MSc Poverty and Development: The University of Manchester

Course description

The current impoverishment of more than 1.4 billion people presents the world with its single greatest moral challenge. Although progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals has been impressive in some parts of the world, they are unlikely to be met by 2015 across large swathes of sub-Saharan Africa - and even if they were, large numbers of people would remain trapped in chronic poverty, not least by the unequal sets of power relations that operate from local to global levels. The recent global financial crisis is likely to make things harder, leading rich countries to slash their aid budgets, reducing levels of foreign investment in poor countries and creating new forms of poverty in the global North and South. The challenge of understanding and tackling the problem of poverty is therefore an urgent one.

BWPI runs a joint taught Masters level programme with the Institute for Development Policy and Management within the School of Environment and Development.

The new, multidisciplinary MSc in Poverty and Development at IDPM is designed to help participants engage with this challenge in a critical and constructive way, by offering high-level academic training in a vibrant and stimulating environment. The Institute for Development Policy and Management and the University of Manchester are committed to becoming world leaders in poverty research and poverty studies. They currently host three international research institutes and centres which produce cutting-edge insights into poverty and strategies for its eradication.

Career opportunities

IDPM has a large and diverse postgraduate population, including a large number of students from outside the UK (85% of their students are drawn from outside the UK, particularly from Africa, Asia and Western Europe, but also reaching out to Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific). Many of their alumni have gone on to prestigious careers in the public service or in the NGO/charitable and private sectors, as policy officers, managers, consultants or development practitioners - while others have pursued further academic study leading to a PhD and academic careers. Since its foundation, IDPM has trained over 7000 individuals from 170 different countries.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview:

Applicants should have a good first degree (minimum 2:1 or equivalent).

Admission of candidates who do not meet this criterion may be approved if satisfactory evidence of postgraduate study, research or professional experience can be provided.

English language:

Applicants whose first language is not English should meet the following language requirements:

• an IELTS Test score of 7.0 or more overall with a minimum writing score of 7
• or a TOEFL Test (Paper-based) score of 600 or more with a minimum score in Test of Written English of 5
• or a TOEFL Test (Computer-based) score of 250 or more with a minimum essay rating of 5
• or a TOEFL Test (Internet based) score of 100 or more with a minimum writing score of 25
• an NCUK PMP EAP Grade A

Applicants whose language of academic instruction for at least 1 year has been English may be exempted from this requirement, at the discretion of the Institute.