Offer Holders
Congratulations on your offer to study at LSE's School of Public Policy (SPP) in September 2026!
As a student at SPP, you will join an active community of peers from around the globe, all sharing a passion for public policy and shaping the world for the better. We look forward to welcoming you and getting to know you in person on campus in September.
To help make your journey to join us as easy as possible, we have prepared some useful information below. This information includes:
- Key dates for your diaries
- The next steps for you to accept your offer and prepare to join us
- Links to further information about visas, accommodation and LSE Graduate Admissions
- Details about upcoming events for SPP offer holders and social media links to connect with us online
- Advice and top tips from LSE and SPP students
- Further information about optional readings, preparation materials and plans for welcome will be shared later in the year
It would also be helpful for us if you would take some time to complete our Marketing and Recruitment survey so that we can understand more about your consideration process when applying to study with us.
Key Dates and Next Steps
Please read the details in your offer letter carefully. You will have been sent your offer letter by email from LSE Graduate Admissions.
Whether you have a conditional or unconditional offer, there will be things that you will need to do including:
- Read the process about how to respond to accept or decline your offer and log in to the Graduate application portal to respond to your offer- we ask all our offer holders to aim to complete their admissions steps and confirm their decision by 31 May 2026.
- Meet conditions and provide documents to confirm your offer. It is within your interest to send us your official documents as quickly as possible, The Graduate Applicant Portal (GAP) will let you know what it is that you still need to provide to our Graduate Admissions Office.
- If you are required to meet an IELTS (or equivalent) score as part of an English language condition, you should arrange to take the test as soon as possible. Once you have your results, please submit them to the GAP, including the ID number detailed on your results certificate, or ensure that you tell your provider to allow LSE access to your score. We also accept other tests to meet your English language conditions. Please take a look at our English language entry requirements page for more details
- Complete your Financial Undertaking Form (FUF) as soon as possible, and no later than 31 July 2026, to confirm how you will be funding your studies.
Please remember that if you require a student visa to study at LSE, you will not be able to apply for this visa until:
- your offer is unconditional
- you have submitted your Financial Undertaking Form
- you have accepted your offer
Graduate Admissions CAS team intends to begin issuing CAS statements from May.
- Find out about accommodation and visas
Pre arrival
February
- Check your eligibility for a SPP Scholarship and make sure your submit your Graduate Financial Support Application (GFSA) via the Graduate Application Portal (GAP) by 19 February 2026 to be considered.
April - July
- Offer holder events, including taster lectures and information sessions (details will be shared in newsletters and 'connect with us' section below)
May
- Optional summer readings will be available to help you to prepare for your studies
- The Graduate Admissions Office will start releasing Pre-CAS and CAS emails from May onwards. If you need a CAS, to be eligible, you must have an unconditional offer, have accepted this and submitted your FUF.
- Aim to complete your admissions steps and respond to your offer by 31 May 2026
June
- You will receive information from your programmes team about your online self-directed maths and statistics pre-learning materials. Our faculty strongly encourage all incoming students to complete these learning materials before arriving at LSE.
August
- Online pre-enrolment- TBC. Details will be sent by central LSE support teams.
- SPP Welcome information will be sent to offer holders
- Master of Public Policy - pre-arrival online course, Introduction to Statistics, will run for five weeks from late August
In person (LSE Campus)
September
- On-campus enrolment and SPP welcome weeks (please note your welcome schedule will be very busy and many of our students have advised to arrive in London ahead of your start date if possible)
- MPA in Data Science for Public Policy - First day: 2 September 2026
- MPA and MPA Double Degrees - First day: 14 September 2026
- Master of Public Policy - First day: 15 September 2026
After the welcome period, the MPA, MPP, MPA DSPP and MPA Double Degree programmes follow the LSE term dates.
LSE Fees and Funding
LSE offers a number of needs-based awards, including the , , and .
Selection for any funding opportunity is based on receipt of an offer for a place and submitting a Graduate Financial Support application, before the funding deadline. Funding deadline for needs-based awards from LSE is 23 April 2026.
SPP awards
In addition to our needs-based awards, LSE also makes available scholarships for students from specific regions of the world and awards for students studying specific subject areas. The School of Public Policy (SPP) offers programme and country specific scholarship awards Applicants who wish to apply for an SPP scholarship must submit a complete programme application by 22 January 2026 and complete LSE's Graduate Financial Support Application (GFSA) form via the Graduate Application Portal by 19 February 2026. Find out more about SPP specific awards and how to apply.
Find answers to your FAQs about admissions timelines and next steps on our FAQs page
Admissions support: If you have further admissions queries you can refer to our FAQs. If you query is not answered here you can e mail our SPP Admissions Service Manager at spp.admissions@lse.ac.uk or book a zoom call .
Visa queries: LSE's Student Advice and Engagement team are the only team authorised to provide advice about immigration and visas at LSE. Check the LSE visa webpages or contact LSE visa team.
Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) - Our CAS team intend to begin issuing CAS statements from May. Sometimes the team may need more information from you. Please ensure you check both your inbox and spam folder to engage with any important communication. The team will be processing applications in date order and you can view Current processing times. Any queries about the CAS process should be directed to the Graduate Admissions CAS team.
Accommodation queries: Check the LSE accommodation webpages and the private housing webpages or contact the LSE accommodation team.
Finance and funding queries: Check the LSE fees and funding webpages or contact the LSE Financial support office.
Connect with SPP - Events and social media
Upcoming Offer Holder Events
We will be planning a number of online events for our offer holders which will usually take place from April-July. These will be opportunities to connect with our faculty, students, alumni and your future classmates. More sessions will be announced soon!
