Undergraduate Offer Holder FAQs

If you have not been receiving our post-offer emails, please contact the Undergraduate Programme Support team at socialpolicy.ug@lse.ac.uk , who will be more than happy to help!

We will be adding the post-offer emails that have already been sent out for your reference below.

BSc International Social and Public Policy

• Congratulations on your offer
• Welcome from your Programme Director
• My Department and My Community

BSc International Social and Public Policy with Economics

• Congratulations on your offer
• Welcome from your Programme Director
• My Department and My Community

BSc International Social and Public Policy with Politics

• Congratulations on your offer
• Welcome from your Programme Director
• My Department and My Community

The Programme regulations for your degree can be found via what is known as the ‘LSE Calendar’, which is a webpage which contains all the various degree regulations for each programme which runs within the School. Programme Regulations will show you what each year of your study will look like, for example, which core (compulsory) courses you will take and which optional courses you may choose from. Below are the links to the programme regulations for the 2024/25 academic year.

BSc International Social and Public Policy

BSc International Social and Public Policy and Economics

BSc International Social and Public Policy with Politics

Preliminary reading over the summer is not essential, and reading lists for your courses will only be confirmed on your arrival in September. When you arrive, you will have access not only to the but also to the vast number of electronic texts available to you through your LSE registration. For this reason, we discourage you from purchasing texts which will later become freely available to you once you have registered. However, we appreciate that some of you may wish to gain further insight into social policy and, therefore, may be interested in some of the Department podcasts. You will receive guidance on how to approach readings as a university student once you arrive and start your learning as part of the Academic and Professional Skills programme, linked to your SP100 core course. Additional advice on reading for your course can be accessed via LSE LIFE– the School’s place to discover and develop skills you’ll use as a student and beyond.

As a first-year undergraduate student in the Social Policy Department, you will have no optional courses to choose from for your first year of study and all of your courses are compulsory.

However, you still need to go into the course selection system (LSE for You) and confirm your ‘diet’ of courses.

The range of choice you have in your course selection increases as you progress to years 2 and 3 of your degree.

You will be able to start confirming your courses in September 2024.

You will find more information here.

For each course, you will usually undertake both formative and summative work. Formative (non-assessed) work is designed to help you prepare for your summative (assessed) work. You can see it as a ‘practice run’ for your summative assessment, on which you will get feedback to help you produce your best summative work.

Your summative assessments for each course count towards your final degree. Some examples of different types of summative assessment include: a 'take home' (online) assessment, essay, presentation, group assessments, quiz or a combination of different assessment methods. You can find information about how courses are assessed on the course guides, which are available through the School calendar and also the programme regulations.

Formative and summative work will take place throughout the academic year, and further details about your assessments will be shared with you by your Course Convenors and Programme Support Team via Moodle (LSE’s virtual learning environment).

Social Policy runs 'take-home' (online) assessments taking place in the Spring Term, which is also when the School runs most of its centrally-organised exams. If you are taking courses outside of the Department, you may be sitting centrally-organised exams, which take place as hand-written exams in an exam hall setting. This is different from the 'take-home' assessments run by the Social Policy Department, which take place as virtual, remote assessments.

The Spring term exam timetable is published midway through the Winter Term each year. If you are taking courses outside of the Department, we would recommend consulting the course guide as to when assessments will take place for those courses. Some courses, for example, Economics courses, will have exams both in the January and the Summer exam periods.

You can find out more about School assessments here.

You will be taught by faculty and researchers who are at the forefront of their fields. You can find out more about all the staff in the Department at

You can find the School’s term dates here.

Lectures and classes are scheduled on weekdays, and there are no classes at weekends. Lectures and class timetables are available here, so you will be able to see what days and times courses are timetabled for.

Once you are enrolled as an LSE student and enrolled on classes, you will also receive a more detailed, personal timetable to help you plan your week.

You will be allocated to your class group by our central Timetables Team. You should expect to remain in the class groups to which you are allocated unless you have particularly exceptional circumstances such as recurring medical appointments, caring arrangements, or religious commitments. Under such circumstances, you may be able to apply to change class group.

