MPA in Social Impact
Programme Code: TMSOCI
Department: School of Public Policy
For students starting this programme of study in 2019/20
Guidelines for interpreting programme regulations
Classification scheme for the award of an MPA for students entering in or after 2011/12
Exam sub-board local rules
The programme is taught over two academic years (21 months). Some courses have a unit value of 1.0 and some have a unit value of 0.5. To be awarded the degree, students must complete courses to the value of 8.0 units in total over two years.
There are three types of courses:
1. Compulsory courses, studied by all students;
2. Policy Stream courses, which students will take depending on which Policy Stream (specialism) they choose at the start of Year 2;
3. Option courses.
Note that some courses on one Policy Stream may be optional courses on other Policy Streams.
No interim award is available: students completing courses with a unit value of less than 8.0 receive no award, regardless of performance in the courses that have been successfully completed.
The School of Public Policy has recoded their course codes to replace department codes (EC, GV, DV, EU, SA, MG) with PP codes for 2018/19. The majority of courses listed below with a PP code are not new courses but some may have changed code.
Please note that places are limited on some optional courses. Admission onto any particular course is not guaranteed and may be subject to timetabling constraints and/or students meeting specific prerequisite requirements.
Paper |
Course number, title (unit value) | |
Before Year 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
Introductory course |
All students must attend the following MPA introductory course: | |
|
PP408 Introduction to Quantitative Methods for the MPA Programme (0.0) | |
Year 1 | ||
Paper 1 |
PP440 Micro and Macro Economics (for Public Policy) (1.0) | |
Paper 2 |
PP455 Quantitative Approaches and Policy Analysis (1.0) | |
Paper 3 |
PP478 Political Science for Public Policy (1.0) | |
Paper 4 |
Courses to the value of 1.0 unit from the list of Policy Stream courses or MPA Options List below: | |
Year 2 | ||
Introductory course |
Students who wish to choose a MSc in Economics course as an option in Year 2 are required to attend the following introductory course: | |
|
EC400 Introductory Course in Mathematics and Statistics (0.0) # | |
Paper 5 |
PP4B3 MPA Capstone Project (1.0) | |
Papers 6, 7 & 8 |
Students must take the course(s) required by their chosen Policy Stream detailed below, plus sufficient courses from the MPA Options List to ensure that they have taken courses to a total value of 8.0 units over Year 1 and Year 2: | |
Policy Stream courses (Social Impact)
Students must complete, or have already completed in Year 1, both of the following courses: | |
PP452 Applying Behavioural Economics for Social Impact: Design, Delivery, Evaluation and Policy (0.5) # | |
PP4J2 New Institutions of Public Policy: Strategic Philanthropy, Impact Investment and Social Enterprise (0.5) | |
MPA Options List
Students may also seek approval from their Programme Supervisor and the Course Convenor to enrol on other MSc options. Not all courses may be offered each year and are subject to cancellation, substitution and timetabling constraints. | |
Additional School of Public Policy courses | |
PP4V8 Policy Paper (0.5) | |
PP4B4 Dissertation (1.0) | |
PP406 Philosophy for Public Policy (0.5) | |
PP411A Political Entrepreneurship (0.5) | |
PP411W Political Economy Applications for Public Policy (0.5) # | |
Welfare State Policies | |
GI414 Theorising Gender and Social Policy (0.5) | |
GI415 Gender and Welfare Regimes: Developments and Change (0.5) | |
GI417 Feminist Population Politics (0.5) | |
PP412 Cold War II? Public Policy Implications of US-China Relations in the 2020s (0.5) | |
PP4J2 New Institutions of Public Policy: Strategic Philanthropy, Impact Investment and Social Enterprise (0.5) | |
PP4J4 Designing and Implementing Evidence-Informed Policies and Programmes (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
PP4X6 Welfare Analysis and Measurement (1.0) | |
SP441 Politics of Social Policy: Welfare and Work in Comparative Perspective (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
Urban Policy | |
GY439 Cities, Politics and Citizenship (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
GY479 Urban Transformations (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
GY480 Remaking China: Geographical aspects of Development and Disparity (0.5) | |
Environmental Policy | |
DV413 Environmental Problems and Development Interventions (0.5) # | |
DV415 Global Environmental Governance (0.5) | |
GY420 Environmental Regulation: Implementing Policy (1.0) | |
GY427 Climate Change: Science, Economics and Policy (0.5) | |
GY465 Concepts in Environmental Regulation (0.5) | |
GY475 Issues in Environmental Governance (0.5) | |
International Policy | |
GV4A5 International Migration and Immigration Management (0.5) (withdrawn 2023/24) | |
IR412 International Institutions (1.0) | |
IR468 The Political Economy of Trade (0.5) | |
Development Policy | |
AN436 The Anthropology of Development (0.5) | |
AN456 Anthropology of Economy (1): Production and Exchange (0.5) | |
AN457 Anthropology of Economy (2): Transformation and Globalisation (0.5) | |
DV411 Population and Development: an Analytical Approach (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
DV413 Environmental Problems and Development Interventions (0.5) # | |
DV415 Global Environmental Governance (0.5) | |
DV418 African Development (0.5) | |
DV420 Complex Emergencies (0.5) | |
DV421 Critical Perspectives on Global Health and Development (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
DV424 International Institutions and Late Development (0.5) | |
DV432 China in Developmental Perspective (0.5) # (not available 2023/24) | |
DV435 African Political Economy (0.5) | |
DV447 Youth and Gendered Violence (0.5) # (not available 2023/24) | |
DV490 Economic Development Policy I: Applied Policy Analysis for Macroeconomic Development (0.5) # | |
DV491 Economic Development Policy II: Microeconomic Analysis (0.5) # | |
DV492 Economic Development Policy III: Government Policy Analysis (0.5) # | |
GV443 The State and Political Institutions in Latin America (0.5) (withdrawn 2020/21) | |
GV444 Democracy and Development in Latin America (0.5) (withdrawn 2023/24) | |
GY410 Economics of Local and Regional Development (0.5) | |
GY421 Gender and Development: Geographical Perspectives (0.5) # (withdrawn 2020/21) | |
PP448 International Political Economy and Development (0.5) | |
PP449 Comparative Political Economy and Development (0.5) | |
Economic Policy | |
GY455 Economic Appraisal and Valuation (0.5) | |
LL4CP Tax Avoidance (0.5) | |
MG4B9 The World Trading System (0.5) # * (not available 2023/24) | |
PH413 Philosophy of Economics (1.0) # (withdrawn 2023/24) | |
PP419 Advanced Empirical Methods for Policy Analysis (0.5) # | |
PP452 Applying Behavioural Economics for Social Impact: Design, Delivery, Evaluation and Policy (0.5) # | |
Regulatory Policy | |
GV403 Network Regulation (0.5) (withdrawn 2020/21) | |
LL4AT Regulation: Strategies and Enforcement (0.5) | |
LL4AU Regulation: Legal and Political Aspects (0.5) # (withdrawn 2023/24) | |
LL4BF International Financial Regulation (0.5) | |
LL4CP Tax Avoidance (0.5) | |
MC403 Contemporary Issues in Media and Communications Policy (0.5) # | |
SO425 Economy, Risk and Society (1.0) | |
Governance | |
GV442 Globalisation and Democracy (0.5) * (withdrawn 2020/21) | |
GV4C5 Politics of Economic Policy (0.5) (withdrawn 2020/21) | |
PB415 Behavioural Science (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
PB421 Happiness (0.5) | |
PH415 Philosophy and Public Policy (1.0) | |
SO469 Risk and Governance: A Sociological Approach (0.5) (withdrawn 2020/21) | |
SP434 Behavioural Public Policy (0.5) | |
Europe | |
EU425 Interest Representation and Economic Policy- Making in Europe (0.5) (withdrawn 2022/23) | |
EU443 European Models of Capitalism (0.5) | |
EU446 The Political Economy of European Monetary Integration (0.5) # | |
EU453 The Political Economy of European Welfare States (0.5) | |
EU455 Concepts in Political Economy (0.5) | |
EU477 Labour Markets and the Political Economy of Employment in Europe (0.5) # (not available 2023/24) | |
Institutions, Politics and Policies of the EU | |
EU430 Europeanization: The Comparative Politics of Domestic Change (0.5) | |
