Children, Youth and International Development MA

Working with and for young people in the Global South offers an exciting career full of challenges and rewards. Our Children, Youth and International Development MA is a varied course with a global perspective which will help equip you for roles in international development organisations, government ministries and global agencies.

You will acquire a breadth of knowledge that will enable you to critically evaluate research, policy and practice in the area of children, youth and development. You will also discover the differing disciplinary perspectives on childhood and youth by studying modules from related disciplines.

As you journey through the course, you also will acquire the skills necessary to design and undertake your own research.

Opt for the 'Applied Learning' module and you will have the opportunity of a short placement (one or two days a week for ten weeks) with an organisation that works in the field of children, youth and international development.

Examples of the ‘Applied Learning’ placements previously undertaken include:

• Action Aid – on a campaign targeting exploitation in the garment industry
• Anti-Slavery International – on a project to eradicate caste-based bonded labour
• Basti RAM – planned lessons for a Global Citizenship project
• BookAid International – helped build up an evidence base for Book Aid’s international programmes
• Commonwealth Secretariat – on the CS’s Youth Programme in Uganda
• International Refugee Trust – development of the online classroom about refugees
• National Deaf Children's Society – developed international exchanges for deaf young people
• Oxfam – mobilised UK school children to get involved in Oxfam campaigns
• Project Hope – several placements including designing a survey on youth experiences, and developing leaflets to help South African adults to identify signs of childhood mental illness
• The Mouth That Roars – helped children in London and Saudi Arabia to create videos through which they communicated their everyday lives to each other

Additionally, an exchange agreement exists between the Brunel MA and the MPhil in Childhood Studies at the Norwegian Centre for Child Research (NOSEB) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

The agreement allows two students from the MA to spend their second term (January to May) at the Trondheim centre.

A 30 month part-time option of the course is also available. If you wish to be considered for the part-time 30 month version, please make your application for the 24 month part-time route and then contact the Admissions team to request the change to the 30 month duration.

2.6/4, 3.2/5 or 65%

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all)

You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.

Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.

Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.

Careers and your future