Program Overview

Overview

The Development, Environment, and International Politics MSc program provides students with the knowledge and skills to understand and shape global debates in Development Studies, Global Environmental Politics, and contemporary International Relations. This program equips students with analytical and methodological skills, as well as conceptual and empirical knowledge, to understand, explain, and interrogate the international politics of development and the environment.

What You'll Learn

As a student on the Development, Environment, and International Politics MSc program, you will:

• Gain advanced knowledge and understanding of the relationship between international development and the politics of the environment.
• Use analytical and methodological methods to study and interrogate key ideas, actors, and policies in international development.
• Develop an understanding of the complex socio-economic and ecological challenges facing the Global South in the era of climate breakdown.
• Gain a deep understanding of essential research techniques and approaches in International Development and Politics research, including qualitative analysis and data visualization.
• Conduct independent research on key issues in international development, global environmental politics, and international politics.

Modules

The program includes the following modules:

• Compulsory Modules:
  • Thinking About Politics
  • Development, Environment, and International Politics
  • Dissertation
• Optional Modules:
  • Global Sustainable Futures: Solutions, Concepts, and Skills
  • Creative Methods in Social Science
  • Political Geographies of the Middle East
  • Geographical Inequalities and Policy
  • Migration, Displacement, and Global Challenges
  • Cybersecurity Law and Policy
  • Public International Law
  • Law and Emerging Technologies
  • Social Media Regulation: Law, Policy, and Society
  • Heritage Processes: global perspectives, practices, and politics
  • European Union: Policy and Politics
  • Theories and Theorists of International Political Economy
  • Theories of International Relations
  • American Foreign Policy
  • Global Justice and Human Rights
  • Critical Geopolitics
  • World Politics and Popular Culture
  • The United Nations: Policy, Politics, and Power
  • Principles of Data Science for Political Research
  • The Moral Limits of the Market: Theoretical Foundations
  • The Moral Limits of the Market: Public Policy Projects
  • Problem Solving for Defence (H4MoD)
  • Public Policy in Practice: from the Local to the Global
  • Power and Policy: Understanding Impact
  • Global Security: Politics, Space, and Society (P)
  • Critical Approaches to Environment and Society
  • Global Sex Global Race
  • Inequalities: Issues and Intersections
  • Perpetual Wars? Crime, Policing, and (in)Security

How You'll Learn

The program is delivered through lectures, seminars, and workshops. Expert academic staff will help you deepen your understanding of key concepts through active participation, independent research, discussion, and collaboration with peers.

Your Future

You will develop specialist knowledge and research skills for a career with a significant international dimension. You will also be able to pursue a postgraduate research degree in globalization, development, or poverty studies.

Quality and Ranking

• 42% of our research is classified as 4* world-leading research – Research Excellence Framework 2021
• 65% increase in research power since 2014 – Research Excellence Framework 2021
• Global Top 140 University – QS World University Rankings 2026
• Global Top 160 University - Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025
• Top 100 for Developmental Studies - QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025
• Top 25 in the UK and Top 100 in the world for sustainable development – Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024

Facilities

As a Politics student, you will be based in the Henry Daysh Building.

Fees and Funding

• Tuition fees for 2026 entry (per year):
  • Home students: £11,400
  • International students: £26,500
• Scholarships: We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships.

Entry Requirements

• Academic entry requirements: A 2:1 honors degree, or international equivalent. Degrees from all disciplines will be considered.
• English Language requirements: IELTS, Pearson, Duolingo English Test, TOEFL, or other qualifications.
• Admissions policy: This policy applies to all undergraduate and postgraduate admissions at Newcastle University.

How to Apply

• Start Dates: The course starts in September.
• Closing Dates: There is no application closing date for this course.
• Deposit: If you are an international student or a student from the EU, EEA, or Switzerland and you need a visa to study in the UK, you must pay a deposit of £1,500 or submit an official letter of sponsorship.