Support
The department of International Development and LSE have a range of services and resources to support the studies and general wellbeing of students during your time here.
These include department mentoring, the Disability and Wellbeing Service, academic support, mental health resources, financial support and more. If you have an issue or need support, please contact Monika, our Department Senior Student Advisor, and she will signpost you to support services that can help. See the list of resources below as a starting point.
Within the department of International Development
Monika Walker, our ID Department Senior Student Advisor is here to support our ID taught MSc students during your time at LSE, helping you to navigate (alongside your Academic Mentor and other departmental colleagues) the advice and support services available to you, and to assist with your wellbeing needs.
30 mins appointments are available in-person and online. To book an appointment with Monika, please complete the form here and she will contact you with a date and time that matches your availability. Please provide as much availability as possible. An online drop-in is also available on Tuesdays between 12.00pm - 1.00pm for quick queries, see here for more details.
Your Academic Mentor is a key point of contact in your academic department. Their role is to keep an overview of your academic progress and overall wellbeing during your time at LSE. They can provide guidance and coaching on the wide range of academic and pastoral topics that might come up during your time at LSE.
If you have a difficulty that affects your studies or ability to meet a deadline, whether academic, personal or health-related, your first point of contact should be your Academic Mentor (for MSc students) or your Supervisor (for MRes/PhD students). Your mentor or supervisor will have been assigned to you at the beginning of your studies.
Most staff use the electronic ‘Office Hours’ system which allows students to book and cancel appointments with individual academic staff on Student Hub. If you are unable to find the availability of a particular academic listed on Student Hub, please contact them via email.
Find out more about Academic Mentoring here.
SSLC (Staff Student Liaison Committee) Academic Representatives ensure student concerns are addressed and students have a say in the running of their programme. This role is run by the LSE SU. They meet with department staff each term to raise issues about the quality of the programme and the experience as an LSE student, including the things they love and the things they want improved. SSLC Reps also ensure that the department listens directly to student feedback and that issues are resolved as swiftly as possible to improve your teaching and learning experience.
As well as your assigned Academic Mentor, and Monika, you can contact other members of academic and professional services staff in the Department with queries or to ask for support.
Your Course Administrator can answer questions about all aspects of assessment, feedback, course selection, timetabling, extensions, and many other topics besides.
The Communications and Events team can support you if you wish to contribute to the ID blog, podcasts, social media channels or have an event idea.
LSE Services
Take a look at the student guide to navigating help, resources, and support at LSE.
LSE has a variety of wellbeing support services and resources for students who need someone to speak to about academic, mental health or other personal issues. These include the Disability and Mental Health Service, student counselling and the peer support scheme. The LSE Survivor Community Spaces is a is an initiative for students who have experienced sexual violence at any point in their life.
Find out more about the wellbeing support available to you here.
My Adjustments (MAs) are LSE’s system of recording the adjustments and support available to disabled students. It is a document tailored to your individual circumstances and needs and outlines the reasonable adjustments which the School will put in place to support your study. Find out more here.
LSE LIFE offers support services for students' academic needs including workshops on skills such as academic writing, exam revision, note-taking, research methods and dissertation and essay planning and structure. You can organise one-to-one sessions with LIFE study advisers and find a range of study resources on the LIFE Moodle pages.
Find out about the resources available to you through the library here, including the booking system for study spaces which are currently open.
Library contacts including live chat: Getting help
Library support for disabled people including the buddy service: Using the Library space
If you're looking for specific sources or have any other queries about using the library, get in touch with the ID departments designated librarian Heather Dawson: h.dawson@lse.ac.uk.
LSE Careers provides a wide range of resources to support students in their career journeys, including information and signposting, blogs, events, guidance, one-to-one consultations and more.
Visit the ID Careers web page as a starting point for thinking about careers in International Development. It includes information, links to blogs that share insight into the sector and job boards for people seeking opportunities in development.
CareerHub is an excellent resource that runs activities such as skills workshops (including interview preparation and CV clinics), networking events and information sessions to support you on your career journey, including the Discover ID Series beginning in Autumn Term. You can also create a personalised dashboard on Career Hub and search the job board for opportunities collated by LSE's Careers team.
LSE Careers runs a 'Discover Inteernational Development' Event series in the Autumn and Winter terms. Find out more details here.
Our International Development Careers Consultant is Anna Koukoullis, a.koukoullis@lse.ac.uk.
You can book a one-on-one appointment with Lewis or another of the LSE Careers Consultants for advice, signposting to resources or to set up a practice interview - book through CareerHub.
If English is not your first language, there are plenty of ways you can improve and practice using the English language for your academic work including online courses, workshops and one-to-one support.
Find out more about the language centre academic writing support here.
If you need proofreading, translation or document authentication services then you can submit an online request form here.
The Financial Support Office administers School funds and various scholarships, studentships, prizes and awards. Find out more about available financial support here.
The LSE SU offer a Hardship Fund which is a means tested fund designed to help students who have fallen into short-term, unforeseen hardship to continue with their studies and complete their degree. The fund is managed and monitored by the SU Advice Service, independent from LSE. Find out more.
The LSESU Advice Service provides free advice and support to LSE students on a range of academic, financial, and housing issues, and because we are independent from LSE, all our advice is impartial and free from a conflict of interest.
The Advice Service also allocates multiple funds, including the hardship funds, which students have benefitted from greatly in the past. More information about the Advice Service can be found here.
Through Ask an Alum you have access to 200,000 alumni who are ready to provide advice and to connect with you. Use this tool to ask a question, for careers advice, about industries you would like to learn about, or a location you may like to move to, and AI will connect you with the best matched alumni who can provide advice straight to your email inbox. You can watch a short video on how this works here.
Ask your first question today.