Study Humanities (BA)

BA, 3 years (NQF 7), in fields such as languages, history, politics, sociology, media studies, philosophy; Honours (NQF 8) adds 1 year.

Pay in South AfricaR300ka year Work abroad2.9 of 5best: United Kingdom, Ireland AI outlookTransformingAI is reinventing the daily work

Getting inLowcompetition for places · 3 years BA + optional 1 year Honours

R49 800 to R79 000 first-year fees 4 bursaries list Humanities (BA)

School subjects: Maths Literacy accepted

Entry details and typical minimums

Strong English and a second language help. Most BA programmes accept Mathematical Literacy, unlike BSc and BCom.

Typical minimums: Varies widely. BA entry is generally the most accessible degree-level entry at SA universities; selective streams such as PPE or journalism set higher points scores.

Sources: UCT 2027 Undergraduate Prospectus, Faculty of Humanities, pp.54-55 (BA and BSocSc need no Mathematics subject; PPE needs NSC Mathematics 60%)

Pay

Yearly gross pay, turned into rand at the exchange rate. The dot is the typical figure. How pay is measured

NetherlandsR830k–1.5m
AustraliaR780k–1.5m
GermanyR620k–1.9m
UKR690k–1.3m
IrelandR610k–1.4m
USAR670k–1.4m
CanadaR670k–1.3m
New ZealandR820k
South AfricaR300k

~ limited evidence

Working abroad 2.9 of 5

Score out of 5. Tap a country for steps and visas.

AI outlook

TransformingAI is reinventing the daily work

Writing, translating, researching and editing are tasks language models do well, so the work is moving towards judgement, originality and editing what AI drafts. No licence protects the work.

Hands-on In-person care Licensed & accountable

How AI changes each field

Careers

Communications / PR officer
Journalist or editor
Policy or research analyst
Marketing and content roles
Teacher (requires PGCE or equivalent)
HR and recruitment

Where to study 8

First-year tuition, as published. My Matric Map can check your results against each of these. Tap a university for its entry requirements and dates. Compare study costs

Country by country: steps, exams, visas and pay sources

No licence blocks a BA graduate anywhere, so on paper it is fully portable. In practice it is the weakest degree for employer-sponsored skilled visas, because almost no humanities role is on any shortage list.

Where it can take you

Humanities (BA) → Ireland

Overall 3/5 · Moderate

Unregulated, but humanities roles are off the Critical Skills list, so most need a General Employment Permit.

Recognition: 5/5 · Open door. Unregulated there, or the South African qualification is accepted as it is.
Demand: Low demand

Sources: Critical Skills Occupations List · DETE, Critical Skills Employment Permit: 'All occupations with a minimum annual remuneration of over €68,911, other than those on the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits or which are contrary to the public interest. A non-EEA national who does not have a degree qualification or higher, must have the necessary level of experience.' · DETE, General Employment Permit: 'A Labour Market Needs Test is required in most cases'

Qualification and licensing guide

Pay, in rand at the exchange rate

Typical gross pay in each country, turned into rand at the exchange rate. Compare salaries switches between the exchange rate, buying power and after tax, and says how each works.

Netherlands R830k–1.5m3.8× SA

Australia R780k–1.5m3.5× SA

Germany R620k–1.9m3.4× SA

United Kingdom R690k–1.3m3.1× SA

Ireland R610k–1.4m3.0× SA

United States R670k–1.4m3.0× SA

Canada R670k–1.3m3.0× SA

New Zealand R820k2.7× SA

South Africa R300k

South Africa · line: the South African figure · pay range · starting pay · hover or tap a bar for details · gross pay a year, low to high estimate; the bar ends at the typical figure · * weaker figure

