International Development

Entry requirements

Months of entry

April, October

Course content

The online MSc International Development builds on the established global reputation of the Development Studies department as one of the top places in the world to study international development.

We welcome applications from those who have worked in development, however broadly defined, but also from students without relevant work experience who can demonstrate a strong interest in, and understanding of, issues pertaining to international development.

International Development is a dynamic field concerned not only with processes of change in the Global South, but also of social, economic, political and cultural change in middle income countries and the Global North.

The perspective of International Development analyses these processes as interdependent and engages major policy challenges as well as efforts to overcome poverty and insecurity while also presenting a structural analysis.

This programme provides a solid interdisciplinary social science formation in the political economy and sociology of development and develops students’ capacities for independent and critical analysis.

Some topics will include:

• Conceptualising and questioning development
• Marxism, dependency and structuralism
• Gender and development
• Measuring development
• Neoclassical economics, neoliberalism and development
• Global institutions, agendas and development targets
• Industrial policy
• Agriculture and agrarian change
• Labour and labour markets
• Decolonial approaches to development

Why study online MSc Development Studies with SOAS

• We are ranked second in the world for Development Studies (QS World University Rankings 2022).

• We offer a range of exciting degree programmes on-campus and online, at BA, MSc and PhD levels. Our degrees are inter-disciplinary, combining political-economy, politics, anthropology, and history approaches to analyse processes of development in different contexts around the world. Students have the opportunity to take placements as part of their BA or MSc degrees, and we offer internships in the department and in partner organisations.

• Our academic staff create an intellectually stimulating and challenging space across the many branches of international development and humanitarianism that make up Development Studies. All modules engage with questions of climate crisis, recognising its impact and interaction with processes of inequality and change.

• Our staff specialise in a range of thematic areas including sustainability and climate change, migration and displacement, conflict, humanitarian action, labour, political ecology, and aid and institutions.

• Combined with exceptional resources and our interdisciplinary approach, we offer a unique learning and research opportunity for our diverse and vibrant student community.

• 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.

Information for international students

For details, including English language requirements, please see SOAS website

Fees and funding

For details of postgraduate fees, please see SOAS website