PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
Programme title:
MSc in European Public Policy
Final award (BSc, MA etc):
(where stopping off points exist they should
be detailed here and defined later in the
document)
UCAS code:
(where applicable)
Cohort(s) to which this programme
specification is applicable:
(e.g. from 2015 intake onwards)
Awarding institution/body:
MSc
Teaching institution:
University College London
Faculty:
Social and Historical Sciences
Parent Department:
(the department responsible for the
administration of the programme)
Departmental web page address:
(if applicable)
Department of Political Science
Method of study:
Full-time/Part-time/Other
The programme can be taken either full-time or part-time.
Criteria for admission to the
programme:
Requires a good 2.1 degree or GPA 3.5 or country equivalent.
An IELTS of Advanced level with 7.5 overall with min of 6.5 in all
subtests. In exceptional cases, some applicants with a 2.2 may be
considered, for instance those with substantial relevant work
experience.
Length of the programme:
(please note any periods spent away from
UCL, such as study abroad or placements
in industry)
Level on Framework for Higher
Education Qualifications (FHEQ)
(see Guidance notes)
Relevant subject benchmark statement
(SBS)
(see Guidance notes)
Brief outline of the structure of the
programme
and
its
assessment
methods:
(see guidance notes)
One calendar year full-time, two calendar years part-time
From 2014/15 intake onwards
University College London
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/
Level 7
No subject-specific benchmark available for Political Science at
Masters level.
Students must take four compulsory core courses assessed by
written work and unseen written examinations, optional courses
equivalent to three one-term long courses (assessed by either
coursework or unseen written exam), and submit a 10,000-word
dissertation.
Board of Examiners:
Name of Board of Examiners:
PUBLG – Public Policy Board of Examiners
Professional body accreditation
(if applicable):
N/A
Date of next scheduled
accreditation visit:
EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME:
The programme (a) provides an in-depth and systematic understanding of the European Union (EU)'s institutions,
political processes and policies; (b) situates this empirical knowledge within theories of European integration,
comparative politics and public policy; and (c) equips students with the analytical competence, research experience
and generic skills necessary to analyse and normatively assess the main issues facing European policy-makers
today.
PROGRAMME OUTCOMES:
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding,
research and generic skills in the following areas:
A: Knowledge and understanding
Knowledge and understanding of:
1. how institutions and political processes
operate in the EU, and how the EU
impacts on the institutions and political
processes of its Member States; the
programme looks in particular at judicial
politics,
decision-making,
interinstitutional relations, executive-legislative
relations and political representation;
2. how policy-making and political
processes operate in the EU and how
policy-making and politics have been
transformed at the national level; the
programme looks in particular at
democratic
representation,
interest
intermediation, the implementation of
public policies and core policies such as
the Single Market, internal and external
security as well as welfare;
3. how institutions, political processes
and policies are theorised and assessed
normatively; the programme looks in
particular at theories of judicial and
legislative politics, theories of agendasetting, decision-making and delegation,
theories of political representation as well
as theories of policy-making and
Europeanisation;
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Acquisition of 1 through weekly lectures and seminars.
Several courses, especially the compulsory course The
European Union: Institutions and Politics, and the
optional core course The European Union, Globalisation
and the State. The compulsory course emphasises the
functional and normative dimension of politics at the
supranational level; the optional core course explains
whether, why and how established political systems and
patterns of policy-making have changed in the face of
European and global pressures.
Acquisition of 2 through the above mentioned
compulsory and core optional courses. Additionally, the
optional courses Policy-making and Regulation in
Europe, The European Union in the World and other
policy-related courses all emphasise the theory-guided
analysis of policy-processes and outputs.
Acquisition of 3 and 4 through the compulsory and
optional core courses as well as the optional courses
and the dissertation.
4. the analytical and theoretical skills
necessary to analyse political processes
and to assess them normatively; the
method of comparison and case
selection; hypothesis testing/ generation
and empirical analysis.
Assessment:
Students are assessed by a variety of methods: ‘unseen’
examinations, essays, assignments (e.g. policy-briefs)
and a dissertation. The last mentioned is a required
method of assessment.
B: Skills and other attributes
Intellectual (thinking) skills:
The programme aims to help students:
(a) to approach the study of European
politics in a rigorous, systematic and
theoretically informed way, and to
question the premises of political
analysis;
(b) to collect and use empirical evidence
in a systematic way and to question the
explanatory power and reassess the
validity of authoritative works in political
science, particularly in comparative
politics and public policy;
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Acquisition of (a) to (c) is fostered in all core courses
offered in the programme, which train students to
develop a conceptually and empirically informed
understanding of European politics and policies; to
become aware of the main theories in political science
and to question their premises; to use the method of
comparison; and to critically assess the validity of
empirical evidence.
