PGDip Humanitarian Action (Online)
Online, United Kingdom
Postgraduate Diploma
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2027
TUITION FEES
GBP 8,000
STUDY FORMAT
Key Summary
About: The PGDip Humanitarian Action (Online) at SOAS University of London examines humanitarian history, politics and practice. It trains you to analyze aid delivery, political entanglements, and emphasizes South-South cooperation, community-led critique, decolonial and interdisciplinary insight. Taught online by SOAS, ranked 2nd for Development Studies, with optional international study tours.
Career Outcomes: You’ll build analytical, research and communication skills for roles in humanitarian action, development policy, crisis response, advocacy and global justice. Graduates have joined the US Department of State, International Labour Organization, UNHCR and the World Bank. Other likely careers include aid coordination, programme management, policy analysis and research.
The PGDip Humanitarian Action is a critical, globally-oriented study of humanitarian history, politics and practice.
Designed for impact in complex crisis and development settings, it encourages you to question how, where and why aid is delivered, and to analyse its political and military entanglements. A distinctive focus on South-South cooperation and community-led critiques challenges and reshapes conventional humanitarian paradigms.
Graduates will develop decolonial, interdisciplinary insight, analytical rigour, cultural humility, and the ethical capacity to engage thoughtfully in humanitarianism, development and global justice worldwide.
Studying at SOAS
We're ranked 2nd in the world for Development Studies and 2nd in the world for Academic Reputation in Development Studies (QS World University Rankings 2026). Gain a global perspective unlike any other from a world-renowned university based in the heart of London.
Study Tours
All postgraduate students can take part in our Study Tours and explore the world. Destinations include New Delhi, Lahore, Seoul, Luang Prabang, Almaty, Bishkek, Kigali, Johannesburg, and Doha.
You can study this programme as an:
- MSc: six modules
- Postgraduate Diploma: four modules
- Postgraduate Certificate: two modules
Year 1
- Humanitarian Principles and Practice - 30 credits
- Violence, Conflict and Security - 30 credits
- Advanced Skills in Research Design - 30 credits
Year 2 - Guided
- Anthropology and Global Challenges - 30 credits
- Water, Land and Climate Change - 30 credits
- Biodiversity, Conservation and Development - 30 credits
- Politics of Gender and Feminism in Development - 30 credits
- Mobilities: Borders, Migrants and Refugees - 30 credits
- Industrial Policy, Politics and Public Management - 30 credits
- Financial Strategy for International Business - 30 credits
- Application of Machine Learning for Finance - 30 credits
- Gendering Migrations and Diasporas - 30 credits
- Deep Histories of Humanity: Power, Ecology, and the Anthropocene - 30 credits
- Digital Cultures and Transformations - 30 credits
- Geopolitics, Strategy and International Security - 30 credits
We know you’re choosing this programme to advance your career and make a real difference in the world. That’s why we embed employability in every module.
Teaching and assessments are designed to give you the opportunity to apply your academic knowledge to real-world problems. Throughout the programme, you will develop and demonstrate your critical thinking, communication, and research skills, and your ability to synthesise and evaluate information.
This focus on employability is why recent graduates from the Department of Development have been hired by the US Department of State, BBC World Service, International Labour Organization, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the World Bank.
Each module is 14 weeks long and represents 300 hours of learning: 100 hours of assessment preparation and 200 hours of directed and self-directed learning with extensive teacher contact throughout.
Assessment
Instead of exams, we use a range of assessment methods designed to reflect different learning styles and develop real-world employability skills, giving you a real opportunity to demonstrate what you’ve learned.
Our new online learning portfolio offers a mix of innovative practical projects, such as creating a policy brief or fact-checking generative AI; participation activities like video presentations and feedback; and reflective written work.