With momentum around the United Nation’s (UN) sustainable development goals and the rise of a collaborative effort to reduce or eliminate poverty in developing countries, never has there been a more exciting time to get involved with international development. Our course prepares you to make a positive impact on the world and offers the chance to gain two qualifications – a Master’s degree and PRINCE2® certification.

Whether your future lies in practical aid, emergency response, fundraising, research, education or policy development, this Master’s degree will build your knowledge and expertise in a range of development disciplines. It will give you a firm understanding of development theory in an international context, with a particular focus on how to bring theory into practice deriving solutions to issues or problems for developing nations. That’s one of many reasons why we attract students from countries around the world including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Brazil, Columbia and the Philippines. 

Experienced field practitioners working in international development organisations and NGOs contribute regularly to course content. You will learn from examples across the globe, studying real-life case studies, using official project materials and survey data from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other development agencies. You also have a unique opportunity to participate in a study visit to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, where you will hear from experts and discuss topics, such as international trade policy, migration and poverty reduction.

Throughout the course, we aim to build your management skills, for example, you’ll develop valuable project management techniques and have the option to gain formal PRINCE2® certification. Additionally, you can choose to develop your skills and knowledge further by embarking on a field-based work placement programme with an NGO during the holiday period. 

You’ll enhance your ability to critically evaluate the economic, political and social factors that affect the development policy environment on a national and international level, anything from the financial crisis and its repercussions to the impact of a global pandemic like COVID-19, for instance. We’ll also examine ways to appraise development interventions, increasing your technical and practical capability to put forward workable and sustainable solutions.

The course is designed to prepare you for a career in development management with an international organisation, a non-governmental body or a government development agency. Our graduates have gone on to work as NGO programme officers, trade advisors, project managers, microfinance specialists and development consultants. 

The course will particularly suit those seeking to work within NGOs and the international development community (including the World Bank, IMF, central and development banks, and government economic planning directorates), as self-employed development specialists, consultants or as a trade attaché in foreign diplomatic offices. Should you wish to complete the PRINCE2® project management qualification, this will also enable you to work with multinational corporations where, alongside good technical skills, an awareness of global development issues and challenges and the ability to think critically about the world are highly valued.

Graduates from this programme have worked as specialist advisers with top NGOs across the globe and as advisers with trade and economic departments in government offices. Others are currently working as development consultants, microfinance specialists and as advisors on UN-sponsored projects. Some have also set up their own development charities or proceeded to PhD research and teaching.

The University's Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.