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DEGREES AND OTHER POSTNOMINALS
NOTE: The Calendar does not include certain postnominals in the divisional sections. These
include qualifications indicating academic membership of professional bodies such as FRS,
FBA etc, and honours such as CBE, OBE etc. The exception is medical memberships and
professional/administrative ones that are required to practise in a field. However, all
designations are included in the college entries.
1. Overall order
The overall order is civil honours; military honours; QC; degrees; diplomas; certificates;
membership of academic or professional bodies.
‘Diploma’ when used on its own (ie when not part of an abbreviation such as ‘DEA’)
should be abbreviated as ‘Dipl’ (but the qualification ‘Vordiplom’ should not
abbreviated).
Diplomas should be placed after degrees, even when the diploma is equivalent to a first
degree.
Postnominals denoting membership of a Roman Catholic religious order (SJ, OP, etc)
should immediately follow the name.
2. Order of degrees
Degrees should be given in the order (note that lists of examples are not exhaustive):
bachelors’ and/or other first degrees in alphabetical order (merging UK and non-UK
lists if appropriate)
(a) UK first degrees include: BA, BCL, BDS, BEd, BM BCh
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, BMedSci, BMSc,
BSc, BTech, BVM&S, LLB, STB
(b) non-UK first degrees include: BMedSc, Cand, Diplom, Laurea, Lic, L ès L,
PhL, STL
(c) bachelors’ degrees should be included in this position even when the degree is
a further degree. An Oxford BCL will precede an Oxford MA
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Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery may, depending on the awarding body, be abbreviated
as: BM BCh, BM BS, BMed, MB BCh, MB BCh BAO (Ireland), MB BChir, MB BS, MB ChB
masters’ or equivalent degrees in alphabetical order (merging UK and non-UK lists if
appropriate)
(a) UK masters’ (and equivalent) degrees include: LLM, MA (including
Oxford/Cambridge MA and Oxford MA status (to be shown as ‘MA status
Oxf’), MBA, MBiochem, MChem, MCompSci, MEarthSci, MEng, MFA,
MLitt, MMath, MPhil, MPhys, MRes, MS, MSc, MSci, MSt
(b) non-UK masters’ degrees include: Artsexamen, DEA, Drs, EM, Magister,
Mag rer nat, Maîtrise, MPH, MS, Staatsexamen
(c) masters’ degrees should follow bachelors’ degrees even when the master’s
degree is in fact a first degree