MSc Development Economics with Placement Year

Program Overview

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Key information

Start date

September

Duration

2 years

Attendance mode

Full Time

Location

On Campus

Fees

Home: £12,220 (+£1,385 placement year fee) International: £25,320 (+£1,385 placement year fee)

Course code

PGTF0277

Entry requirements

We will consider all applications with a 2:2 (or international equivalent) in Economics and other Social Sciences (such as Politics, Sociology, Finance, Business, International Relations, Law), as well as Mathematics, Physics, Statistics, or Engineering. Applicants with professional qualifications or relevant professional experience will also be considered. Applicants will need to demonstrate they have studied Economic theory (including Macroeconomics and Microeconomics) and ONE of the following: Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Quantitative Methods (Statistics or Econometrics).

In addition to degree classification, we take into account other elements of the application such as supporting statement. References are optional but can help build a stronger application if you fall below the 2:2 requirement or have non-traditional qualifications.

See international entry requirements and English language requirements

Course overview

The MSc Development Economics with Work Placement Year is the flagship Master's programme offered by the SOAS Economics Department.

It combines the two core intellectual traditions nurtured for decades in our unique department: a pluralist approach to economics and a focus on real-world development issues. If you are interested in understanding how the global economy works, what economic challenges and opportunities countries in the Global South face, and what to do about intensifying inequalities and ecological breakdown, this degree is for you.

In macroeconomics, you will engage with different schools of macroeconomic thought on issues like inflation, unemployment, inequality, money creation, climate change and macroeconomic policy. In microeconomics, different theoretical perspectives on issues like market failures, risk, market structures and production are compared and contrasted. In development economics, you are introduced to economic theories and policies for development through a historical, pluralist and decolonial approach.

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. Please note: you will be expected to secure the work placement yourself, to be approved by the academic department. The SOAS Careers team are on hand to help you with your CV, interview skills and finding the right organisation for you.

Students on this programme can apply for a dissertation co-supervised with key international organisations, such as the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank.

Structure

The MSc Development Economics is a taught Masters degree. It consists of eight modules delivered through lectures, classes, and tutorials and an 10,000-word dissertation. The degree is awarded on the basis of examinations written in May and a dissertation which is submitted in September. All students must complete the compulsory Preliminary course in Mathematics and Statistics which is taught over three weeks in August/ September before the start of the core modules of the MSc.

Completion of the placement year comes with an optional additional 60 credits (on top of the mandatory 180 credits that need to be completed for the MSc Development Economics degree).

A complete list of optional modules in the programme is listed below, not all of which are offered in any single year.

Year 1 - Compulsory

• Macroeconomics - 15 credits
• Microeconomics - 15 credits
• Growth and Development - 15 credits
• Econometrics with R coding - 15 credits
• R Coding Workshops
• Essay Writing Workshop - Postgraduate Economics

Year 1 - Guided options - Development Economics and International Finance

60 credits from across Guided Options lists. To follow a line of specialisation of 30 credits, the remaining 30 credits should be selected from General and Regional Guided Options.

• International Finance - 15 credits
• Financial Systems and Economic Development - 15 credits

Year 1 - Guided options - Development Economics and Institutions

60 credits from across Guided Options lists. To follow a line of specialisation of 30 credits, the remaining 30 credits should be selected from General and Regional Guided Options.

• Political Economy of Institutions - 15 credits
• Global Economic Policy Analysis - 15 credits

Year 1 - Guided options - Regional

60 credits from across Guided Options lists. To follow a line of specialisation of 30 credits, the remaining 30 credits should be selected from General and Regional Guided Options.

• Political Economy of Development and Change in the Middle East - 15 credits
• Economic development in the Asia Pacific region - 15 credits
• China and World Development - 15 credits

Year 1 - Guided options - General

60 credits from across Guided Options lists. To follow a line of specialisation of 30 credits, the remaining 30 credits should be selected from General and Regional Guided Options.

• Evaluation Methods for Economic Policy - 15 credits
• Research Methods - 15 credits
• Advanced Econometrics with R coding - 15 credits
• Advanced Microeconomics - 15 credits
• Advanced Macroeconomics - 15 credits

Year 1 - Guided options - Development Economics and the Environment

60 credits from across Guided Options lists. To follow a line of specialisation of 30 credits, the remaining 30 credits should be selected from General and Regional Guided Options.

• Economics of Environment and Development - 15 credits
• Green Finance - 15 credits

Year 2 - Core

• Placement Year and Dissertation

Teaching and learning

The MSc includes eight taught modules plus a preliminary course in Mathematics and Statistics and an 10,000-word dissertation.

The courses are taught in seminar groups and lectures. The degrees are awarded on the basis of assessed coursework, examinations and the dissertation.

The MSc degrees are taught over a period of twelve months of full-time study within a structured programme. In the case of part-time study, the degrees will be taught over two or three years. Four modules are studied each year, with the dissertation normally being completed in the second year.

Contact hours

All Masters programmes consist of 180 credits, made up of taught modules of 30 or 15 credits, taught over 10 or 20 weeks, and a dissertation of 60 credits. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study, including reading and research, preparing coursework, revising for examinations and so on. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others.

More information is on the page for each module.

Dissertation

Students are required to complete a 10,000-word dissertation in applied economics.

SOAS Library

SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

Pre-entry reading

Preliminary Mathematics and Statistics

Our MSc programmes attract students with a wide range of backgrounds including many who have worked for a few years before coming to SOAS. Our popular quantitative courses are designed to be accessible to all of our students including those with a relatively small quantitative component in their first degree. They focus on applying basic methods used in empirical research and equip students to carry out their own high quality empirical work and critically evaluate research, with relatively little emphasis on advanced econometric theory and mathematical proofs.

The compulsory Preliminary Maths and Statistics course will be offered on the SOAS Moodle/BLE online platform. The objective of the course is to review the basic quantitative skills assumed once formal teaching commences. Students will be enrolled on the Module from July 2022 onwards. Students will be required to take the course and complete the exam prior to their arrival at SOAS. Limited support via office hours will be offered by the lecturer during September 2022.

Employment

The MSc in Development Economics - and the critical approach to economic and development issues it provides - is a gateway to various job opportunities in international organisations, governments, NGOs and private companies. The advanced nature of the programme also serves as an excellent foundation for PhD studies.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Bain & Co
• Bank of America
• Cabinet Office
• Deloitte
• Ernst & Young
• HM Treasury
• KPMG
• NHS England
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
• HSBC
• National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi
• UK Civil Service
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• University of Bayreuth
• HM Treasury
• Department for International Development
• PwC
• UNDP
• King’s Investment Fund
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• The World Bank
• EY
• British Chamber of Commerce
• Oxfam
• RBS

Find out about our Careers Service

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