Licentiate of Theology

The Licentiate of Theology or the Licence in Theology (LTh is the usual abbreviation) is a theological qualification commonly awarded for ordinands and laymen studying theology in the United Kingdom, Malta, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The academic rank varies from undergraduate degree to master's degree.

A qualification similar to the LTh is the two-year postgraduate Licentiate of Sacred Theology (STL), available from Pontifical universities.

The Licence in Theology was one of two courses (the other being the Bachelor of Arts degree course) offered by Durham University at its opening in 1833 and was first awarded in 1834. The course initially had a standard length of two years, reduced to one for graduates of Oxford and Cambridge; this was raised to three years for 1841–46, but this led to a serious fall in numbers and it returned to two years from 1846. It ran in a variety of different forms, including being offered with honours for a period from 1864, but closed in 1946. From the late 19th century the LTh could be gained at Anglican theological colleges affiliated to Durham without the need for residence at the university. The Common Awards validated by Durham and offered to all Church of England ordinands since 2014, as well as trainee ministers from the Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed churches, include a variety of degree and non-degree qualifications. However, these follow the naming conventions of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and do not include a license in theology.

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