Class group changes are not guaranteed and are subject to constraints such as class size. Whilst we do our best to accommodate those who have exceptional circumstances for a request, this may not always be possible. You are expected to organise other commitments, such as work commitments and extra-curricular activities, at times that do not clash with your timetable.

Yes, certainly.

Not only do you get the opportunity to work in smaller groups during classes and on some group-based assessments (e.g. poster presentations), but we also assign small groups of students to the same Academic Mentor. This means you will be in a small group as soon as you arrive, and this will become your Academic Mentor Group. You will learn more about Academic Mentor Groups and how you can get the most out of this system during Welcome.

The Department will allocate your Academic Mentor (also usually your dissertation supervisor) at the start of the Autumn term. Due to resourcing considerations across the whole Department, it is not possible for students to request a specific mentor or to be assigned to areas of research interest. It’s important to note, however, that you are not restricted to meeting only with your Academic mentor, and you will still be able to meet with members of faculty even if they have not been allocated to you as your Academic mentor. In fact, in relation to subjects of specialism, we would encourage you to speak with any member of staff in the Department (and the whole School for that matter) via the faculty's Advice and Feedback Hours.

Your Academic Mentor is there to guide and assist you in your learning and development and is also available to help you with any personal difficulties you may experience. You should make arrangements to meet with them at least twice each term (or more frequently if you are experiencing difficulties). We will give you more information about this at your Welcome Induction!

Social Policy is a very multidisciplinary subject and therefore, no matter which degree programme you enrol in, you will receive an education that is broad and encompasses aspects of a number of different disciplines and subject areas (including- but not limited to Economics, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology).

On the single honours, ISPP programme, in your first year of study, you will take four compulsory Social Policy courses. These will include a foundational course on understanding international social and public policy, an introduction to research, a course on social economics and finally, a course introducing you to policy-making.

On the joint programme with Economics, you do not have any optional courses in the first year of study. You will take courses in economics and quantitative methods (mathematics) and quantitative methods (statistics) alongside your core Social Policy courses.

On the joint programme with Politics, you do not have any optional courses in the first year of study. You take introductory political science and political theory courses alongside your core Social Policy courses.

As you progress through each year of the degree programme, you will have some option courses available on each programme, so there is an element of choice and ability to shape your degree programme according to your interests.

You can find further details of each of the programmes via the LSE Calendar here.

The School offers some opportunities for students to study abroad during their time here. You can find out more about this by visiting .

As a department, we're very happy to support students who are interested in taking part in these opportunities.

Absolutely! One of the best aspects of your Social Policy degree is its interdisciplinary nature, which means it lends itself to a wide variety of career paths. Previous undergraduate career destinations range from work within NGOs and charities, the public sector and government, as well as the private sector, such as accounting. Getting involved with our Social Policy alumni via Career talks will give you a great idea of some of the many fields our students go into.

The Disability and Wellbeing Service supports students with disabilities and long-term medical conditions. We recommend you contact them before you start your studies at LSE, or as soon as possible afterwards, so they can work with you to put in place appropriate support for you at the very start of the academic year.

You can watch videos of past LSE students talking about their experiences here

Your health and wellbeing are extremely important to us, and the School has lots of support available to students during your time here. Take a look here,where you will find a wealth of resources, including, but not limited to:

• Student Counselling Service
• Health Care in the UK
• Peer Support (student-to-student support for you)
• Safe Contacts
• External sources of support

University life will, inevitably, have its ups and downs. Whatever comes your way, there is support available, and you’ve got this.

Both your Programme Support Team and the within the Department are here to offer pastoral support throughout your studies.

• The Programme Support Team are available for you to come and see at any time and also offer bespoke bookable appointments so you can discuss any concerns and ask them any questions on a 1:1 basis.
• All Department of Social Policy students can book student and community Wellbeing support appointments with Clare Gorman, the Department's Student Community and Wellbeing Manager.
• Your Academic Mentoris available as a key source of support to you. You will be allocated an Academic Mentor in Week 1 of the Autumn Term. Your Academic Mentor will also usually be your dissertation supervisor. Take a look here for some of how the Academic Mentor relationship can help support you. You can also find more information on your Academic Mentor in the ‘My Education’ section above.
• The Departmental Tutor is also a source of support. They are responsible for monitoring the academic and pastoral care provided by members of the Department and for providing pastoral support and general welfare guidance to students, including communication between the School and any student encountering academic, health or wellbeing difficulties.

