Conflict, Security and Development MSc

The programme is available on a full-time basis over one year or on a part-time basis over two years. There is flexibility to allow you to pursue the knowledge and skills most relevant to you.

Compulsory courses

There are three compulsory courses, which all students are required to take:

• Conflict, Security, and Development
• Politics and Theories of International Development
• Peace and Conflict in Africa

Optional courses

A variety of designated course options allow students to develop specialised profiles as development professionals, for example:

• Resource Politics and Development
• Policing and Punishment: Global Perspectives
• Displacement and Development
• Pursuing Justice After Violence

Up to 20 credits from courses outside the listed optional courses are permitted with approval from the Programme Director.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Graduates of this programme will:

• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the links between conflict, security and development and be able to analyse the various actors, agendas, and practices that these linkages have generated.
• Apply research skills and techniques appropriate to the study of development and security policy.
• Analyse and synthesize relevant data using interdisciplinary methods.
• Be able to independently engage with new ideas, and to confront social questions with open-mindedness and intellectual rigour.
• Gain knowledge and skills needed for progression to relevant professional work, including the ability to effectively and confidently articulate complex social ideas, with appropriate sensitivity and nuance, to different audiences.

This programme is extremely relevant if you are seeking employment in:

• Government agencies
• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
• International organisations (United Nations, World Bank, etc.)
• Humanitarian organisations
• Research institutes
• The public sector
• Think tanks
• Academia

These entry requirements are for the 2024/25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2025/26 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2024.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a relevant subject such as politics, international relations, international development, anthropology, area studies, and international studies.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 70 with at least 59 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old* at the beginning of your programme of study. (*Revised 05 March 2024 to extend degree validity to five years.)

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding