Why study at IDS

Applicant Q&As

If you’re thinking about applying for a master’s degree at IDS and have questions about the application process, we’re here to help. Below, you’ll find answers to the most frequently asked questions from prospective students.

You can also find out more about the world-class postgraduate degrees we offer as well as student perspectives on life at IDS on our Learn at IDS webpages and our videos on YouTube.

Introduction to our postgraduate degrees

Q&A

Am I qualified / will I get accepted?

IDS has nine Master’s degrees, each of which has specific entrance requirements. In addition to our academic and English language requirements, for all of our post-graduate degrees we ask that you have some practical experience in development, alongside an interest in critical academic enquiry.

The level and type of experience required will vary from degree to degree. For example, our Master’s in Power, Participation & Social Change is suited to both experienced and early-career development practitioners, as long as you bring some personal background in social change action, gained through work, volunteering or activism, to reflect on and analyse during the course. Whereas our Master’s in Governance, Development & Public Policy does require experience working in government, private sector, NGOs, bilateral or multilateral donor and lending agencies.

We welcome applicants with a broad range of career trajectories, and many of our MA Development Studies students join the course after a period of voluntary work or an internship. You may not have worked directly in a field which you consider ‘international development,’ but we would love to hear from you if:

• Your work experience has led you to question inequalities
• You have a curiosity about how things work in the world
• You are able to ask questions about who might benefit or lose from certain arrangements and about how things could be changed for the better

The specific requirements for each degree is listed on the webpage for each one.

If you would like to speak with someone to find out if you have the necessary experience, please contact our teaching office on [email protected]. You can also read the University of Sussex’s tips for applying to do a Masters course.

How essential is it to have one or two year’s work experience prior to applying?

Having adequate experience is important. You will need to show on your personal statement that you have experience, questions and ideas that you can bring to our classroom discussions. Voluntary work and internships count. If you have a bit less than one year’s work experience we still encourage you to apply.

Can I come straight from an undergraduate degree onto an IDS master’s degree?

For someone that has no work experience and wants to go straight into international development, IDS probably isn’t the right place for you. There will be students at IDS that have, for example, twenty years’ experience of working at the World Bank or UN and if you have no grounds to respond to questions and engage in the discussions, it can be quite tricky. But your work experience can come from a variety of experiences – volunteering at a charity in London is just as relevant as working with communities in South-East Asia. It’s about the ability to bring your life experience to your learning, to ask development-related questions about what you have seen and experienced and to have a point of reference in which you are thinking about the issues that have been raised in the classroom.

What is the difference between IDS and the University of Sussex?

IDS is an independent research institute based on the University of Sussex campus. The University of Sussex is the awarding body for IDS degrees and IDS students are members of both IDS and the University of Sussex. This gives IDS students all the benefits of a large university with access to a range of University of Sussex facilities and services, such as the University of Sussex library, the University of Sussex Sports Centre, Student’s Union and societies, careers support and advice, childcare, multi-faith chaplaincy, and a number of shops, cafés and bars, while at the same time enjoying the advantages of a smaller more intimate institute.

If you apply via our website, you will be taken to the University of Sussex website to process your application. Our Master’s degrees are ratified by Sussex with ‘IDS’ also appearing on your certificate.

Please note that the MA Food & Development and MSc Climate Change, Development & Policy are delivered in partnership with the University of Sussex and are led by the University.

When should we start applying to IDS?

You can apply from September and we usually accept applications until one month before the course starts if you are a UK applicant, and two months before the course starts if you are an international applicant (in order to allow sufficient time to process a visa). But we recommend you apply early as possible as this is a very competitive subject area. Applying early will help to ensure you get your offer letter in good time if you are also applying for a scholarship.

Is the application process done on a rolling basis?

The applications are processed on an individual basis in the sense that we read and judge each individual application on its own merit. We don’t hold all applications back and process them in a batch of 100 or 200. We review applications throughout the year. After August it gets too late for students to get visas – that’s one of the biggest problem for international students applying after August for September entry.

What is the admission rate from previous years?

Our admission rate is usually approximately 69 per cent. When issuing offers to applicants, we don’t have a set cut off point. For example, if we reach 69 per cent we will continue to make offers to students who we think can make a significant contribution to our degree. However, if we think a degree is getting very over-subscribed, we won’t make any further offers on that degree and, if indeed this happens, it is likely to be in late July.

Is development studies at IDS focused more on the practical or theoretical?

There is a strong theoretical focus – you do have to be able to write term papers and essays, and the dissertation is an academic dissertation (although some dissertations also have a strong practical element). Depending on the modules you take there is more or less focus on practical elements of the work. For example, some of the group projects might involve you writing a policy brief or a consultancy-style report. Ultimately, this is a University degree and so you will need some academic strengths in order to pass.

Do all IDS students live in Brighton? Is it necessary to live in Brighton or would it be possible to live in Brighton for several days a week?

Most students stay in Brighton full time. It partially depends on your module choices. We try to organise activities so that, if you are doing one module we try do all the work for that module on one day, or that day and the following day. We try to make sure that every student at IDS has at least one day where they are not expected to come into class. That’s easier to do in the first term than it is to do in the second term when all the students have quite a lot of choice in their modules. So, it’s possible to only come into Brighton for select days, but it’s also probable that this could (depending on your choices) be most days a week.

If I do a master’s part-time, how many days a week would it be?

The way it normally works is that you would do half the modules in the first year and half in the second year. This equates to around three days per week, but this may not be even throughout the year (for example, you might do two days a week in term one and four days a week for part of term two). It will depend on your module choices.

How do you prepare yourself beforehand to make the most of your master’s and time at IDS, since there’s so much to do and learn?

We don’t expect you to do any preparation. Before you come it would be helpful for you to get a sense of the kinds of work that IDS does, see where your interests lie and see if there are particular faculty you want to meet. You could explore our website, join one of our events, follow us on social media, listen to our podcast or subscribe to our newsletter. If you don’t know what your interests are, that’s also fine – you can make the most of your time at IDS exploring that.

How can I get help with my visa / accommodation?

You may need to apply for a visa to study at IDS. Our partner the University of Sussex has a brilliant online Student Hub for students from outside the UK, which includes a section on visas and immigration. The University provides ongoing support for students who need visas, from the point of application all the way through to graduation.

The University of Sussex also has a dedicated area of its Student Hub for queries about accommodation, whether you plan to live on campus or will be renting from a private landlord.

There are of course many other questions you may have. For more information, please visit the Applicant Hub on the University of Sussex website or contact [email protected].