Anglo Saxon, Norse, and Celtic

Studying ASNC at Cambridge

UCAS Code: QQ59
How many are admitted to Cambridge every year: 19
Minimum offer: A*AA
Essential subjects: None
Useful subjects: English (literature or language), History, Languages (ancient or modern)

The Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC) course is concerned with the history, culture, languages and literatures of the different peoples who inhabited Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages (fifth to twelfth centuries).

The ASNC degree is unique, in that no other university offers this particular combination of subjects and cultures within a single course. Students will have the opportunity to gain mastery in areas of study which in most cases they will not have studied before, and to explore connections between them. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary nature of the course is one of its greatest strengths. The study of languages leads to a deep appreciation of the corresponding literatures, while the history papers focus on the analysis of primary sources and the integration of information derived from all forms of evidence.

There are no compulsory papers (or modules). Instead, students have complete freedom to select subjects from the following options:

Language and Literature	History and Culture
Old English	England before the Norman Conquest
Old Norse	Scandinavian history in the Viking Age
Medieval Welsh	History of the Brittonic-speaking peoples
Medieval Irish	History of the Gaelic-speaking peoples
Insular Latin	Palaeography (manuscript studies)

For Part I of the ASNC Tripos (the first two years), students choose six options (or five plus a dissertation, in the second year). For Part II (third year), students choose four options from advanced papers in the same subjects, plus a dissertation on a research topic of their choice. It is also possible to ‘borrow’ paper choices from other Triposes, such as English, French, Archaeology or Linguistics. This enables students to place the emphasis of their studies where they please, be it mainly historical or mainly literary/linguistic, or mainly ‘Germanic’ or mainly ‘Celtic’, or a combination of the above.

The ASNC Department is widely renowned as a centre of international importance in its field, and students studying the ASNC course are taught by lecturers who are at the forefront of current research. A degree in ASNC can lead to a wide variety of careers. Those who choose to stay for graduate work often pursue academic careers. However, the intellectual training and transferable skills gained from this degree can also lead to careers in publishing, in banking, in teaching, in information technology, in the film industry, in marketing, in public relations, in journalism, in law, in business, and, frankly, in almost anything else. Alumni have reported that interviewers tend to latch on to ‘ASNC’ in their CV, regarding it as an interesting talking-point, and as a sign of an enquiring and original mind.

As an ASNC, you will become a member of a small but very select, enthusiastic and friendly Department, mixing with highly motivated fellow students and enjoying a course of study that will be at times surprising, challenging or entertaining, but always fascinating and deeply rewarding. Alumni look back on ASNC as one of the formative experiences of their lives.

What can I do with a degree in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic?

The majority of employers that recruit Cambridge graduates do not require a certain degree. They are usually more interested in what you can do rather than what you have studied. ASNC graduates who want to use their degree often think about working in arts and heritage, publishing or charities.

Upon successful completion of the course, Cambridge ASNC graduates go on to a vast range of careers. The top sectors that ASNC graduates tend to join are research, followed by communications, and then IT, publishing and the charity sector. Of course, many ASNC continue on to further study, and this may be something that you want to consider.

For more information, please visit the University Careers Service website.

What we look for

All of our subjects are taught from scratch, so no previous knowledge is expected or required. Evidence for real ability in humanities subjects and enthusiasm as well as motivation for the academic study of our subject area is all that is required.

We welcome applications from anyone, irrespective of educational background. The basic requirements are that you should have general intellectual ability, that you should be driven by natural curiosity, and that you should enjoy a challenge. Past applicants to St Edmund’s have sometimes gained A-levels or equivalent in standard humanities subjects (like English, History or a foreign language), but equally they may have a background in another area (such as sciences) and have discovered an interest in the humanities later. It should be noted that learning a medieval language (or languages) forms part of the course, so if you have not studied a language to an advanced level, we will be looking for other evidence of linguistic aptitude at interview. However, the most important thing is that you should be familiar with the nature of the course, and eager to learn something new.

Studying ASNC at St Edmund’s College

Studying ASNC at St Edmund’s, as with other Colleges, will involve working closely with your Director of Studies, who will arrange (and sometimes also teach) your weekly one-on-one supervisions. Lectures and language classes are provided centrally by the ASNC Department.

How to Apply

Applications for all courses are made through UCAS. You must apply by 15 October 2025 to be considered for entry in October 2026.

