Your programme of study - Taught Masters

Approved by the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.
Last updated: July 2013

Further details relating to each of the following areas, including procedural instructions, can be found on the Student Services Centre website

Registration

Registration means that you are a member of the School and entitled to use the School facilities. It is your responsibility to ensure that you register fully for your programme of study.

Taught Master's Students

Each student is registered on a taught programme leading to a qualification (e.g. MSc in Economics). You must normally complete all programme requirements within, and attend the School for, the timeframe set out in your programme regulations (see the on-line School Calendar) or offer of admission.

New Students

Registration takes place in a designated location throughout the week preceding the start of the Michaelmas term, except for students taking pre-sessional courses in September. If for unavoidable reasons you are unable to register prior to the start of Term, late registration takes place in the Student Services Centre. Students will not normally be allowed to register after the last working day of October, largely because they will have missed a significant part of their programme of study. The record of any student who has not registered by this deadline will be closed.

Continuing Students

All students wishing to continue their studies from a previous academic session must re-register. Re-registration in the next year of study is dependent upon satisfying the progression rules (as outlined in your degree regulations) in the preceding year. If you have been given permission to interrupt your registration, you will normally be required to return within a year and be expected to sit examinations at the next possible opportunity.

LSE Card and Email Account

All registered students will be issued with an LSE Card. This card serves as your student identity card and your library card and should be kept in a safe place. A fee is charged to replace a lost or stolen card.

Please note that your LSE email will be used for a variety of essential communications, including information on payment of your tuition fees. You should access and manage your LSE email account on a regular basis, as it will be assumed that you have opened and acted upon these communications.

Conditions of Study

Your signature on the form by which you accept a place at the School binds you to abide by all applicable School regulations, procedures, codes and policies as set out in the on-line School Calendar. Please read carefully the various regulations and, in particular, the Code of Good Practice for Taught Masters Programmes: Teaching, Learning and Assessment which sets out the responsibilities of students.

You are strongly advised to consult a member of the Student Services Centre staff on matters connected with School regulations. If you are in any doubt about any information provided orally, you should ask for it to be confirmed in writing (particularly if relating to your tuition fees). It remains your sole responsibility to pass on information about your personal circumstances directly to the Student Services Centre.

Interruption of Studies

Interruption allows students to take an authorised break in their studies, normally from the end of one term, for one calendar year. If you interrupt your registration it means that you intend to continue with the same programme once you return to study. Requests to interrupt are usually only authorised on submission of exceptional (mitigating) circumstances, and you should discuss alternative options with your academic adviser before making the decision to interrupt your studies.

Withdrawal from the School

In very exceptional circumstances you may decide that you want to withdraw from your studies completely. Before you make a final decision to withdraw you should discuss your position with your academic adviser or the Dean of Graduate Studies. If you decide not to continue with your programme and wish to leave in mid-session, you need to inform the Student Services Centre in writing. Although you do not have a right to a refund of any fees paid, the School will consider requests for tuition refunds on the basis of a 30-week year in respect of periods after the official termination of registration. Please note that you will be liable for fees up to and including the week the Student Services Centre receives written notification of your withdrawal.

Duration of Contract and Discipline

The contract between you and the School ends on the date of the main examination board for your degree programme, unless you formally withdraw from the School before taking your final examinations. You remain subject to the School's regulations until the end of the contract, but you are not expected to remain in attendance after term ends. If you have disciplinary proceedings pending after the end of the contract, the School reserves the right to withhold any award until the conclusion of the proceedings.

Studying Abroad

If you need to study abroad as part of your programme of study, you should take out appropriate personal insurance. The School's insurance does not cover you while you are studying abroad.

Copyright

Copyright in lectures is vested in the lecturers. Notes taken at lectures may be used only for the purposes of private study. Lectures may not be recorded without the lecturer's permission. Any recording permitted is subject to the conditions (if any) imposed by the lecturer and may not be used for anything except the student's private study.

Financial Matters

You must complete a Financial Undertaking Form before registration, and pay fees either in full before the beginning of the session concerned or, by agreement of the School, in instalments as per published instructions.

Fees

The fees for each academic session appear on the School's website at: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/students/moneyMatters/tableOfFees/. Fees cover registration, teaching, first entry to examinations, the use of the Library and membership of the Students' Union. If you register for a course lasting more than a year, or you interrupt your studies and return to complete them later, the fees charged for subsequent years will be at the rate applicable for the academic year in question and not at the rate for the academic year in which you first registered.