There are many opportunities for our students to gain practical skills and knowledge which promote academic and professional success at LSE and beyond.
Find out more here.

There are also a number of opportunities for Social Policy students to get involved with the Department and its activities. Find out more here.

We do hope that you will get involved in some of the opportunities which enrich the Department and also give you some great experiences, and experience for your future!

Take a look at some of the developments which our students have helped to shape in the Department within the last couple of years.

Yes! The Social Policy Department partners with LSE Careers to offer an Internship Fund Scheme to first and second-year students. This gives you the opportunity to gain valuable work experience, learn new skills, enhance your employability, and develop your professional network. It also offers you the chance to apply for funding for internships that would otherwise be unpaid.

Further information on the scheme and application process is sent to students in the Winter Term of their first and second year of study, and the internships run over the Summer months. You can find out more here.

The Department and School prides itself on research-led teaching, and as such, there are research opportunities built into the very fabric of your Social Policy degree programme itself.

In your first year, you will undertake a course teaching you the foundations of Social Policy research (SP101). Then in your second year of study, you will develop your knowledge and research skills with the Research Methods core course (SP201), which will teach you skills such as how to use STATA (for data analysis programming) and which culminates in you designing and producing an in-depth research project by the end of the course.

Outside of your studies, the Department and School also offers students opportunities to get involved with research, for example, with our ‘Meet the Researcher’ first year activity, which you will learn more about in your first few weeks of the programme as well as the School’s Change Makers projects, which offer a great opportunity to undertake a research project and boost your research skills whilst also finding our more about LSE and its community!

Find out more about School opportunities to get involved with research here

Yes! As well as the internship fund which we offer to first and second year students (as part of a scheme we run with LSE Careers), we also offer several other opportunities as part of our Academic and Professional Skills Development Programme, such as workshops, networking events and an alumni mentoring scheme. You can find out more here.

Apart from the opportunities listed above under ‘My Skills and Opportunities’, some of which are great ways to get involved with your Department and School community, here are some more ideas:

• The LSE Students’ Union (LSESU) offers many opportunities to get involved with the wider student community. For example, there are a variety of different societies you can join – from sports societies through to cultural interest societies or charity, faith or campaigning and many more besides. Don’t forget to also join our Social Policy Society!
• LSE’s volunteer centre (part of LSE Careers) advertises a whole host of different regular volunteering opportunities you can get involved with during your time at LSE, within charities and not-for-profit organisations based in London and overseas. As Social Policy students, we know you are passionate about the issues affecting the world we live in and our global community, and these could be great opportunities for you, not only to connect with your community but also to gain some valuable life skills along the way!
• Change Makers offers a great opportunity to undertake a research project and boost your research skills whilst also finding out more about LSE and its community.
• Find out more about campus life and student activities

Our Department and School community aims to be inclusive and to celebrate its diversity. You can find more information about equity, diversity and inclusion at LSE here

As a community, we work together to make sure all students are valued, respected and safe and will not stand for bullying, harassment or intolerance in our community. The ‘Making a Choice’ webpage gives lots of information and sources of support on EDI within LSE, including EDI champions, safe contacts and sources of support, reporting tools and much more.

The Department of Social Policy is a global community. Have a look at this map of where our Social Policy community comes from.

Visit the LSE Student Accommodation pages for more information on accommodation.

You can keep up to date with Department news by following our webpage here.

Make sure you also follow us on Social Media via X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

You can find lots of useful information about what life will be like in your new home here, via LSE’s Welcome microsite.

Take a look at this webpage, which gives lots of useful information on living in London, including a range of student blogs on life in London, tips on budgeting and more!

Here are some other websites you may also be interested in looking at to help you settle in and start to orient yourself:

• Time Out London– a guide to London’s best events and main attractions
• TFL – transport for London– a helpful tool for navigating your way around the city
• Visit London– a guide to London’s attractions
• London: student city guide– a guide for students
• Save the Student– top tips for being a student in London