Course selection information at LSE
International Development Course Choices for 2025-26
Course choice advice from Mentors
You will be able to see your assigned mentor early in week 0 and they can advise you on course choices, help you to settle in and navigate your journey at LSE and support you with any other queries or issues you may have. Keep in mind that you are not limited to speaking only with your mentor; the Department has an 'open door' policy, and you are welcome to seek advice from other ID staff by setting up an office hour appointment. Your Programme Directors are also a very useful source of advice and support.
Courses offered by the department
A full list of courses offered by the school can be viewed via the LSE Calendar page. Please scroll down to view the DV courses as these are courses offered by the Department of International Development. Please bear in mind that the links to the course info will be updated for the new acadmeic year in August.
How does the course selection work?
The graduate online course choice system will open at the start of the Welcome Week for browsing. However, course choice will not officially open until the end of Welcome Week and this is when you should start making your choices. Courses will start while course selection is still open - This is to allow more flexibility to students, but will also mean you might have to attend lectures/seminars for courses where you have not been able to secure a place yet.
The department will make the first set of offers in the first week of term. The courses will be reviewed, wherein if there are any places left, offers will be made to those on waiting lists, where spaces permit. However, the course selection process may be different in other departments and may take longer. In the Department of International Development, we do not follow a first-come-first-serve process, please see individual course guides for information on how places are allocated.
Students will be able to make changes to Winter Term half unit courses.
Courses in other departments
Although most students take all their courses within the department, you may apply to take a course in another department, subject to their conditions and permission and that of your Academic Mentor. If you plan to take more than one course outside of the department you must see your Programme Director. You can browse all postgraduate courses by departments here by clicking on Graduate Course Guides. International Development students are advised that different departments have their own rules. Find out more about course selection at LSE here.
International Development students are advised that different departments have their own rules. The International Relations Department, for instance, specifies – as indicated in the Calendar – that students from outside the department may take only one IR option. We cannot guarantee access to courses outside the Department even in those cases where the programme regulations specify that these courses are approved options to take as part of your degree. Conversely, students who are not International Development or joint degree students are not guaranteed access to our courses.
What are the specialisms offered? What are their prerequisites?
Available for programmes MSc Development Studies, MSc Health and International Development only
There are four specialisms in the department - African Development, Population Studies, Applied Development Economics and Environment. If you are choosing a specialism, you must do so at the beginning of your programme by applying to the appropriate courses. Then towards the end of the programme, each specialism lead needs to verify whether your dissertation is aligned with the specialism. Subject to the approval by the specialism lead you will be eligible for a specialism. Students will then have their specialism attached to their degree certificate and transcript. Please read the following information carefully as there have been some changes:
-
Population Studies: students must take two courses from the following: Global Health Challenges: Epidemics, Disease, and Public Health Response (DV444); Population Analysis: Methods and Models (MY476); and Population development and environment (DV411). Further to this, their dissertation topic must be approved as being appropriate for this specialism.
-
Environment: students must take two courses from the following: DV411 Population, Development and Environment: an Analytical Approach; DV413 Environmental Problems and Development Interventions; DV415 Global Environmental Governance. Further to this, their dissertation topic must be approved as being appropriate with the stream convenor.
Please note: that doing a specialism is entirely optional. While a specialism has certain advantages, it does have a disadvantage in that it constrains your course choices. Students have the freedom to opt out of taking a specialism at any point of time. It is entirely voluntary, and a vast majority of students do not take a specialism.
Timetables
Each course will typically have one lecture and one seminar each week. Lectures will be common for everyone taking the course. Seminars are in smaller groups and you will be able to choose a suitable seminar timing. The timing of the lectures and the various seminars will be published online. You may want to take a look at this once it is published to ensure that your preferred courses don’t clash with each other. Timetables often clash between courses of different departments.