Your status as a Home/EU or Overseas student for fee purposes is determined by the Graduate Admissions Office on the basis of information that you have provided. This status cannot normally be changed after you have registered.

As well as the likelihood of taking action through the Courts, the School may impose relevant penalties for any outstanding debt that you fail to clear by any specified deadlines. For example, the School will normally withhold your academic transcript and/or certificate if you fail to pay your academic fees.

Financial Support

The Financial Support Office administers a variety of scholarships and award schemes for incoming students. It also administers student hardship funds for currently registered students. The eligibility requirements and value of financial support differ according to each scholarship, award and/or fund. If you do not secure sufficient funds to register, you are strongly advised to consider the possibility of deferring entry to a subsequent academic session. Unfortunately, the School will not be able to offer hardship assistance to students who knowingly register under-funded.

For information on sources of financial support you should visit the websites of both the Financial Support Office and Students' Union.

Guidance Statement to Students about Working Part-time

The School is aware that many students face varying degrees of financial pressures which make it necessary for them to undertake part-time work while studying full-time. The School is also of the view that students must devote enough time to the academic demands of their programme. Students are expected to produce regular coursework and prepare for classes/seminars, as well as studying for examinations. Each student is responsible for setting her/his own balance between part-time employment and academic coursework. Recent research suggests that an excessive amount of part-time work can have a detrimental effect on academic performance. Therefore, the School recommends that full-time students work no more than 20 hours per week during term time, and, if at all possible, fewer than 15 hours. The School's examination boards will not normally consider as mitigating circumstances the negative impact that part-time work may have had on a student's performance in examinations or assessed coursework.

Additional notes:

If you are studying at the LSE on a student visa, you will normally be permitted to work up to 20 hours a week during term time and full time during vacation periods (please note that for one year Masters students, 'vacation time' is after the end date of your programme, not during the Summer). You should check the terms and conditions of your visa and if you have any questions check the working page on the ISIS website (lse.ac.uk/isis) or check with a member of staff in ISIS.

Further information about financial support and working in the UK can be found on the Financial Support Office website.

General advice on visas, employment rights and taxation issues can be found on the Students' Union Advice and Support Service website.

Examinations

Examinations take place in the Summer Term and registered students are required to be in attendance at the School throughout the exam period to take their exams, and be available until the end of Term to deal with any issues about their assessed work. Candidates must sit all their examinations at the School, except those relating to an intercollegiate course which would normally be sat at the institution delivering the teaching.

The School requires all students to sit their examinations in London. This is for two reasons. The first is to ensure that the integrity of the examinations is maintained to the highest standards. The second is to provide students with the best conditions in which to prepare for and sit their examinations, so giving them the best chance of success.

There may, however, be occasions where there is good cause to arrange an examination sitting overseas. Such cases will be considered by a Panel which shall include a Dean and the Head of Student Services or her/his nominee. The purpose of the Panel is to ensure consistent decision making. Each case will be considered against agreed guidelines.

The criteria permitting students to sit their examinations overseas shall be limited to:

• serious injuries or serious medical conditions affecting the student or a close family member that prevent the student from being in the UK.
• the death of a close relative - i.e. a member of the immediate family (parent, sibling, spouse, child) or other person where there is clear evidence that the event would have a similarly devastating effect.
• other exceptional circumstances which in the Panel's view might have a profound effect on the student to the point of making it inadvisable for the School to require that he/she should return to the UK to sit examinations.

The Panel will not agree to a request which is based solely on the student's personal convenience or the cost of travelling to London.

The School does not have an autumn re-sit period. If you are required to re-sit an examination, the next opportunity for you to do so will normally be in May/June of the following year.

Individual Examination Adjustments

Candidates with documented evidence of a long-term physical, medical and/or psychological condition may apply for individual examination adjustments. Candidates should contact the Disability and Well-being Office as early as possible and no later than the end of Lent Term.

Late applications for individual adjustments will only be considered if you experience sudden injury or illness. Such applications should be made at the Student Services Centre.

Deferring Examinations

In exceptional circumstances, if you wish to defer any of your examinations, you must complete a deferral form obtainable from the Student Services Centre and obtain the written permission of those people listed on the form. You must do this by no later than the Friday of the first week of the Summer term. Late applications will only be accepted in the case of unforeseen circumstances.

Special Examinations Provision