Programme Specification: MSc Health, Population and Society
1. Awarding Body
2. Details of accreditation by a
professional/statutory body, e.g. ESRC; BPS etc
3. Name of final award
4. Programme Title
5. Duration of the course
6. Based in the Department/Institute:
7. Relevant QAA subject benchmark statements
8. Application Code
9. First written/last amended
LSE
N/A
MSc
Health, Population and Society
Full-time 12 months, part-time 24 months
Social Policy
N/A
L4U3
January 2004 / November 2012
10. The programme aims to:
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provide state-of-the-art training for population and health issues, both substantive and policy related;
provide state-of-the-art training in order to equip students with both technical skills and substantive
knowledge in both population and health areas;
meet the needs of both professionals and those who wish to pursue a research career;
provide students with the skills to either pursue a career in research or to work in a wide range of
careers concerned with issues of both health and population (e.g. government, local authorities,
international organisations, public and private sector dealing with issues of health and population,
NGOs, demographic institutions, etc);
the programme represents a shift from the core interests in population and health to a
multidimensional approach, and as such it enables students to gain interdisciplinary knowledge and
skills for pursuing a career in the area of health and population.
11. Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
Students who successfully graduate this MSc programme should:
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be able to have an understanding of the population and health issues in both developed and
developing countries;
understand the links between the demographic, heath and societal aspects of the main issues dealt
with in this programme (e.g. HIV/AIDS epidemic, urbanisation and health, socio-economic factors
and survival, poverty and health, ageing, etc.);
be able to develop a scientific approach to research on the main aspects of health and population in
both developed and developing countries;
at the end of this programme students should be equipped with the analytical skills and relevant
knowledge to pursue a career in the areas of demography and public health.
Please follow the link for information relating to careers.
12. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved and
demonstrated
Teaching and learning strategies
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various teaching, learning and assessment strategies are used to enable the outcomes above to be
achieved - lectures, seminars, tutorials and self-directed study;
lecture formats are varied, including both traditional formats, audio visual and electronic
presentations;
seminars are interactive and usually organised around themes for discussion or readings; these aim
to deepen and consolidate knowledge, and develop critical awareness and communication skills;
in most of the seminars for the core courses, apart from the discussion based on presentations,
tasks are given on real life situations, followed by discussions;
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one-to-one tutorials provide individual pastoral and academic support.
Assessment strategies include
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unseen examinations;
essays (formative and/or summative);
dissertation (summative);
summative assessment is carried out anonymously;
mock examinations (formative).
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
See the MSc Health, Population and Society programme regulations can be accessed.
Additional information
14. Criteria for admission to the programme
Students normally need at least an upper second class honours degree or its equivalent. No particular
academic background is required.
15. Indicators of quality
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steady demand for the programme;
high entry requirements;
good examination results;
favourable remarks from external examiners;
students’ questionnaires via the Teaching Quality Assessment surveys.
The LSE Careers Centre website provides data on career destinations of LSE graduates.
16. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and learning
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the Department takes seriously the feedback on teaching quality provided by the annual Teaching
Quality Assessment survey of students;
the Department holds termly staff-student meetings at which student representatives from all
programmes are able to raise issues of concern. It takes forward suggestions and proposals coming
from that meeting;
the programme director organises termly meeting with students and discusses the issues related to
teaching and the wider school environment.
each programme in the Department has one or two elected student representatives who bring
issues of concern to the staff member with management responsibility for the Programme and to the
staff-student meeting; the Department has a Teaching Committee; part of its remit is to plan
provision and support innovation;
the Department (and School) takes seriously the feedback from external examiners; comments
made by external examiners are followed up within the Department and by the School;
the School’s Teaching and Learning Centre is available to monitor and observe teaching and offers
constructive advice on how to improve the standard of teaching and quality.
The Teaching Learning and Assessment Committee which regulates all aspects of teaching quality;
Departmental TLAC review once every five years.
The Graduate Studies Sub-Committee which oversees all graduate programmes and ensures that
significant changes to programmes and courses pass through a sequence of formal stages, so that
curricular changes are appropriate and compatible with other developments.