EU439 Political and Fiscal Integration and Disintegration in EU Member States (0.5) (withdrawn 2022/23) | |
GV4J4 Citizen Representation and Democracy in the European Union (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
Central and Eastern Europe Transition and Reform | |
EU449 Emerging Markets, Political Transition and Economic Development in Central and Eastern Europe (0.5) # (not available 2023/24) | |
Regional Courses | |
EU440 The Balkans in Europe: Transition, Democratisation, Integration (0.5) (not available 2023/24) | |
Management of Organisations | |
AC412 Accountability, Organisations and Risk Management (0.5) | |
AC490 Management Accounting, Decisions and Control (0.5) | |
AC491 Financial Accounting, Reporting and Disclosure (0.5) | |
MG479 Information Systems for the Public Sector: Digital Government and Service Innovation (0.5) | |
MG487 Innovation and Information Systems: Concepts and Perspectives (0.5) | |
MG4B7 Leading Organisational Change (0.5) | |
MG4C2 Organisational Behaviour (0.5) | |
MG4D5 Leadership in Organisations: Theory and Practice (0.5) | |
PH425 Business and Organisational Ethics (0.5) | |
PP4E4 Analytic frameworks for policy evaluation (0.5) # (not available 2023/24) | |
PP4E5 Innovations in the governance of public services delivery (0.5) | |
PP4G3 Designing and Managing Change in the Public Sector (0.5) | |
PP4J5 Fiscal Governance and Budgeting (0.5) | |
Students may also seek approval from their Programme Supervisor and the Course Convenor to enrol on other MSc options. | |
Footnotes for MPA Options List~A : PP454 is not available to students in their first year. ~B : Because of the extremely demanding standard of LSE Economics, the following options are available only to students with very good first degrees in Economics and with the permission of the Economics Department: EC402, EC411, EC413, EC421, EC424, EC426, EC427, EC428, EC453. Any student wishing to take these courses must be admitted to the September Introductory Course in Mathematics and Statistics (EC400) at the beginning of their second year and pass the course examinations. Students taking more than one Economics option must take one of EC402, EC411 or EC413. | |
Prerequisite Requirements and Mutually Exclusive Options for MPA Options List | |
Policy Stream courses
Public and Economic Policy | |
PP419 Advanced Empirical Methods for Policy Analysis (0.5) # | |
Public Policy and Management | |
PP4E4 Analytic frameworks for policy evaluation (0.5) # (not available 2023/24) | |
PP4E5 Innovations in the governance of public services delivery (0.5) | |
PP4G3 Designing and Managing Change in the Public Sector (0.5) | |
PP4J5 Fiscal Governance and Budgeting (0.5) | |
International Development | |
PP448 International Political Economy and Development (0.5) | |
PP449 Comparative Political Economy and Development (0.5) | |
Public and Social Policy | |
PP4X6 Welfare Analysis and Measurement (1.0) | |
Social Impact | |
PP452 Applying Behavioural Economics for Social Impact: Design, Delivery, Evaluation and Policy (0.5) # | |
PP4J2 New Institutions of Public Policy: Strategic Philanthropy, Impact Investment and Social Enterprise (0.5) | |
Footnotes for Policy Stream courses~A : PP410 is designed for Year 2 students; only available in Year 1 with permission from the Programme Director. ~B : PP418 is designed for Year 2 students; only available in Year 1 with permission from the Programme Director. | |
Prerequisite Requirements and Mutually Exclusive Options
* means available with permission
# means there may be prerequisites for this course. Please view the course guide for more information.
Total unit value 8.0 = Compulsory courses (4.0) + Policy Stream courses (1.0 or 2.0 units depending on the stream) + Optional courses (3.0 or 2.0 units depending on which Policy Stream is chosen).
See the Scheme for the award of MPA degrees students entering in or after 2011/12 for MPA programme criteria for progression.
Note for prospective students:
For changes to graduate course and programme information for the next academic session, please see the graduate summary page for prospective students. Changes to course and programme information for future academic sessions can be found on the graduate summary page for future students.