there are any required subjects for your course when you apply.

Admission assessment

There is no admission assessment for this course.

Submitting written work

Applicants to all Colleges are required to submit 2 pieces of written work prior to interview.

Offers above the minimum requirement

The minimum offer level and subject requirements outline the minimum you'll usually need to achieve to get an offer from Cambridge.

In some cases, you'll get a higher or more challenging offer. Colleges set higher offer requirements for a range of reasons. If you'd like to find out more about why we do this, check the information about offers above the minimum requirement on the entry requirements page.

IB offers

Some Colleges usually make offers above the minimum offer level. Find out more on our qualifications page.

All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges. Please contact the relevant College admissions office if you have any queries.

Next steps

Discover your department or faculty

Visit the Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic department website - The Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic has more information about this course, facilities, people and research.

Explore our Colleges

Find out how Colleges work - A College is where you’ll live, eat and socialise. It’s also where you’ll have teaching in a small group, known as supervisions.

How to choose a Cambridge College that's right for you - If you think you know which course you’d like to study, it’s time to choose a College.

Visit us on open day

Book an open day - Get a feel for the city and the University.

Find an event - We offer a range of events where you can find out more about Cambridge, Colleges, and your course. Many of our events have hybrid options so you can join us virtually.

Find out how to apply

Find out how to apply and how our admissions processes work - Our admissions process is slightly different to other universities. We’ve put together a handy guide to tell you everything you need to know about applying to study at Cambridge.

Improve your application - Supercurricular activities are a great way to engage with your chosen subject outside of school or college.

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