Requirements

Written Work

You will be required to submit two pieces of written work as part of the application process. We will contact you with further details once we have received your UCAS application.

This will usually be work you have completed already; you do not need to write something especially for the application. In your essays we look for good written English and the ability to pursue an argument fully and effectively.

My Cambridge Application Form

It should be noted that completion of the My Cambridge Application is particularly important if you are applying to ASNC alongside other courses. ASNC is a unique course, and we appreciate that your general personal statement will need to reflect the other subjects you are applying for. Your general interest in history, literature, languages, archaeology etc. is important and we will use your general statement to explore these interests further at the subject interview. However, the ‘Supplementary Application Questionnaire’ gives you the opportunity to tell us about your specific interest in ASNC.

Tests

Interviews

You will have two interviews, each one with two senior academics from the ASNC Department, one of whom will be the St Edmund’s Director of Studies in ASNC. Interviews tend to last roughly 25 minutes. Both interviews will focus on your interest in and motivation for our subject. We will talk about what you have mentioned in your personal statement, what you have studied in the past and what you have read in connection with the ASNC course. We may also discuss your submitted work. We may show you an image or a piece of text in translation to gauge how you respond to new ideas and engage critically with sources. Most importantly, we wish to hear you talking about the things that interest you, and why they interest you. We will not ask you difficult questions about our specialised subjects, because that would be quite unreasonable in subjects which you have not studied previously. But we do need to explore whether you are well suited to the course, and to ensure that your interest extends beyond the passing fancy – since this is a subject where we work hard, dig deep, and enjoy the process of discovery.

No specific preparation is necessary for the interview. However, we assume that your interest in the range of subjects in ASNC will be reflected in some of your reading and will explore that on the day.

Deferred entry

Affiliated students

If you have already completed or are in the process of completing a first undergraduate degree, you can apply for this course as an affiliated student. This means that you will complete the course in two years instead of the standard three. (Please note that this does not mean that you can go directly into the second year of the course.)

To apply as an affiliate student, you need to have achieved or be on track to achieve a 2.1 or higher in your first undergraduate degree. International equivalents can be found on the University website.

What is a typical Term’s work

Teaching in ASNC is provided through weekly lectures on historical and literary topics, and twice-weekly language classes, all delivered centrally in the Department. The number of lectures/classes will naturally vary depending on which papers you have selected. In these lectures and classes, the teachers will provide information, elucidation, and argumentation, most of which will not be found in books or articles. They will introduce you to unfamiliar material, and will convey their own enthusiasm for the subject. They will give you documentation for the course, including useful handouts.

A certain amount of preparation for Departmental teaching is expected. In the case of language classes, preparation of set texts will be undertaken each week (and you will be expected to translate in class and to comment on aspects of the text). In the case of lectures, the greatest benefit is obtained when some preliminary reading has been undertaken on the topic of the lecture. Private study in the form of reading more broadly around the subject is also essential.

The other complementary provision of teaching is via one-on-one supervisions. Your supervisions will be arranged by your Director of Studies, who will see you individually at the beginning of each term to discuss these arrangements, at the end of each term to read reports from your supervisors and discuss with you how things have gone, and at any other times by arrangement as necessary. Your Director of Studies will appoint your supervisors, who might be senior members of the Department, Research Fellows working in Cambridge, or current PhD students, but who will all be providing the same level of teaching.

The organisation of your supervisions will depend on your choice of papers. In general, you will have up to eight supervisions in each of your ASNC papers over the course of the two-year Part I. On average, you will have one supervision per week, in a one-to-one format. Each supervision lasts an hour, and the discussion will normally be focused on an essay that you will have submitted in advance. Your supervisor will suggest a topic for your essay and provide a reading list. In the supervision, the supervisor will take you through your essay, discuss its content and ask you to enlarge on certain matters. You can use the supervision to follow up things said in lectures, or to raise questions that interest or perplex you. Your supervisor will also help you to improve your essay-writing skills.

People

Dr Becky Shercliff, Director of Studies

ASNC offers a uniquely interdisciplinary approach; it combines historical, literary, and linguistic study, and one-on-one supervisions from world experts. With a background in classical and ancient Middle Eastern languages, I saw it as a natural progression—deepening my understanding of how these traditions evolved in the medieval world.

Sam, ASNC Student