Alternatives to SOAS for someone who doesn't want to go to university in London?

I really like everything about SOAS, but I really don't want to live in London. It's not that I dislike the city, it's that I spent the first 15 years of my life there, much of my family is there, and it's a very expensive place to live. I would like to live somewhere different, where the cost of living is a bit lower.


I want to pursue a qualification in Middle Eastern/Islamic Studies, but ideally I would be able to take a Joint Honours course with Sociology, Psychology or Linguistics as well.

I'm a British citizen although my family currently resides in County Carlow, Ireland and I speak French fluently, so I am open to studying in Ireland, France, French Switzerland (Geneva, Lausanne) or Belgium. I'm open to any suggestions on universities that I should do more research into, but I'm particularly interested in studying in Scotland, because of the opportunity to graduate with an MA.


Thank you, looking forward to your answers.

Firstly I assume you are aware that as you aren't resident in the UK you aren't eligible to to get a tuition fee loan & maintainance loan? Secondly St Andrews would likely fit your bill:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/undergrad/ugmideast.html

I really like everything about SOAS, but I really don't want to live in London. It's not that I dislike the city, it's that I spent the first 15 years of my life there, much of my family is there, and it's a very expensive place to live. I would like to live somewhere different, where the cost of living is a bit lower.


I want to pursue a qualification in Middle Eastern/Islamic Studies, but ideally I would be able to take a Joint Honours course with Sociology, Psychology or Linguistics as well.

I'm a British citizen although my family currently resides in County Carlow, Ireland and I speak French fluently, so I am open to studying in Ireland, France, French Switzerland (Geneva, Lausanne) or Belgium. I'm open to any suggestions on universities that I should do more research into, but I'm particularly interested in studying in Scotland, because of the opportunity to graduate with an MA.


Thank you, looking forward to your answers.

Have you looked in to the arts international degree at Cork? You can do several subjects in year 1, including any Asian/ middle eastern studies and then pick one to major in later on?

Unis with appropriate degrees in the UK - St Andrews, Exeter, Manchester, Edinburgh.

Many EU Unis offer postgrad degrees in the area (in English) so that might be worth thinking about later.

Thank you. I'm also considering INALCO, ENS, Université Paris 1 (Sorbonne) and either Toulouse or Montpellier for undergraduate, as I speak French. Although the undergraduate system in France is quite unique and doesn't really translate to Britain or the rest of the world, so I'm thinking it would be better to get a more standard degree and then go to France for postgraduate studies, although ideally I'd go to Al-Azhar, which is the centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

I'm particularly interested in studying in Scotland, because of the opportunity to graduate with an MA.

That's what I was going to suggest, if you speak French then the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco) is the obvious choice, it's essentially the French version of SOAS. It's true that the French system is a bit different, but I don't see why it wouldn't translate to Britain - I just did a quick LinkedIn search and there are graduates of Inalco living, working and studying in the UK.



It's true that the Scottish ancient universities award an MA (Hons) rather than a BA (Hons), not unlike the Oxbridge/Dublin MA, but it isn't a master’s degree - it's exactly the same level as an English BA.

Thank you, my dad says that I should make INALCO my first choice as well.


As for the Scottish MA, it's my understanding that while it's an undergraduate degree and not the same as an MA from an English uni, like an Oxbridge MA it isn't exactly equivalent to a BA, because there is a larger research component than that which exists in English BAs. In addition to that, Scotland's universities intrigue me because (more like American universities and less like English universities) in your first and second year you have the opportunity to take modules in areas that you're interested in that aren't necessarily connected to your course of study.