Development and Emergency Practice
MA or PGDip or PGCert
Key facts
Start dates
September 2023 / September 2024
Location
Course length
Full time: MA: 12 months, PGDip: 9 months, PGCert: 3 - 9 months (depending on module choice)
Part time: MA: 24 months, PGDip: 21 months, PGCert: 9 months
Department
Overview
Develop your knowledge, skills and attitudes in the rapidly changing field of development and emergencies with our Development and Emergency Practice course. Explore the relationship between emergencies and development, with a core emphasis on practice.
This course has an international reputation for excellence and is run by the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice.
The course offers three sub-specialisations:
- Human rights, emergencies and development
- Disasters, risks, shelter and development
- Conflict and Humanitarian Action.
You can shape this course to reflect your interests with optional modules. Investigate prevalent study themes:
- Refugee experience, conflict transformation, humanitarianism and role of human rights
- Global civil society, vulnerabilities caused by climate change and modern development
- Design in development and emergency contexts.
This course is ideal for those with, or seeking, careers in:
- NGOs
- Humanitarian work
- Or international development.

How to apply
Entry requirements
Specific entry requirements
The programme is open to candidates who fulfil at least one of the following conditions:
- hold a good honours degree in a related discipline such as anthropology, sociology, economics, geography, psychology and other social sciences, architecture, Law, public health, public administration. Other fields are also welcomed, for example, medicine, IT, communications, information systems etc.
- hold a relevant recognised diploma or professional qualification (eg in architecture, planning, environmental psychology, public health, public administration)
- are in their final year of studying a degree in any relevant discipline
- have substantial and proven field experience.
Please also see the University's general entry requirements.
English language requirements
If your first language is not English you will require a minimum academic IELTS score of 6.5 overall with 6.0 in all components.
OR
An equivalent English language qualification acceptable to the University.
Please also see the University's standard English language requirements.
English requirements for visas
If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.
Pathways courses for international and EU students
We offer a range of courses to help you meet the entry requirements for your postgraduate course and also familiarise you with university life in the UK.
Take a Pre-Master's course to develop your subject knowledge, study skills and academic language level in preparation for your master's course.
If you need to improve your English language, we offer pre-sessional English language courses to help you meet the English language requirements of your chosen master’s course.
Terms and Conditions of Enrolment
When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.
Application process
Tuition fees
Questions about fees?
Contact Student Finance on:
Tuition fees
Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year your fees will increase each year.
Additional costs
Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.
Optional costs
Additional costs | Amount (£) |
---|---|
If you choose to participate in any additional, optional trips, you are responsible for any associated costs. |
£10-150 |
It’s your responsibility to cover print / binding costs where coursework submission is required. Please note that a lot of the coursework is now submitted online. |
From £30 |
You may choose to purchase books to support your studies. Many books on our reading lists are available via the Library, or can be purchased secondhand. | £20-60 per book |
Accommodation fees in Brookes Letting (most do not include bills) |
£94-265 per week |
Accommodation fees in university halls (bills included, excluding laundry costs) |
£122-180 per week |
Graduation costs include tickets, gowning and photography. Gowns are not compulsory but typically students do hire robes, starting at £41. |
Typically £0-200 |
Students are responsible for their own travel to and from university for classes. BrookesBus travel is subsidised for full-time undergraduate students that are on a course with a fee of £9,250 or more, or living in an Oxford Brookes hall of residence. There is an administration fee for the production of a BrookesKey. |
From £8 |
Funding your studies
Financial support and scholarships
Featured funding opportunities available for this course.
All financial support and scholarships
Learning and assessment
The course requires 200 hours of student input. Up to 40 hours of which will be devoted to lectures, seminars, or individual tutorials. The remaining time will be self-led study.
For the MA you must gain at least 180 credits, including the dissertation.
For the postgraduate certificate you must pass:
- core module, Critical Inquiry, Development and Emergencies: Theory and Policy
- other modules to achieve a total of 60 credits.
For the postgraduate diploma you must pass 120 credits from the taught modules. This includes both compulsory modules.

Study modules
The modules listed below are for the master's award. For the PGDip and PGCert awards your module choices may be different. Please contact us for more details.
Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from that shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.
Learning and teaching
Your learning will be grounded in theory, case studies and field based experience. You will develop intellectual knowledge and cultivate academic skills including:
- synthesis
- analysis
- interpretation
- understanding
- judgement.
You will focus on your approach as a practitioner. Particular reference is made to:
- the setting in which you work - for example poverty, conflict, power and vulnerability
- the approaches you adopt - for example community mobilisation, aid and human rights advocacy
- yourself - the personal motivations that drive and shape your vocation, personality and temperament
You will become a more self-aware, knowledge-based practitioner, able to work flexibly around a variety of problems in different situations. These include poverty, armed conflict and disaster.
Field trips
The course offers several field trip options each year. These usually take place in late January before the beginning of Semester 2.
Past field trip locations have included:
- Asia (India, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines)
- Latin America (Peru, Colombia)
- Middle East (West Bank)
- Europe (Bosnia, Northern Ireland)
- Africa (South Africa)
- The Caribbean (Jamaica).
Please note that field trips are an additional cost to the course fee, to reflect the fact that some students prefer not to take up this option.
Research
Research specialisations linked to the five research clusters within the School of Architecture offer cutting edge teaching from subject area experts.
The specialisations are:
- environmental design
- technology
- development
- emergency practice
- humanities
- architectural design.
After you graduate
Career prospects
The course is an ideal platform for you to develop your career in, or move into, international development and emergency organisations. This course is ideal for those with, or seeking, careers in:
- NGOs
- bilateral or multilateral humanitarian, development and human rights agencies
- governmental and commercial organisations working in international development.
Our graduates have found senior positions with international development or emergency organisations.
Programme Changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website.For more information, please visit our Changes to programmes page.