Editing Post-nominal letters (section)

==== Higher education qualifications in the UK ====

In the UK, it is usual to list only doctorates, degrees in medicine, and degrees in divinity.<ref name="Debrett's degrees"/> In particular, when a person has letters indicating Crown honours or decorations, only the principal degree would normally be given.<ref name="Debrett's post nominals"/> The University of Oxford Style Guide advises writers: "Remember that you do not need to list all awards, degrees, memberships etc held by an individual – only those items relevant to your writing."<ref name=OxStyle/>

In an academic context, or in formal lists, all degrees may be listed in ascending order of academic status, which may not be the same as the order in which they were obtained (although see notes on medical qualifications, below). The Oxford style is to list qualifications by their title starting with bachelor's degrees, then master's degrees, then doctorates. Postgraduate Certificates and Diplomas are listed after doctorates, but before professional qualifications,<ref name=OxCal/> with a similar ordering being used by other universities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/communicationsmarketing/services/service-details/style-guide/names-and-titles.aspx|title=Names and titles|publisher=University of Nottingham|access-date=29 May 2016}}</ref> In this style, foundation degrees and other sub-bachelor qualifications are not shown. An alternative style is to give all higher education qualifications, starting from undergraduate, ordered by their level rather than their title. In this style, one might list a [[Certificate of higher education|Certificate]] or [[Diploma of higher education|Diploma of Higher Education]] first, then [[foundation degree]]s, first degrees at bachelor level, first degrees at master level (integrated master's degrees and first degrees in medicine), postgraduate degrees at master level (including postgraduate bachelor's degrees such the Oxford BCL), and doctorates. In this style, postgraduate certificates and diplomas could be shown either before postgraduate degrees at master's level (as in the table given by Loughborough University) or before first degrees at master's level (reflecting their position in the [[Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies]]).<ref name=Lboro/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.naric.org.uk/europass/documents/ds_chart.pdf|title=Diagram of higher education qualification levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland|publisher=UK NARIC|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=24 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724050511/http://www.naric.org.uk/europass/documents/ds_chart.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Strictly speaking, both the Debrett's and Ministry of Justice lists only allow for the inclusion of degrees, not non-degree academic awards.

For someone with a substantive doctorate, it is usual either to give "Dr" as the title (without a stop per normal British usage) or to list their degrees post-nominally, e.g. "Dr John Smith" or "John Smith, PhD" but not "Dr John Smith, PhD". Postnominals may be used with other titles, e.g. "Mr John Smith, PhD", "Sir John Smith, PhD", or "The Rev John Smith, PhD".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.debretts.com/forms-address/professions/academics/doctor|title=Doctor|publisher=Debrett's|access-date=29 May 2016}}</ref>

In the case of a BA from Oxford, Cambridge or Dublin who proceeds to be an [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA of those universities]] (which is taken without further study), the MA replaces the BA and thus only the MA should be listed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/oxford-ma|title=The Oxford MA|publisher=[[Oriel College, Oxford]]|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601163345/http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/oxford-ma|url-status=dead}}</ref> Oxford has said that there is no risk of confusion between their MA and "earned" MAs as the Oxford MA is denoted "MA (Oxon)" rather than simply MA.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=18 October 1999|quote="There was no question of confusing an Oxford MA with a taught MA because the university did not offer specific MA courses and graduates used the title MA (Oxon) rather than just MA."|author=John Carvel|access-date=30 May 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/1999/oct/18/highereducation.news1|title=Oxbridge defends automatic MAs under threat from quality watchdog}}</ref> However, Debrett's has advised using just "MA" to describe a Cambridge Master of Arts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.debretts.com/forms-address/ask-debretts-expert/questions-professions|title=Questions on Professions|publisher=Debrett's|access-date=30 May 2016}}</ref>

Graduates from British and Irish universities sometimes add the name of the university that awarded their degree after the post-nominals for their degree, either in parentheses or not, depending on preferred style. University names are often abbreviated and sometimes given in Latin, e.g."BA, MA (Dunelm), PhD (Ebor)";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbk.ac.uk/english/our-staff/full-time-academic-staff/peter-fifield|title=Peter Fifield|access-date=1 June 2016|publisher=[[Birkbeck, University of London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630035439/http://www.bbk.ac.uk/english/our-staff/full-time-academic-staff/peter-fifield|archive-date=30 June 2016|url-status=unfit}}</ref> a list of abbreviations used for university names can be found at [[Universities in the United Kingdom#Post-nominal abbreviations]]. Where the same degree has been granted by more than one university, this can be shown by placing the names or abbreviations in a single bracket after the degree name, e.g. "{{small caps|Sir [[Edward Elgar]]}}, Mus.D. (Oxon., Cantab., Dunelm. et Yale, U.S.A.), LL.D. (Leeds, Aberdeen, and W. University, Pennsylvania.)".<ref>{{cite book|title=Calendar for the Session 1907 - 1908|publisher=[[University of Birmingham]]|date=1907|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=OPoKAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA374|page=374}}</ref>

[[Honorary degree]]s, if shown, can be indicated either by "Hon" before the post-nominals for the degree or "hc" (for ''honoris causa'') after the post-nominals, e.g. "Professor [[Evelyn Ebsworth|Evelyn Algernon Valentine Ebsworth]] CBE, PhD, MA, ScD, '''DCL hc''', FRSC, [[FRSE]]" (emphasis added);<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.chem.ed.ac.uk/about-us/tercentenary/tercentenary-events/tercentenary-graduation-ceremony/professor-evelyn-ebsworth|title=Professor Evelyn Algernon Valentine Ebsworth CBE, PhD, MA, ScD, DCL hc, FRSC, FRSE|publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]]|access-date=1 June 2016}}</ref> "Professor [[Stephen Hawking]] '''Hon.ScD''', CH, CBE, FRS" (emphasis added).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/people/stephen-hawking|title=Professor Stephen Hawking Hon.ScD, CH, CBE, FRS|publisher=[[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]|access-date=1 June 2016|archive-date=21 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821195456/https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/people/stephen-hawking|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Oxford University Calendar Style Guide recommends not giving honorary degrees in post-nominals.<ref name=OxCal/>