MSc Global Sustainability
London, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 25,320 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international students | home students: £12,965
The MSc in Global Sustainability at SOAS University of London equips you with knowledge and skills to become a globally-minded professional capable of leading change and communicating complex sustainability strategies to diverse audiences.
Environmental crises and sustainability are fundamentally connected with global economic and policy processes, but also conditioned by local contexts. You will develop the ability to critically analyse these global to local drivers of change and to design evidence-based policy responses to advance equitable, inclusive, and impactful solutions to sustainability challenges.
Combining rigorous academic training with real-world applications, the MSc enables students to translate theory into action. Alongside core modules, students can study across a range of related topics from across disciplines such as economics, development studies, politics and international relations, law and anthropology.
Why study MSc Global Sustainability at SOAS?
- SOAS is ranked 5th in the world for Development Studies (QS World University Rankings 2025)
- We are ranked 2nd in the world for Academic Reputation (QS World University Rankings 2025)
- You'll have access to the SOAS Centre for Development, Environment and Policy, a research centre with over 30 years of experience addressing the global challenges of our time
- Our programmes’ emphasis on transferable analytical skills has been of great benefit to the many graduates who have returned to, or taken up, professional careers in sustainability-related careers in businesses, international organisations, government agencies and non-government organisations
The MSc in Global Sustainability is a gateway to various job opportunities in international organisations, governments, NGOs and private companies.
The advanced nature of the programme also serves as an excellent foundation for PhD studies.
Our teaching and learning approach is designed to support and encourage students in their own process of self-learning, and to develop their own ideas, responses and critique of global sustainability practice and policy.
We do this through a mixture of lectures, more student-centred learning approaches (including tutorials and seminars), and optional fieldtrips. Teaching combines innovative use of audio-visual materials, practical exercises, group discussions, and weekly guided reading and discussions, as well as conventional lecturing.
The MSc degrees are taught over a period of twelve months of full-time study within a structured programme. In the case of part-time study, the degrees will be taught over two or three years. Four modules are studied each year, with the dissertation normally being completed in the second year.
All Master's programmes consist of 180 credits, made up of taught modules of 30 or 15 credits, taught over 10 or 20 weeks, and a dissertation of 60 credits.
As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study, including reading and research, preparing coursework, revising for examinations and so on. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others.
In addition to the taught part of the master's programme, all students will write a 10,000-word dissertation. Students develop their research topic under the guidance and supervision of an academic member of the Department.