Country	Typical gross pay	Range and starting pay	Occupation and source
South Africa	ZAR 300 000 Median 2024	Not researched yet	Professionals (all fields), employees Stats SA Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa 2024 (Report 02-11-02): median monthly earnings of professionals R25,000 x 12 · No humanities-specific figure: the median for employees in professional jobs, as a graduate-level baseline. The median for all employees is R6,000/month (R72,000/yr), incl. part-time and informal work.
United Kingdom	GBP 39 039 Median 2025	GBP 29 262 to 54 009 25th to 75th percentile, 2025 · ONS ASHE 2025 (provisional), Table 14.7a Annual pay - Gross, full-time · All UK full-time employees p25-p75, April 2025 (neutral baseline, no single occupation), matching the typical figure. Starting GBP 27 998 15 months after graduating, full-time employed UK graduates, 2025 · HESA Graduate Outcomes 2022/23 (published July 2025): non-science subjects median · Median for all non-science first-degree subjects, not humanities alone; all-subject median 28,500.	All employees (no single occupation) ONS ASHE 2025 (provisional), Table 14.7a Annual pay - Gross, full-time · Neutral baseline: median gross annual pay of all UK full-time employees, April 2025. All employees incl. part-time is 32,890.
Ireland	EUR 44 816 Median 2024	EUR 30 388 to 68 319 25th to 75th percentile, 2024 · CSO Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data, table DEA03 Distribution of Annual Earnings · All employments active 50+ weeks, 2024 (neutral baseline, same as typical; DEA03 median 44,817). Not humanities-specific. Starting EUR 24 180 First year after an L8 arts/humanities degree, 2023 · CSO Higher Education Outcomes, table HEO12 Graduate Earnings (NFQ Level 8, 2022 graduates, year 1): Arts and Humanities · EUR465/wk x52. Median, earned 2023. Broad field of study; includes part-time workers, so understates full-time pay. Many are part-time or studying in year 1.	All employments (no single occupation) CSO Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2024 · Neutral baseline: CSO median annual earnings of all employments active at least 50 weeks in 2024. Mean was EUR56,356.
Netherlands	EUR 55 952 Median 2025	EUR 41 184 to 75 712 25th to 75th percentile, 2025 · CBS StatLine 86355NED Werknemers; uurloon en beroep (p25/p75 gross hourly) · BRC 2014 Totaal (all employees), employees, 2025: p25 19.80/h, p75 36.40/h x2080, excl. holiday pay (as typical). Neutral baseline matching the typical figure. Starting EUR 45 635 New wo-master graduate, 1 year after leaving university, 2024 · CBS StatLine 83815NED Uitstromers ho; uurloon na verlaten onderwijs (median, cohort 2022/'23, 1 yr after leaving) · Wo-master 'Taal en cultuur': median 21.94/h x2080, Oct 2024, employees.	BRC 2014 T001014 Totaal (alle werknemers) CBS StatLine 86355NED Werknemers; uurloon en beroep · No single humanities occupation: CBS median hourly of ALL employees x2080 used as a neutral baseline, as instructed.
Germany	EUR 50 600 Median 2025	EUR 30 569 to 92 220 10th to 90th percentile, 2025 · BA Beschaeftigungsstatistik, Bruttomonatsentgelte, Stichtag 31.12.2025, Tabelle 1 (Verteilungsparameter) · All full-time employees (same baseline as typical), p10 2,547 / p90 7,685 EUR/mo x12; table gives deciles, not quartiles. No official humanities starting figure.	All full-time employees subject to social insurance (Kerngruppe) BA Beschäftigungsstatistik, Bruttomonatsentgelte, Stichtag 31.12.2025, Tabelle 2 · No single humanities occupation: national median 4,216.66 EUR/mo x12 used as a neutral baseline, as instructed.
United States	USD 50 980 Median 2025	USD 37 590 to 80 520 25th to 75th percentile, 2025 · BLS OEWS May 2025 national (via BLS Public Data API) · All Occupations (00-0000) p25/p75, OEWS May 2025: a neutral baseline, not a humanities-specific range. Starting USD 30 700 1 year after a bachelor's in English, philosophy, history or Romance languages (CIP 23.01, 38.01, 54.01, 16.09 pooled), 2022 · College Scorecard field-of-study data (Jun 2026 release), EARN_MDN_1YR · Grad-weighted median of program medians, earnings 1 yr after completion (2018-20 grads, CY2020-21, 2022 $; working & not enrolled, incl. part-time). No single occupation; compare to all-occupation median. Includes part-time and non-graduate jobs.	00-0000 All Occupations BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 national · OEWS national median annual wage, May 2025. No single occupation: national median annual wage for all occupations, used as a neutral baseline.
Canada	CAD 69 992 Median 2025	CAD 52 000 to 99 840 25th to 75th percentile, 2025 · Statistics Canada LFS public-use microdata 2025 (12 months), own weighted computation · All full-time employees, usual hourly wage p25 C$25.00 / p75 C$48.00 x2080 (FINALWT-weighted). Median reproduces C$33.65 in Table 14-10-0064. p10 C$40,560, p90 C$130,000. Starting CAD 43 900 2 years after a bachelor's in the humanities, 2024 · Statistics Canada Table 37-10-0281 (ELMLP), graduates two years after graduation · Median employment income 2 yrs after graduation (2022 grads, measured 2024, 2024 $); excludes full-time students, includes part-time/part-year workers. No single occupation; includes part-time and non-graduate jobs.	All occupations - full-time employees Statistics Canada Table 14-10-0064-01, employee wages · No single occupation: median hourly wage of all full-time employees, C$33.65 x 2080 h (2025). Median weekly C$1,320 x 52 gives C$68,640.
Australia	AUD 90 532 Median 2025	AUD 67 240 to 128 544 25th to 75th percentile, 2025 · ABS Employee Earnings, August 2025, Table 7 (distribution of weekly earnings in main job, full-time employees) · All FT employees (neutral baseline, same survey as typical). p25/p75 interpolated from $100 bands: $1,293/$2,472 wk x52; interpolated median $1,756 vs published $1,741. Starting AUD 75 000 About 4 months after completing the bachelor's degree, full-time employed domestic graduates, 2025 · QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025 national report tables: median full-time salary, undergraduates, by 45 study areas ('Humanities, history and geography') · Humanities, history and geography graduates, 2025 survey; language and literature 80,000; all-area median 77,000.	All full-time employees (no single occupation) ABS, Employee Earnings, Australia, August 2025 · Neutral baseline per brief: national median weekly earnings in main job for full-time employees, $1,741/wk x52.
New Zealand	NZD 79 040 Median 2026	Starting NZD 52 000 BA graduate, year 1 after the bachelor's, 2026 · Tahatu Career Navigator study page 'Bachelors degrees in history (BA)': median employed income 1 year after completion (Stats NZ IDI + IR) · low confidence, not shown on the chart · Published in $ thousands; vintage not stated; includes part-year/part-time earners. Year-1 p25-p75 38k-64k. Other BA fields: English 46k, sociology 56k. Only ~52% employed (60% further study).	All full-time wage and salary earners (no single occupation) Stats NZ, Labour market statistics (income): June 2026 quarter (HLFS) · Neutral baseline: full-time median hourly earnings from wages and salaries $38.00 x2080 (no full-time weekly median is published in the release).

General information, not immigration or legal advice. Researched 2026-10-07.