University of St Andrews
Became a university in: 1413
Student population: 12,160 (2022/23)
Location: Small university town on the Fife coast
Subject areas: Arts (a wide range), Science (also a wide range), Medicine and Divinity.
Admissions: Most subjects look for around AAA at A-level, AAAAB at Scottish Highers, though other factors will also impact offers made. They also publish minimum entry grades for those from widening participation backgrounds with clearly defined criteria applied. Interviews are not normally part of the process (except for Medicine).
📸 Snapshot
Having grown up in Aberdeen, St Andrews was a regular day trip for us at weekends. It’s a stunning little coastal town, with an incredible sense of history, a ruined abbey and a beautiful beach. We are not talking about Costa del Sol style beach with sun umbrellas and watersports, we are talking about the type of beach where you take bracing walks in the cutting wind, while gazing out across stormy seas. Oh yes, and if you are a golfer you will already know about the Old Course. It's literally where the sport was invented (or at least where the rules were codified!)
So what of the university? Well, as Scotland's oldest university, it too has a real palpable sense of history. They uphold some weird and wonderful traditions (such as Raisin Monday, which in its modern form is basically a fancy dress foam party), and while they are modern enough to divide their academic year into two semesters, they call them by rather quaint names Martinmas and Candlemas.
Their academic reputation is beyond question. Their four faculties stick to the most traditional subjects in Science, Arts, Medicine and Divinity, and they fly high in every league table, even ousting Oxford and Cambridge from the top spots on a couple of occasions in recent years. Oh yes, and for those of you who watched The Crown (or indeed were simply alive in the UK in the 90’s), you’ll know that our future King studied and met the future Queen at St Andrews! That’s not a bad recommendation!
Their faculty system, like the other older Scottish universities, allows students to study a slightly broader set of subjects in year 1 and 2 before focusing down to their chosen subject(s) in their final two years. So, great for students who are a little unsure of exactly their chosen subject. But you are going to need some pretty decent grades to get in, typically AAA at A-level or AAAAB at Scottish Higher.
But… we do need to be honest. St Andrews won’t be for everyone. With a population of just under 18,000, there isn’t another town in the world that is quite so dominated by its university. That means that pretty much everything and everyone in the town (other than the golfers) is connected in some way to the university. You’d better be committed to living your best life as a student, as you simply won’t be able to escape it.
And it's not exactly easy to get to and from; the closest station is five miles away, from which you’ll still have to change at Dundee or Edinburgh to get, well, anywhere else!
If this doesn’t put you off, then get yourself to an Open Day, for St Andrews is a very special place indeed.
In summary
University of St Andrews could be for you if…
You are looking for a university where you can get away from it all, and concentrate 100% on your student life.
You are looking to study a fairly traditional academic subject.
You have (or are predicted) top school grades.
And if you like St Andrews, you might also like…
University of Aberdeen
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
Durham University
