Advanced Diploma in Policy and Development Studies
Course Overview
The Advanced Diploma in Policy and Development Studies at LSLPE is a UK Level 5 senior-track qualification running 12 to 15 months across on-campus, online and distance routes. Content is calibrated to how UK development policy is designed and defended: ODA programming, results frameworks, Green Book cost analysis, ODI-adjacent research method and Chatham House programme work.
By graduation you are producing structured programme design memos, running cost and results analysis, drafting Whitehall-style submissions on development questions, presenting to a seminar in the select-committee tradition, and completing a senior-track project of your own choosing.
Key Features
- Content aligned with Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Institute of Development Studies (IDS) senior coverage.
- Themes aligned with Political Studies Association (PSA) coverage of development policy.
- Public finance framing drawing on Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
- Aligned with Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) communication standards for development audiences.
- Credit transfer into a UK Bachelor's top-up in development or public policy, confirmed in writing at enrolment.
- Distance and online cohorts follow the same weekly seminar timetable as on-campus students.
What You Will Learn
- Programme design for development interventions.
- Results frameworks, theories of change and log-frame method.
- Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis for development programmes.
- ODA rules and reporting standards.
- Comparative development policy across major bilateral and multilateral donors.
- Sector deep dives: health, education, climate, governance.
- Ethics and safeguarding in development programming.
- Senior project research design and defence.
Who This Course Is For
- Policy officers and programme managers moving into senior graduate-level development roles.
- Diploma holders taking the senior-track progression route.
- International applicants seeking a UK Level 5 senior development credential.
- Working professionals in NGOs, multilaterals and consultancies.
- Applicants with a programme portfolio moving onto a senior track.
Career Pathways
- Senior Development Analyst in an NGO or multilateral
- Programme Manager on a bilateral programme
- Public Sector Consultant on development briefs
- Strategy Adviser in an international consultancy
- Think Tank Researcher on development themes
- International Development Officer
- Public Affairs Consultant with a development portfolio
- Global Affairs Analyst on development questions
The LSLPE careers service maintains standing relationships with ODI-adjacent teams, multilateral offices, development consultancies and NGO programmes, and refreshes content annually against ODI and IDS-aligned coverage.
Entry Requirements
- A relevant Diploma (Level 4), Foundation Year, or at least two years of relevant professional experience in policy, development or public administration.
- GCSE English at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C or equivalent.
- IELTS 6.0 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers.
- One academic or professional reference.
- Applicants with case-work, policy-brief or research portfolios are encouraged to include them.
Why Study at LSLPE
LSLPE teaches policy and development studies from central London, within a short tube ride of the FCDO, ODI, Chatham House and international development consultancies. That geography turns Advanced Diploma case work into live programme analysis: submissions are drafted against real questions circulating in development teams that week.
Every intake, on-campus or remote, joins the same weekly seminar structure with named programme-tutor support, run in the select-committee tradition. Three parallel study modes let progressors, working practitioners and portfolio-route applicants complete the Advanced Diploma in Policy and Development Studies without leaving employment.
Apply for Advanced Diploma in Policy and Development Studies
The Advanced Diploma in Policy and Development Studies is a rigorous UK Level 5 senior-track credential for policy and development professionals, with credit transfer into a UK Bachelor's top-up. Enrol on a UK Level 5 Advanced Diploma at LSLPE — credit transfer into Bachelor top-ups confirmed in writing at enrolment. Enrol Now
