Program Overview

Pre-Masters Programme at our International Study Centre prepares you for your degree at Lancaster University. You will focus on English language, university-level study skills, and academic modules that relate to your degree subject.

Your postgraduate preparation
The Pre-Masters Programme is available over two or three terms at the International Study Centre, providing you with the skills necessary for postgraduate study at Lancaster University. You will  build on the knowledge gained in your earlier studies whilst developing your practical English language and mathematical abilities, as well as study and research skills.

You will develop an intellectual appreciation of issues relevant to your chosen degree through classes designed specifically for international students. These will be based on study and careers skills, as well as subject specific modules, which prepare you for your chosen Masters degree at Lancaster.

How does it work?
When you apply to the International Study Centre, you will choose between two pathways, depending on your career aims. Upon acceptance to the Pre-Masters Programme, you will also receive a conditional offer to study a Masters degree at Lancaster University after successful completion of your Pre-Masters.

Business, Law and Social Sciences
By studying the Pre-Masters Programme in Business, Law and Social Sciences, you can prepare for a successful future in a wide range of roles across business and management, law and the social sciences. The programme leads to a variety of Masters degrees at Lancaster University, including some at the Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) – one of the top 100 business schools in the world.

Programme structure
During this programme, you will study subject specific modules to prepare for your future Masters degree, as well as academic study and English language skills. You will discover how to undertake independent research, as well as developing your writing fluency for postgraduate level. The programme also explores contemporary global issues whilst encouraging you to expand your knowledge by critically analysing the subject matter.

Criminology and Criminal Justice
The Criminology & Criminal Justice MA covers a range of criminal justice and criminological debates. It also enables you to engage in more specialised socio-legal studies and offers the opportunity to explore discourse on international human rights, criminal law and transitional justice.

Our Law School is home to the Centre for Crime, Law and Justice, the Centre for Law and Society, and the Centre for Child and Family Justice; these centres underpin our postgraduate teaching, which is often research-led and research-informed. 80% of the School’s research was rated as internationally excellent or world leading in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (2014). Therefore, many of our lecturers are internationally recognised researchers.

The course of study is similar for the MA and the LLM apart from the final dissertation and the Criminological Research in Practice module. Core modules are Crime & Criminal Justice in the 21st Century, Criminological Theory, and Criminological Research in Practice. You’ll also choose three from: International Criminal Law; Criminologies of Violence; Feminist Criminology; International Human Rights Law; International Terrorism and the Law; and Transitional Justice, Human Rights and Peace Building. You’ll complete your degree with either a Criminology or Criminal Justice Dissertation (MA).

Your postgraduate degree can open doors to a wide range of careers within, and beyond, the criminal justice sector. Your degree could lead to jobs such as research jobs in the Home Office, Probation Service, and Social Services, and jobs within non-profit-making organisations, including the NHS, educational institutions and charities working with young offenders or victims of crime. You will have the opportunity to develop the skills required to critically evaluate criminological research, which can be highly prized by employers in both the public and private sectors. Whilst on the degree you will also have the chance to develop your analytical and communication skills which can help to build on your employability in and out of the criminal justice sector.