MSc Global Development: with Work Placement Year
London, United Kingdom
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,320 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
Blended, On-Campus
* for overseas student fees +£1,385 placement year fee | home student fees: GBP 12,220 per year +£1,385 placement year fee
Introduction
The MSc Global Development with Work Placement Year programme provides a solid interdisciplinary social science formation in development theory and practice and develops students’ capacities for independent and critical analysis.
Development Studies is a dynamic field concerned with processes of change in the South — social and economic, political and cultural — and the major policy challenges they present to efforts to overcome poverty and insecurity.
For your placement year, you will have the opportunity to take part in a full-time, 10–12 month work placement at an organisation of your choice.
Why study MSc Global Development with Work Placement Year at SOAS?
- SOAS is ranked 2nd in the world for Development Studies (QS World University Rankings 2023)
- You will have the opportunity to take work placements as part of your degree, and we offer internships in the department and in partner organisations. This year MSc students were offered placements in the International Organisation for Migration, the London International Development Centre and international NGOs
- Get a placement in a partner organisation working in international development with our new International Development Placement module - available as in-person and virtual options
The MSc programme’s emphasis on transferable analytical skills has been of great benefit to the many graduates who have returned to, or taken up, professional careers in development in international organisations, government agencies and non-government organisations.
Students also benefit from the wide range of modules on offer, both within the Department and across the School, allowing them to create individualised interdisciplinary programmes.
Duration
2 years Full-time or part-time
Ideal Students
Who Should Apply?
The MSc Global Development programme attracts applications from students with a variety of academic and experiential backgrounds. We welcome applications from those who have worked in a broad field of development, but also from students without relevant work experience who can demonstrate a strong interest in, and understanding of, development issues. A good first degree in a social science is preferred.
Admissions
Curriculum
Students must take 180 credits per year comprised of 120 taught credits (including core, compulsory and optional modules) and a 60-credit dissertation.
Completion of the placement year comes with an optional additional 60 credits (on top of the 180 mandatory credits that need to be completed for the MSc Global Development degree).
Open modules: Students can choose up to 30 credits from other Departments as open options.
Dissertation
All students enrol in the dissertation module.
- Dissertation in Development Studies
Core and Compulsory modules
- Theory, policy and practice of development
- Political Economy of Development
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
A degree from the Department of Development Studies at SOAS will further develop your understanding of the world and how society is organised, with specific focus on violence and conflict, the role of aid, refugees and forced migration. Graduates leave with a range of transferable skills, including critical thinking, analytical skills and cultural awareness.
Recent graduates have been hired by:
- Amnesty International
- BBC World Service
- British Embassy Brussels
- Department for International Development
- Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
- Embassy of Japan
- Government of Pakistan
- Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- KPMG LLP
- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Overseas Development Institute
- Oxfam
- Royal Norwegian Embassy
- Save the Children UK
- The World Bank
- Thinking Beyond Borders
- US Department of State
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees
- WaterAid
Program Leaders
Program delivery
Our teaching and learning approach is designed to support and encourage students in their process of self-learning, and to develop their own ideas, responses and critique of international development practice and policy.
We do this through a mixture of lectures, and more student-centred learning approaches (including tutorials and seminars). Teaching combines innovative use of audio-visual materials, practical exercises, group discussions, and weekly guided reading and discussions, as well as conventional lecturing.
In addition to the taught part of the master's programme, all students will write a 10,000-word dissertation. Students develop their research topic under the guidance and supervision of an academic member of the Department. Students are encouraged to explore a particular body of theory or an academic debate relevant to their programme through a focus on a particular region.