Sadie Spencer did not expect to score 92% on her master’s dissertation. She had moved through her undergraduate degree at the University of Chester‘s School of Humanities and Social Sciences with the conviction that the school’s setting suited her. When she found out that the mark was one of the highest ever awarded on the History MA programme, it confirmed something she had already begun to suspect: that the environment was doing more than making her comfortable. It was making her better.
“I had a great experience studying History at Chester, both at undergraduate and master’s level,” she says.
Spencer is now applying to funded PhD programmes at universities across the UK, a trajectory she traces directly to her time at Chester. “I really do credit a lot of my academic success, and the desire to pursue this career path, to the learning environment I have studied in, and the academic support I have received,” she says. “The small class sizes and fantastic academic and pastoral support from staff created a friendly and engaging learning environment.”
For international graduates weighing where to pursue postgraduate study in humanities and the social sciences, that kind of outcome is precisely what the decision comes down to. And at Chester, it happens more than you might expect.
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences offers forward-thinking degrees that build the expertise and confidence to tackle the world’s most urgent challenges. Source: University of Chester
The research goes into the teaching
Chester’s postgraduate programmes are led by academics who are actively producing research. The Research Excellence Framework 2021 — the UK’s national measure of research quality – found that 51% of Chester’s submitted research was world-leading or internationally excellent, up from 31% in 2014. In the humanities, the results were particularly strong. Theology and Religious Studies was ranked seventh in the UK, with 88% of its submissions judged world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*). History performed great too, with a recorded 15% world-leading output.
For students, this means the people teaching them are genuinely at the cutting edge of their fields. Whether studying the History MA, Theology and Religious Studies MA, Public Archaeology MA, or TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) MA, students will be learning alongside scholars who are still asking the questions themselves. For those who want to go further, doctoral routes – PhD and the Professional Doctorate (DProf) – offer the chance to pursue independent research within the same community.
Applied learning in a city with 2,000 years of history
Where you study matters too, and Chester makes a strong case for itself. In January 2025, Booking.com named it the UK’s Most Welcoming City and the 10th in the world, based on over 360 million verified guest reviews, in its 13th annual Traveller Review Awards. For an international student arriving in an unfamiliar country, that kind of welcome makes a real difference to how quickly life and study can find its footing.
And in Chester, the city itself becomes part of the university experience. With over 2,000 years of visible history, it offers students in the Public Archaeology MA, Museums and Heritage Practice MSc, and Death and Memory MA an opportunity to work directly with heritage organisations in a city where the past is still very much present.
The same is true across disciplines. TESOL MA students will teach real learners in real classrooms as part of their degree and can complete the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) alongside their MA – a combination that carries genuine weight with employers. Theology and Religious Studies MA students can take their research into the field – dissertations have explored prayer practices inside real faith communities – and a dedicated conference module places students within live academic debate. One-to-one supervision with subject specialists runs throughout, and the programme is available fully online for working professionals worldwide.
Chester’s 2,000-year history makes the city a living classroom, where students connect learning with nearby heritage sites and real-world projects. Source: University of Chester
It is an approach that leaves a lasting impression. Meenakshi Gourisankar completed the TESOL MA at Chester and now works as a Learning Experience Developer at the University of Exeter – a role she credits directly to what the programme gave her. “One of my favourite aspects was the discussion-based classes that encouraged shared experiences between lecturers and students,” she says. “The degree helped me gain a strong understanding of pedagogy and learner-focused teaching and learning – both of which are central to my current role.”
A record built by students
In the WhatUni Student Choice Awards – the only national higher education awards determined entirely by student review – Chester was ranked first in the UK for both international and postgraduate students in 2024, with those results drawn from more than 38,000 reviews across over 260 institutions, and held on to both gold awards in 2025 – when over 36,000 student reviews once again informed the results.
Spencer’s 92% mark and Gourisankar’s career at Exeter are two different stories, but they point in the same direction. When research quality, personal support, and practical learning come together in the right environment, postgraduate study starts feeling like something that genuinely changes where you end up.
Learn more about the University of Chester‘s School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
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