Your MSc year at LSE

What is Welcome? Welcome is a programme of orientation activities and events that will help you get ready to study at LSE. The main Welcome period takes place on Friday 20 to Friday 27 September, but events happen either side of this too, so check out the below links to make sure you know what is going on.

• LSE Welcome Microsite - find out about events and activities taking place across LSE
• Departmental Welcome Webpages - find out about events and activities taking place in the Department of Media and Communications

The LSE academic year is separated into three terms: Autumn Term (AT), Winter Term (WT) and Spring Term (ST).

You can find term dates online.

• Welcome is the programme of activities and events that will welcome you to LSE before your studies begin. This period is sometimes called 'orientation' or 'induction' in other universities. Some Welcome activities and events are compulsory, such as online pre-enrolment, campus enrolment, your welcome presentation and departmental events. Other events are optional, such as getting to know LSE Service Divisions (like LSE Careers and the Library), so please do take time to browse what events will be of benefit to you during your time at LSE. Prioritise the events that are most relevant to your interests; whether you want information about living in London, joining clubs and societies, a head start on developing your study skills, or a mixture.
• Autumn Term (AT) consists of 11 weeks. During AT you will receive teaching and submit formative (non-assessed) assignments to your seminar leaders. Some courses also have summative (assessed) assignments during term, such as in-class presentations, so you will be completing these too. Towards the end of term, if you are a full-time student, or in your second year of part-time study, you will submit a dissertation topic outline so that we can allocate you to a dissertation supervisor to work with in WT and ST. Note that there is a Reading Week in Week 6, when no teaching or office hours take place, and you will have a chance to catch up on course readings, and read ahead for future teaching. It is important to remember that Reading Week is not a vacation, and you are expected to concentrate on your studies during this time.
• During the Winter Break, you will be writing summative (assessed) assignments for courses with submission deadlines at the beginning of WT. There is also a January Exam Period, which takes place in the week prior to WT, so you will need to prepare for exams if you have any. Note that the exam for MC4M1 (the main methods course for MSc students in the Department) takes place in the January Exam Period.
• Winter Term (WT) consists of 11 weeks. During WT you will receive teaching and submit formative (non-assessed) assignments to your seminar leaders. Some courses also have summative (assessed) assignments during term, such as in-class presentations, so you will be completing these too. You will also begin working on your dissertation with your dissertation supervisor during WT, and you will receive further information, advice and guidance on writing the dissertation, including a series of helpful milestones to help you keep on track. There is another Reading Week in Week 6, when no teaching or office hours take place, and you will have a chance to catch up on course readings, and read ahead for future teaching. It is important to remember that Reading Week is not a vacation, and you are expected to concentrate on your studies during this time.
• During the Spring Break, you will be writing summative (assessed) assignments for courses with submission deadlines at the beginning of ST. There is also a Spring Exam Period, which takes place from ST Week 2 onwards, so you will need to prepare for exams if you have any.
• Spring Term (ST) consists of 7 weeks, and there is no Reading Week in ST. There will be no teaching during ST, except some revision sessions for exams which take place during the Spring Exam Period (Week 2 onwards). During ST, full-time and 2nd year part-time students will mostly be focusing on planning and writing their dissertation and meeting with their supervisor.
• During the Summer Period, full-time and 2nd year part-time students will write their dissertation for submission in mid-August (the deadline is around two months after the last day of ST). During the summer period, students can book to see our Dissertation Officers, who will be available throughout the summer - these are doctoral researchers in the Department with a wealth of knowledge and experience on research and academic writing.
• Note: If you are a full-time MSc student, the summer period will still be considered term-time and visa-holders should bear this in mind, as it can have implications for you if you plan to engage in paid or unpaid work while you are a student. See the ISVAT website for details. Students are not required to remain in London during the summer period, but you must always be contactable via your LSE email during your time as a student.

Courses offered by the Department of Media and Communications are generally taught through the combination of a weekly one-hour or one-and-a-half lecture plus a weekly one- or one-and-half hour seminar (plus, computer classes and workshops for Methods courses). 

• Lectures will be delivered in person on campus, and different course convenors will organise the lecture slot in different ways. Lectures are recorded and uploaded to Moodle afterwards. Details for each course will be outlined on the course Moodle page.
• Seminars are smaller group sessions with between 15-18 students and a teacher, when you will work through questions and problems raised in the lectures and course readings. You are required to attend regularly and to participate in seminars, and your attendance is recorded. Seminars are normally taught in classrooms, or in groups of up to 30 students if held online, by faculty, LSE Fellows and Guest Teachers, with support from Graduate Teaching Assistants. MC499 Study Skills Workshops are taught by appropriately trained Graduate Teaching Assistants.
• Office Hours are scheduled weekly by teaching staff during term, and are held in person on campus. Students can make an office hour appointment (normally 15-20 minutes) to discuss specific issues raised by course readings, assessment and feedback, to ask general questions and explore ideas raised by their studies, or to discuss non-academic issues, such as wellbeing. Students can meet with an academic individually, or for a tutorial style meeting with a small group of students. Students may book an appointment with any academic, so don't be shy about booking to see an academic who you do not know well. Office hour appointments can be booked on Student Hub.

Each course you take will include two types of assessment: formative and summative.

• Formative assessment is submitted during the teaching of a course, and does not count towards your final mark. Formative assessment is set in order to support the learning process, to give you a sense of the areas where you are strongest and where you need more work, and to help you to prepare for summative assessment. You will receive a numerical mark and comments to help you develop analytical and writing skills in preparation for summative assessment.
• Summmative assessment evaluates your performance in each course and determines the final mark you will be awarded for the course (ie, Fail, Pass, Merit, Distinction). The marks awarded for summative assessment contribute to your final degree classification, and the marks for each course will appear on your transcript.

You can find lots of information, advice and guidance on our Assessment & Feedback webpage. You can also view specific assessment information for each course on our Course selection and videos page.