Formative assessment helps you to learn and understand the relevant material, as well as develop your analytical and writing skills. Formative assessment does not count towards your overall degree classification but is designed to prepare you for the summative (assessed) work that you will complete later in the course. The feedback you receive from your formative work will help prepare you for your summative work.
Summative assessment tests whether you have acquired the desired learning outcomes of a course. This is achieved through a variety of methods including examinations, presentations, essays, coursework and dissertations. Summative assessment counts towards your overall degree classification. Individual courses may be assessed by one piece of Summative work or by a combination of different types of summative work.
Once you begin classes, you may be asked to make presentations. Students are asked either to produce an essay or a short outline of their presentation (depending on the course) for circulation to classmates. Presentation notes should be circulated by posting to Moodle seminar forums, unless otherwise instructed by the Course Academic.
Course by course exam timetables will be available online on the LSE Assessments and Exams page. For January exams the timetable is usually available towards the end of Autumn term; for summer exams it is usually available in Winter Term; and for students taking in-year resit and deferral exams, it is usually available in late July. Closer to each exam season, you will also be given access to a personal exam timetable with your room and seat numbers in LSE for You.
Anybody taking exams at LSE must read the Exam Procedures for Candidates. It contains all the information that you need to know and is updated each year. The document is less than ten pages and covers topics ranging from candidate numbers to permitted materials to what to do if things go wrong. You can download your copy from assessments and exams page.
To help you prepare effectively for your examinations you should make yourself fully aware of the format and syllabus to be covered in the examinations. Specimen papers and guidelines to any changes are provided where appropriate, and permitted materials specified early in the year. Past papers can be found at Past Exam Papers (access restricted to LSE network only).
Students who have failed an exam cannot retake the exam until the following year. Students cannot re-sit any exam that they have already passed.
Consultancy Projects (MSc)
The Consultancy Projects enable MSc students to gain practical experience of dealing with current policy issues and best practice in the fields of humanitarian assistance or international development by working on a live consultancy team project for a real client. The consultancies are based around an experiential learning format. Students receive guidance through a structured supervision process and work on the consultancy report in Autumn Term and Winter Terms with support from a staff coach. The projects are assessed through a group project and report (80%), a reflective learning report (10%) and a group presentation (10%) in Winter Term.
Please see the DV453 course guide for more information about the International Development Consultancy Project. For DV431 there is an evening session near the start of the academic year that provides more information about the Consultancy Project.
The DV410 dissertation is a major component of the MSc in Development Management, MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Health and International Development and MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies programmes, and an important part of the learning and development process involved in postgraduate education. The objective of DV410 is to provide students with an overview of the resources available to them to research and write a 10,000 dissertation that is topical, original, scholarly, and substantial. DV410 will provide curated dissertation pathways through LSE LIFE and Methods courses, information sessions, ID-specific disciplinary teaching, topical seminars and dissertation workshops in the Spring Term. With this in mind, students will be able to design their own training pathway and set their own learning objectives in relation to their specific needs for their dissertation. From the Autumn Term (AT) through to Spring Term (ST), students will discuss and develop their ideas in consultation with their mentor or other members of the ID department staff and have access to a range of learning resources (via DV410 Moodle page) to support and develop their individual projects from within the department and across the LSE.
The DV410 Moodle page is where you can find information about the dissertation and where you will, eventually, submit your final 10,000-word dissertation, which will be assessed and is worth 70% of your final full unit dissertation mark.
All students in the MSc in Economic Policy for International Development are required to complete the DV495 dissertation. The DV495 dissertation comprises 1.0 unit of the Master’s degree, and provides an opportunity for students to develop a quantitative empirical piece on a topic of their choosing
A research proposal on the subject of study for your PhD must be submitted in Year 1 (MRes) of the programme. The deadline for the DV510 proposal falls in August. You will receive written feedback on your DV510 proposal by the beginning of the first term of your second year. You will also be told whether your DV510 mark is sufficient for the upgrade from MRes to PhD. If for any reason your mark falls short of 65, you will be given an opportunity to revise your proposal. This won’t change your original mark, but if your resubmitted proposal is later accepted (and you have met the rest of the upgrade conditions) then you will be cleared to progress to the PhD stage. The amount of time allowed for revisions will be set by the markers and the doctoral programme director but will not be more than three months. Being asked to revise the DV510 proposal will not be considered as grounds for an extension to your thesis submission deadline later on.
Referencing
The International Development Department recommends that students use Chicago or Harvard style for all assessed work. This style minimises the number of words used in the text to indicate the source (thus reducing the impact on the word limit) and dictates that the full source be given in the bibliography. You may use any style you wish but remember that all words in the footnotes count towards your word limit.
Students should not only take care in their referencing to avoid any potential accusations of plagiarism but should also be aware that they should avoid simply stringing quotations from literature together. In all cases, students will be assessed on the basis of the ideas, interpretations and analyses – the value added – expressed in their written work.
If you are unsure about the academic referencing conventions used by the School you should seek guidance from your department, Academic Mentor, LSE LIFE or the Library.
Plagiarism
The work you submit for assessment must be your own and all source material must be correctly referenced. Plagiarism is not just submitting work with the intention to cheat. Plagiarism could occur simply as a result of failing to correctly reference the sources you have used. If you are found to have committed an assessment offence (such as plagiarism or exam misconduct) you could be expelled from the School.
Any quotation from the published or unpublished works of other persons, including other candidates, must be clearly identified as such. Quotes must be placed inside quotation marks and a full reference to sources must be provided in proper form. A series of short quotations for several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. All paraphrased material must also be clearly and properly acknowledged.
Any written work you produce (for classes, seminars, exams, dissertations, essays and computer programmes) must solely be your own. You must not employ a "ghost writer" to write parts or all of the work, whether in draft or as a final version, on your behalf. For further information and the School’s statement on Editorial Help visit lse.ac.uk/calendar. Any breach of the Statement will be treated in the same way as plagiarism.
You should also be aware that a piece of work may only be submitted for assessment once (either to LSE or elsewhere). Submitting the same piece of work twice (regardless of which institution you submit it to) will be regarded as the offence of "self-plagiarism" and will also be treated in the same way as plagiarism. If you are unsure about the academic referencing conventions used by the School, seek guidance from your department, Academic Mentor, LSE LIFE or the Library as soon as possible.
The full Regulations on Assessment Offences: Plagiarism can be found on the LSE calendar.
Research Ethics
The Research Ethics Policy aims to promote a culture within the School whereby researchers conscientiously reflect on the ethical implications of their research.
Researchers in the social sciences have responsibilities - in the first instance to the people from whom the researcher is gathering data (the research participants), but also to society at large; to those who fund their research; to the institutions that employ them or at which they study; to their colleagues and the wider academic and research community; and also for their own safety and wellbeing. Reconciling those responsibilities can be difficult and may entail ethical judgement.
The International Development Department does not mark "on a curve" (i.e. each year a certain percentage of Distinctions, Merits, etc.). All work is marked strictly on its individual academic merit. Generally, you may expect to have formative coursework returned to you with comments within three term weeks. This period may be longer on very popular courses. If you do not receive your work back within this period, please check on the Moodle site of the course for further information, and then check with the administrative team or the Course Leader.
Feedback on summative coursework will normally also be within five term weeks of submission. Feedback on January exams will normally be provided within six term weeks of the end of the exam period. Feedback on Summer exams will normally be provided within four term weeks of the following Autumn term. Dissertation: You will receive feedback for your dissertation, and it will normally be provided within four term weeks of the final mark being made available to students.
Please see the full Marking Standards Guide on the International Development Moodle site (in the section called ‘ID Assessment Information’) for what is expected of you at each level.
The International Development Department is committed to providing students with appropriate levels of feedback. In addition to feedback that students receive on written work (formative and summative), students may, in some circumstances, also receive feedback on participation and other class activities. Students are encouraged to seek feedback from their lecturers and class teachers. Engaging with feedback is an essential part of taking independent control of your learning process.
Work that is submitted after the stated deadline will incur penalties of 5 marks deducted per 24-hour period, or part thereof. This applies to both essays and dissertations and applies to the time deadline, not just the date. After five working days, coursework will only be accepted with the permission of the Sub-Board of Examiners.
Assessed coursework that exceeds the stated word limit will lose one mark for every 100 words or part thereof.
For MRes students, 10,000 word research proposals have a fixed maximum leeway of one per cent (ie, 100 words, so a total wordcount of 10,100 words). Beyond that they - they will lose marks as per above.
Speak to your mentor or supervisor
If you have a difficulty that affects your studies or ability to meet a deadline, whether academic, personalor health-related, your first point of contact should be your Academic Mentor (for MSc students) or your Supervisor(for MRes/PhD students). Your mentor or supervisor will have been assigned to you at the beginning of your studies. Find out more about LSE's Academic Mentoring here.
Most staff use the electronic ‘Office Hours’ system which allows students to book and cancel appointments with individual academic staff on Student Hub. If you are unable to find the availability of a particular academic listed on Student Hub, pleasemake contact withthem via email.
Fit to Sit
By submittingyour assessment regardless of whether it is coursework, participation in a class presentation or sitting an exam, LSE considers that you have declared yourself fit enough to do so. If you have experienced disruption to your studies (illness, injuryor personal difficulties for example) you must think carefully about whether you should attemptthe assessment or whether you should consider requesting an extension or deferring the assessment.Requests for an extension or deferral must be made in advance of the assessment deadline.
Deferrals, Extensions and Exceptional Circumstances
If you have difficulties in the lead up to, or during, the assessment or exam then you can seek to defer the assessment or exam. You will need permission from the Chair of your Sub-Board of Examiners to do this. For more information visit LSE's Deferral page.
If you have difficulties in the lead up to an assessment deadline but think you may be able to successfully submitif you had extra time, youcan seek an extension request. You must make this request before the deadline has taken place and you will need permission from the Chair of your Sub-Board of Examiners to do this. For more information visit the ID Departments extension application.
Extensions are only granted for medical reasons (a doctor’s certificate will be required as supporting evidence), a traumatic event in the family or certain work-related issues. Any supporting evidence submittedmust either be in English or accompanied by a translation which corroborates it and is done by a valid organisation, e.g.British Council, Embassy, LSE Language Centre, etc. The Extension Request form is available to download from the International Development Moodle site. You must submitthe form, fully completed, along with the evidence, to the relevant course administrator before the due date. Extensions must be confirmed in writingto the student in order to be valid.
You can submitan Exceptional Circumstances Form and corroborating evidence to the Student Services Centre if there are any circumstances which may have affected your performance. These could include (but are not limited to): missing an assessment which you did not defer, or submitting an assessment late and incurring penalties; experiencing difficulties which could have affected your academic performance in an exam or coursework; adjustments such as IEAs, Inclusion Plans or deadline extensions being insufficient to compensate for the impact of your circumstances.
The deadline to submit ECs is seven days after your final assessment in the academic year. Submitting an Exceptional Circumstances Form is the only way for you to alert the Sub-Board of Examiners to the circumstances under which you completed the assessment or exam. For more information visit LSE's page on Exceptional Circumstances.
Appeals must be submittedusing the Appeal Submission Form in the section below. It should be completed in full, and together with any relevant supporting information (such as a medical certificate/doctor's letter), be submittedto ssc.appeals@lse.ac.uk. Appeals that are not submittedusing the standard form will not be accepted.
You must submityour appeal by 11.59pm (23.59, UK time) on the relevant deadline listed. Appeals submittedafter this strict deadline will not be accepted under any circumstances.
Please clearly and concisely set out all of the information using the appeal form.
Challenging the academic judgement of individual examiners or the Examination Boards cannot form the basis of any appeal.
You cannot appeal against provisional marks - this means that it is not possible to appeal against January exam results until your final marks of the year are released.
Mode of Study
If you are studying a master’s programme, and your circumstances change, meaning that you need to adjust your study from full-time to part-time, you will need to seek authorisation from your academic department. Changing from full-time to part-time study is generally acceptable, and your course selection will be amended according to programme regulations. Your fees will also be amended. Changing from part-time to full-time may not always be possible and requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. It is not normally possible to study an undergraduate programme on a part-time basis. For more information visit the Change Mode of study page.
Withdrawal means that you are leaving your programme permanently. Before withdrawing you may want to consider interruption so that you have some time to consider your options. For more information visit LSE's page on the withdrawal process.
Academic mentor and faculty office hours
At the beginning of the year, you will be assigned an Academic Mentor, who will be your key point of contact in the Department. You will be able to meet with them regularly throughout term time, and they will keep an overview of your academic progress and overall wellbeing during your time at the School.
All academic faculty, including your course conveners, seminar leaders/class teachers and post-graduate Programme Director hold Office Hours, and we operate an open door policy as a department.
You can book office hours with any faculty member using Student Hub.
Reading List
Each course has its own detailed reading list, which is accessed via the School's virtual learning environment (VLE) called Moodle.
The readings will normally be divided into a short section listing ‘essential’, ‘required’ or ‘recommended’ readings and longer ‘general’ or ‘further’ readings. The essential readings are meant to identify keys readings for that week’s class discussions and will be online readings. These can be accessed both on the LSE campus and remotely.
The further readings are meant to provide a wider range of readings that you can draw on in making class presentations, writing essays, and taking part in other activities set by your class teacher. You are free to choose from these readings as you judge appropriate for the topic at hand, as well as seek advice from your class teachers and/or academic advisor on which of the further readings may be of relevance to the ideas and arguments you wish to develop.
LSE Calendar
The LSE calendar is the place to check for programme regulations detailing the structure of programme and which courses you are permitted to take. It also provides course guides for every course at LSE, including student feedback.
You can also use the LSE calendar for more information on assessment and programme regulations, general academic regulations, appeals and plagiarism guidelines.
Moodle
Moodle is LSE’s virtual learning environment where key materials and information for courses are kept and key Programme and Department announcements are communicated to students. There is a Moodle page for all students in International Development, specific pages for each MSc Programme and a specific Moodle page for the MRes/PhD ID programme.
The majority of taught courses have a corresponding course on Moodle, the online learning platform used at LSE. Moodle courses contain essential resources such as lecture slides, lecture recordings and reading lists. Moodle also enables activities such as quizzes and discussion forums and allows for online assignment submission, marking and feedback. How Moodle is used is determined by the course convenor and so this may vary from course to course. LSE also provides a Moodle Archive service which provides teachers and students with a snapshot of previous year’s courses.
Student Hub is LSE’s app, designed to help you navigate your day-to-day life at LSE. With the Student Hub, you can:
View your timetable and upcoming deadlines
Find your way around with the campus map
Follow your department, LSE events, Careers the Students’ Union and more to keep up to date with news and events from around LSE
Book appointments with academic staff (office hours) or support services
Create or join groups with friends and coursemates to carry on the conversation outside of class.
Download the app to help you organise your time, connect with course mates and discover everything that LSE has to offer. Available on iOS and Android app stores or as a web app. You can find more information here and log in or register here.
LSE Language Centre
LN995 Academic Writing programme is an optional course for students of International Development. Further information can be accessed via the Language Centre website.
The courses offer weekly, ongoing and tailored English Language support.
The courses are primarily aimed at international students, but native speakers are welcome to join too.
The courses run from weeks 1-5 and from weeks 7-11 in both Autumn Term & Winter Term.