(c) to develop a normative understanding
of political processes and policies in the
EU and its Member States.
Assessment:
Students are assessed by a variety of methods: ‘unseen’
examinations, essays, assignments (e.g. policy-briefs)
and a dissertation. The last mentioned is a required
method of assessment.
C: Skills and other attributes
Practical skills (able to):
This programme aims
following practical skills:
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
to
train
the
(a) to gain in-depth knowledge of EU
politics, institutions and policies;
(b) to acquire in-depth knowledge of the
politics, institutions and policies of the
EU's Member States;
(c) to communicate effectively in writing;
(d) to listen to and debate ideas,
theoretical approaches and evidence
during seminars;
(e) to gain presentation skills through
(non-assessed) seminar presentations
and debates;
(f) to use data-bases, digital and web
resources, word-processing programmes
and statistical packages;
(g) to practice research and data
collection as well as the use of
documents from national governments
and the EU;
(h) to choose dissertation topics
independently;
(i) to develop a research strategy and a
working hypothesis;
(j) to learn an appropriate methodology
for testing or generating hypotheses;
(k) to adapt working hypotheses in light of
empirical evidence and its interpretation;
(l) to manage learning and research
effectively.
(a-b) through weekly lectures and seminars;
(c) through the writing of essays, assignments and
dissertations;
(d-e) through seminar debates, presentations and policysimulations;
(f-k) through independent research for essays and
dissertations, through individual discussion with the
course tutor, through all core and optional courses, in
particular through the systematic training in qualitative
and quantitative research methods;
(l) through independent reading, study and research.
Skills will be taught mainly in the compulsory course The
European Union: Institutions and Politics and in the
optional core courses The European Union,
Globalisation and the State as well as Policy-Making and
Regulation in Europe. Research skills in particular will be
conveyed in the compulsory courses (Advanced)
Qualitative and (Advanced) Quantitative Research
Methods. All courses are taught by scholars who have
specialised knowledge in the institutions, politics and
policies of the EU and its Member States as well as in
research methods, and who have carried out theoretical
and empirical research in the field.
Seminars and individual discussion will also provide
instructions on research design as well as on data
sources, collection and analysis.
Assessment:
(a-d) and (g-l) through ‘unseen’ examinations, long
essays and dissertation. The latter is a required method
of assessment.
D: Skills and other attributes
Transferable skills:
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
The programme will encourage students
to:
(a-c, f-n) long-essays, course work, dissertation;
(b) reading academic works on politics, comparative
politics and public policy;
(c) submitting word-processed written work, using data
bases, consulting on-line library catalogues, using
website material;
(c-f, i-l) seminar presentations and class debates,
research exercises and policy-simulations, a study trip to
and engagement with policy-makers in Brussels.
(a) write high quality essays and
dissertations;
(b) improve students’ knowledge of
politics in general and of comparative
politics and public policy in particular;
(c) use computer resources and
information technology;
(d) present (non-assessed) material
orally;
(e) listen and contribute in class;
(f) understand and assess contending
ideas and arguments;
(g) study a variety of written and digital
materials available from libraries and data
bases;
(h) familiarise themselves with documents
of
governments
and
international
organisations;
(i) reflect on their own normative ideas by
becoming acquainted with alternative
points of view;
(j) make original contributions to the study
of politics, public policy and comparative
politics;
(k) understand and critically assess
empirical
evidence
and
develop
appropriate methods to test or generate
predictions;
(l) think both positively and normatively
about politics.
Assessment:
Students are assessed by a variety of methods: ‘unseen’
examinations, essays, assignments (e.g. policy-briefs)
and a dissertation. The last mentioned is a required
method of assessment.
The following reference points were used in designing the programme:
 the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications:
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/qualifications-frameworks.pdf);
 the relevant Subject Benchmark Statements:
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements);
 the programme specifications for UCL degree programmes in relevant subjects (where applicable);
 UCL teaching and learning policies;
 staff research.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the
learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes
full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided. More detailed information on the learning outcomes,
content and teaching, learning and assessment methods of each course unit/module can be found in the
departmental course handbook. The accuracy of the information contained in this document is reviewed annually
by UCL and may be checked by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Programme Organiser(s)
Dr Christine Reh
Name(s):
Date of Production:
May 2014
Date of Review:
December 2014
Date approved by Head of
Department:
December 2014
Date approved by Chair of
Departmental Teaching
Committee:
Date approved by Faculty
Teaching Committee
December 2014
January 2015