Course summary
Earn a graduate qualification in Heritage and Memory Studies, and explore issues of remembering the past in the modern world. Join us online to consider the issues of remembering the past in the modern world. In this flexible postgraduate certificate (PgCert), you’ll explore how we, as individuals and societies, define our identity through cultural memory and connections to the past. With guidance from experts in cultural studies, media and film studies, art history, museum studies, and politics, you’ll develop your skills in the theories and approaches used in current research into memory and heritage. You’ll examine questions of identity and memorialisation across a wide range of media, from urbanism and monument culture, to photography and comics. This innovative online qualification draws on interdisciplinary expertise in Holocaust and genocide studies, memory studies, urbanism, museum studies, local and global material and intellectual heritage, special collections, and visual culture. Through these varied fields, you’ll develop in-depth insight into the interdisciplinary nature of memory and heritage transmission, exploring a range of historical contexts and their aftermath, as well as various types of representation and media.
Modules
This PgCert is delivered by the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture, and the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy and Art History. You’ll learn from an interdisciplinary team of academics, from fields including cultural studies, art history, museum studies, politics, film and media studies, languages, and archaeology.
Assessment method
This PgCert is assessed online. We’ll use several types of assessment throughout your studies, including: individual design projects; critical reviews; essays, and presentations.
How to apply
International applicants
You do not need a student visa to study online with us.
Entry requirements
The minimum entry requirements for this PgCert are a 2:2 UK honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject. You’re also welcome to apply if you have other relevant qualifications, and relevant professional experience or interests.
English language requirements
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6.5 | Overall - 6.5 with: Listening - 5.5 or above; Reading - 5.5 or above; Speaking - 5.5 or above; Writing - 6.0 or above. IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training are not accepted. |
| TOEFL (iBT) | 90 | TOEFL iBT and TOEFL Home Edition: Overall - 90 with: Listening - 17 or above; Reading - 18 or above; Speaking - 20 or above; Writing - 21 or above. DI code is 0818 |
| PTE Academic | 62 | Overall - 62 with: Listening - 59 or above; Reading - 59 or above; Speaking - 59 or above; Writing - 59 or above. Online Test is not accepted |
| Institution's Own Test | Academic English Pre-sessional Programme (PSE) - Pass (valid for one year) Academic English Preparation Programme undertaken at other UK HEI - accredited by BALEAP and within 1 year of start of course |
To study for a postgraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write academic English fluently. These skills will allow you to understand lectures, produce high standards of written work, and perform well in examinations. We can assess your English language proficiency through a variety of means: through your nationality, through the qualifications you gained in high school, through the degree you undertook or are undertaking at university, or through a recognised English language test. Postgraduate Standard requirements are used by the Schools of Biological Sciences; Engineering; Geosciences; Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition; Natural and Computing Sciences; and Psychology. Please note certification must be within the two years prior to commencement of your course, unless otherwise stated.
Please use the checklist at the following webpage to determine how you can meet our English language requirements:
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/requirements-pg-266.php
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| EU | £4120 | Whole course |
| International | £4120 | Whole course |
| England | £4120 | Whole course |
| Northern Ireland | £4120 | Whole course |
| Scotland | £4120 | Whole course |
| Wales | £4120 | Whole course |
| Channel Islands | £4120 | Whole course |
| Republic of Ireland | £4120 | Whole course |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
This indicative cost is based on 30 credits of study per term, starting in January 2026. The fee quoted above is based on you starting your studies with us in the 2025/26 academic year.
Our tuition fees will rise by 3% for the 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 academic years. Our indicative cost includes a 3% fee rise each year.
Sponsorship information
The University of Aberdeen provides an Alumni Discount Scheme: The University of Aberdeen is very pleased to offer a 20% discount on postgraduate tuition fees for all alumni who have graduated with a degree from the University of Aberdeen.
Provider information
University of Aberdeen
Directorate of Global Engagement, Marketing and Recruitment
King's College
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX