Academic and Professional Skills Development
2025/26
There are many opportunities for our students to gain practical skills and knowledge which promote academic and professional success at LSE and beyond.
LSE Opportunities
LSE Students' Union
LSE Students' Union (LSESU) is a not-for-profit organisation run by LSE students, for LSE students. They aim to help you make the most of all the life-changing experiences open to you during your time at university.
LSE Life
The place to discover and develop skills you’ll use as a student and beyond. LSE LIFE can support you while you write essays and assignments, prepare for exams, and conduct your research. LSE LIFE have a huge range of activities built around a series of topic areas, including writing, reading, referencing and being organised.
Digital Skills Lab
Develop the digital skills you need to achieve your personal, professional, and academic goals.
LSE Careers
Here to help you find a career you’ll enjoy and where you’ll thrive. Whether you’re still wondering what might be out there, have a vague idea of some options or already know precisely what you want, LSE Careers will give you the support you need to move forward.
LSE Volunteering
Here to help you find a volunteering placement at a charity or not-for-profit organisation during your time studying at LSE. LSE Volunteering can offer a range of volunteering opportunities for you to get involved in, whether you have one hour or two days a week to spare.
Research Opportunities
Get involved with research, from a one-off experiment to a student-led project.
Social Policy Opportunities - Undergraduate Students
Workshops and Networking Events
Social Policy Undergraduate students benefit from a series of bespoke workshops and networking events to support them with their academic studies and professional futures.
Academic skills workshops provide first-year studentswith study skills training (e.g. in notetaking, reading and writing) to support them at the start of their academic careers and help them get the most out of their courses and programme. These sessions are compulsory and timetabled under SP100.
Professional skills workshops introduce students in all years to the skills needed to support them in planning successfully for their future careers and thriving after they leave LSE.
Networking events provide students in all years with the opportunity to interact with our alumni and develop their knowledge of the variety of industries they work in. They include alumni panel events and an evening networking event.
The Social Policy Internship Fund Scheme currently provides first and second-year students with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience, learn new skills, enhance their employability, and develop their professional network. Funding (based on the London Living Wage) is currently provided for a limited number of internships within a UK-registered charity, public sector or small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) each year. This enables students to apply for funding for internships that would otherwise be unpaid. Internships must be for 140 hours and take place between June and September. Students source the internships themselves with support from LSE Careers.
The Alumni Mentoring Scheme currently gives second and third year students an opportunity to apply to be matched with a mentor to support them with the transition from university to the world of work/further education. Having a mentor allows students to: gain an insight into professional life; be supported to take charge of their futures; and learn from someone who has been in their shoes. Students can expect to have three forty-five-minute meetings with their mentor. Any contact beyond this is at the mentor’s discretion. Mentors are Social Policy alumni students working in a variety of professional areas. While we aim to match students to mentors as closely as possible, we are not always able to match students to mentors working in areas they aspire to work in.
The LSE Language Centre offers non-degree language courses during the academic year. The Department of Social Policy offer a limited number of part-funded bursaries to students in the Department who wish to study a language while at LSE. Please note that Language Centre courses do not form part of your degree programme.
- Further information on the non-degree language courses offered by the Language Centre can be found .
- The application for language bursaries for the 2024/25 academic year is now closed.
- Read our student testimonials.
- For any further queries about language bursaries, please contact: socialpolicy.ug@lse.ac.uk
Social Policy Opportunities - Postgraduate Students
Social Policy Masters’ students benefit from a focused Academic and Professional Skills Development course to support them with their academic studies and professional futures.
The first part of the course focusses on academic skills to prepare students for the year ahead and enable them to make the most out of their courses and programme.
The second part of the course focusses on professional skills to support students with the transition from university to work.
Additionally, there are career panel events that run throughout the course which are delivered by our alumni students working in a variety of social policy related careers.
The course is designed to complement the expectations of Social Policy students on their Programmes, and to help them articulate and develop their experience at LSE into useful resources for gaining employment and thriving beyond LSE. All Social Policy MSc students are strongly encouraged to take this course in addition to the credit bearing courses which make up their degree.
The LSE Language Centre offers non-degree language courses during the academic year. The Department of Social Policy offer a limited number of part-funded bursaries to students in the Department who wish to study a language while at LSE. Please note that Language Centre courses do not form part of your degree programme.
Further information on the non-degree language courses offered by the Language Centre can be found .
- The application for language bursaries for the 2024/25 academic year is now closed.
- Read our student testimonials
- For any further queries about language bursaries, please contact: socialpolicy.msc@lse.ac.uk
The Department can help with the cost of attending events such as workshops or conferences, or with the cost of research-related activities such as travel or participant interview expenses. Read more here.
- Read our student testimonials.
Social Policy Opportunities - PhD Students
The LSE Language Centre offers non-degree language courses during the academic year. The Department of Social Policy offer a limited number of part-funded bursaries to students in the Department who wish to study a language while at LSE. Please note that Language Centre courses do not form part of your degree programme.
- Further information on the non-degree language courses offered by the Language Centre can be found here.
- The application for language bursaries for the 2024/25 academic year is now closed.
- Read our student testimonials
- For any further queries about language bursaries, please contact: socialpolicy.phd@lse.ac.uk