PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION: MSc Regulation (Research)
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Awarding Body
LSE
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This is an approved programme of the ESRC
1+3 competition scheme (UK/EU only).
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Details of accreditation by a
professional/statutory body,
e.g. ESRC; BPS etc
Name of final award
Programme Title
Duration of the course
Based in the Department/Institute:
Relevant QAA subject benchmark
statements (See Subject Benchmark
Statements)
UCAS Code
First written/last amended
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The programme aims to:
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MSc
Regulation (Research)
12 months full time, 24 months part-time
Government & Law Departments
N/A
M3U8
August 2004 / November 2012
Provide an academically-challenging and research-active environment for the systematic
study of Regulation to intellectually able students from a wide range of countries;
Analyse Regulation in a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on
legal, political and economic analysis;
Bring together theoretical analyses of regulation with experience of regulatory practice
(drawing on different domains and country experiences);
Enable students intending to pursue higher degrees to develop the necessary analytical
and theoretical sophistication and breath and depth of understanding within their field of
study;
Enable students intending to pursue non-academic careers (e.g. government, regulatory
bodies, voluntary organisations, international organisations and business) to become
articulate and clear-thinking individuals, able to critically analyse complex bodies of
material.
Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
Students completing the MSc should possess:
 An advanced, critical knowledge and understanding of a substantial range of major
concepts, and debates in the context of some substantive areas of regulatory systems;
 A demonstrated ability to apply her/his knowledge in an interdisciplinary way to a complex
situation in order to provide arguable conclusions for concrete problems (actual or
hypothetical);
 The ability to work independently, employing analytical and empirical knowledge, in the
planning, research and presentation of succinct, precise arguments in relation to
regulatory matters – in written and oral form;
 The ability to design and independently execute a ‘long essay’ or ‘dissertation’ on an
approved topic of their own choice within the field of Regulation;
 An advanced understanding of issues in research methodology that will a transfer to
research at the doctoral level.
Information relating to careers can be accessed here
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Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved and
demonstrated
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Teaching and learning strategies:
Teaching: The course is convened by Professor Martin Lodge, and the core teaching staff
includes Robert Baldwin, Julia Black, and Kira Matus, all leading academic authorities on
regulation. In addition, Geoffrey Myers, senior economist at Ofcom, is visiting professor in
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regulation in the Department of Government. He contributes to the teaching of the
foundation course (see below), , and also provides individual advice (academic and
practice-oriented) to students;
In the first term, we also run a Foundation Course on a weekly basis, providing a basis
grounding in Economics and in research methods;
In the second term, there are a series of seminars given by regulation practitioners.
Previous practitioners have included former rail and financial services regulators, and
senior staff from telecommunications, energy and food regulators, as well as
representatives from privatised utilities;
All students have the opportunity to specialise through the choice of options (to the value
of two full courses) and the required dissertation. The final degree title may include one of
the following specialisms, according to the choice of the courses: Environmental
Regulation; Financial and Commercial Regulation; Social Regulation; Utilities Regulation;
Government and Law;
The programme is designed in a way to ensure that students are not just exposed to
cross-cutting and generic debates in the study and practice of Regulation, but that they
also have the opportunity to specialise in specific areas/fields of Regulation. The learning
experience is facilitated by encouraging self-learning, team-work and group activities. The
seminars in the core course are designed to ensure conversation and exchange between
students;
Students are also required to take specified courses in research methodology
(quantitative & qualitative) and research design;
Supervisors: All students are allocated a personal supervisor who will be their most
important academic link within the School. The supervisor’s responsibilities are to advise
on course options, help where requested with advice on essays for the core course, to
review academic progress more generally and to supervise the research and writing of
the dissertation, in particular in advising the student to select a suitable topic for the
dissertation and to ensure that the student by the end of the summer term has a topic
within the MSc’s remit that can be completed with the resources and within the time
available. The supervisor is also the first port of call when the student has academic or
personal problems to discuss. Students should expect to see their supervisor at least
once each term (see the LSE Code of Practice for Taught Masters Students).
Assessment strategies:
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Assessment varies across courses offered on the programme;
The seminar meetings for the core course, Law and Politics of Regulation are held
weekly. Attendance is obligatory. The core course is assessed by means of a 2500 word
essay worth 25 per cent of the final mark (which involves the mini-research project on a
specific area of risk regulation) and a three hour examination held in June worth 75 per
cent. The core course and the optional courses require students to make presentations,
work in small groups and write essays;
The Dissertation component of the MSc programme offers the opportunity for students to
display their individual and independent research skills. All students take this 10,000 word
dissertation designed to test their ability to produce a high-quality piece of independent
research and analysis during the summer;
For the other optional courses, examination methods appear in the Calendar. Assessment
methods vary. Marks in the three courses and the essay contribute equally to the final
degree result. The pass mark in most courses is 50, and the mark for distinction is 70.
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
See MSc Regulation (Research) programme regulations.
Additional information
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Criteria for admission to the programme
For this programme students should usually have achieved a good upper second-class honours
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degree or its equivalent. They should have an interest in, and prior knowledge of, related areas of
law, public administration, politics or economics.
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Indicators of quality
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Entrance requirements and the high demand for the programme;
Student feedback & student progression to leading PhD programmes;
Favourable external examiners’ reports and consistently good examination results;
Research quality of the core teaching team and their link to one of the leading research
centres for the study of regulation, the Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation;
Authorship of key texts: the core teaching staff have written many of the key texts
(textbooks, handbooks and journal articles) for the contemporary study of regulation;
The LSE Careers Centre website provides data on career destinations of LSE graduates.
Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and
learning
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Student assessment surveys, MSc Student meeting (1 per year), MSc Student
Representatives meeting (2 per year);
External examiners’ reports;
Complaints/Consultation system;
Annual and four-yearly programme reviews as part of the Department’s teaching review
programme;
TQARO Student surveys (one per course);
MSc Convenor’s meeting which raises teaching issues and reviews regulations and
assessment methods (2 per year).
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