Master of Public Policy (MPP) - Information session for offer holders
Thursday 30 April, 1pm
Join MPP Programme Director Dr Simon Bastow and alumni/students to hear more about the MPP and meet your future classmates.
Taster lecture with Prof Vanessa Rubio-Marquez - "Navigating the Age of Uncertainty"
Wednesday 6 May, 12pm
SPP offer holders are invited to join Professor Vanessa Rubio-Marquez and their future classmates for a special taster lecture "Navigating the Age of Uncertainty"
Master of Public Administration (MPA) - Information session for offer holders
Friday 8 May, 1pm
Join MPA Programme Director Dr Lloyd Gruber and alumni/students to hear more about the MPA programme and meet your future classmates. Note this session is designed for MPA offer holders only. There will be separate sessions for MPA double degrees and MPA DSPP offer holders.
MPA in Data Science for Public Policy (MPA DSPP) - Information session for offer holders
Tuesday 19 May, 1pm
Join Programme Director Prof Alexander Evans, Dr Casey Kearney and alumni/students to hear more about the programme and meet your future classmates.
Taster lecture with Dr Ali Cirone - "Politics of AI"
Thursday 21 May, 2pm
SPP offer holders are invited to join Dr Ali Cirone and their future classmates for a special taster lecture "Politics of AI".
Admissions drop-in sessions
Our Graduate Admissions Premium Service Manager will be hosting individual online drop-in sessions for our offer holders to help to answer your specific admissions queries. Appointments are available to book up to 14 days in advance and more dates will be released each week.
Find out more about our amazing campus and how you can visit us, including how you can register for campus tours hosted by LSE students (every Wednesday during term time), on .
You can also take a self-guided tour using the information here.
Join the SPP Offer Holders 2026 Linkedin group to connect with your future classmates and receive updates about upcoming events.
Find out more about what is happening in the SPP community by following us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter/X, YouTube and Bluesky.
You can also check out our to see everything going on at the SPP.
Programme information and preparation
First day and campus enrolment: 14 September 2026
Detailed curriculum information:Master of Public Administration
Pre-arrival preparation
Prior to your arrival at LSE, you will receive details about optional readings and online learning materials which are designed to help you to prepare for the programme.
First day and campus enrolment: 15 September 2026
Detailed programme and curriculum info: Master of Public Policy
Pre-arrival preparation
Prior to your arrival at LSE, you will receive details about optional readings and online learning materials which are designed to help you to prepare for the programme.
In addition, MPP students will have the opportunity to study a pre-arrival online course 'Introduction to Statistics'. This is designed for all incoming MPP students, but is aimed especially at those with limited or no prior experience of learning statistics for social sciences, or who have not worked with or used statistics for a long time. It will provide foundational knowledge that will help students transition into the MPP core course Quantitative Methods for Public Policy (PP402). This online pre-arrival course will run for five weeks from late August, and you will receive further details in June/July about the course.
First day and campus enrolment: 2 September 2026
Detailed programme and curriculum info: MPA in Data Science for Public Policy
Pre-arrival preparation
Prior to your arrival at LSE, you will receive details about optional readings and online learning materials which are designed to help you to prepare for the programme.
First day and campus enrolment: 14 September 2026
Detailed programme and curriculum info: Master of Public Administration (Toronto DD)
Pre-arrival preparation
Prior to your arrival at LSE, you will receive details about optional readings and online learning materials which are designed to help you to prepare for the programme.
First day and campus enrolment: 14 September 2026
Detailed programme and curriculum info: Master of Public Administration (Columbia DD)
Pre-arrival preparation
Prior to your arrival at LSE, you will receive details about optional readings and online learning materials which are designed to help you to prepare for the programme.
Advice from our students and recent graduates
In addition to our LSE SPP students, LSE student bloggers and student vloggers share some helpful advice on student life at LSE:
LSE Student Blogs:
LSE Student Vlogs:
Top Tips!
"Get organised early in terms of accommodation. Rooms run out fast so book as early as you can. If you will not use student accommodation, there are other rented accommodations around London and you can start making inquiries early."
"If you are able to arrive early in London, please do so to give yourself time to settle in before the programme begins. It can be flustering, trying to settle when term time has already begun."
"Be open to new experiences, but keep a piece of home. For me, cooking a home dish every week made me feel less far from home."
"Finally, find your community, people with shared interests who you can get to explore London with or just do fun stuff. They will be your support system."
Millicent Makina, MPP Class of 2025
"London is an incredible and exciting city, but the weather can be very unpredictable. My advice is to always carry a raincoat in your bag, just in case."
"To make the most out of your time here, try to explore as much of the city as you can. There are so many free museums, beautiful parks, and cultural events happening all the time. Walk around different neighbourhoods, try food from all over the world, and take advantage of everything LSE and London have to offer, both academically and socially. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience!"
Joaquin Vergara Sommerhoff, MPA Class of 2026 (Luksic Scholar)
"Get a student oyster card as soon as possible – even if you want to take some time in deciding on whether you want to get a bus pass or a travel card, the waiting times for the card become a lot longer from mid-September onwards. Also investigate student accommodation: Sidney Webb halls and Goodenough College halls are great for postgraduate students."
Camelia Abdelgelil, MPA DSPP Class of 2025
"Get involved from day one. There are so many spaces beyond the classroom, such as social events and student societies, where you can learn, connect, and grow. Do not hesitate to ask for help or guidance. The SPP community, including students and alumni, is very supportive."
Giovana De La Cruz, MPA DSPP Class of 2025
SPP student and graduate profiles
