Global Public Policy, MA/PGDip
Entry requirements
For entry onto this programme you will normally have an undergraduate degree of at least a 2:1. Applicants with a 2:2 degree classification will be considered on a case by case basis, if you have extensive related work experience. International applicants will be required to hold an IELTs 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in each band or equivalent qualification.
Months of entry
September, October
Course content
Policy making is becoming an increasingly complex process in the 21st Century. The context in which we make policy is radically changing, alongside the nature of the issues policymakers are required to address.
Traditional models of policy making are facing challenges from below, through the drive to devolution, and from above, as supranational forms of governance continue to evolve. Alongside these developments social issues, such as pollution, crime and migration, increasingly transcend national boundaries to present further challenges to policy makers.
This exciting programme seeks to understand the ways that policy is formulated within this evolving and dynamic context, by drawing on the core concepts of policy analysis and theories of policy change. As wel as offering insights into the policy actors, coalitions and forms of evidence that shape the creation of both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ policy, it will also provide understanding of the policy making architecture that characterises local, regional and supranational institutions. The programme will also explore the social, political, economic and historic contexts in which policy is formulated and the ways that power influences policy formulation.
As well as considering theories of the policy process, the Global Public Policy programme offers the opportunity to study across a range of global policy issues and social problems, such as poverty, migration, crime, and homelessness, to understand these theories in action.
Through a suite of module options, you will be able to tailor the curriculum to match your own interests and career plans. For those students interested in gaining experience in the workplace, we have pathways that incorporate a placement module.
Qualification, course duration and attendance options
- MA
- full time12 months
- Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
- PGDip Global Public Policy with Integrated Placement
- full time12 months
- Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
In the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, we believe that our research should inform the delivery of our teaching. This means that you will be taught by those who are involved in cutting edge research and who write the publications that you will study. We have over 50 academic experts, that are engaged in policy debates, and offer first hand insights into policymaking across a range of national and global policy domains. Teaching and learning takes place across a variety of forms, including traditional lecture, interactive lectures, small group seminars, computer lab based sessions. We also believe that our teaching should be delivered not only through the classroom but through the social world itself. In particular, being located in the city of Birmingham one of the most diverse cities in the UK and the youngest city in Europe (largest percentage of the population under 24), this offers access to a ‘social laboratory’, that brings the issues that you study alive. A number of our modules utilise field trips and we have extra-curricular activities that offer students trips to Birmingham City Council and the Houses of Parliament. Your degree will predominantly be assessed through a range of coursework, such as traditional essay, policy reports and dissertation - currently two of our modules utilise written examination as a mode of assessment. You will be offered the opportunity across core modules to complete formative assessments and to receive feedback which can be used to develop your writing style, structuring and critical reasoning, without the mark carrying into your degree classification.
Course contact details
- Name
- PG Admissions
- pgadmissions@contacts.bham.ac.uk