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.

Media and Cultural Studies
Media technologies, platforms and organisations, as well as their multiple cultural roles and implications, are changing. Some emerge, others seem threatened with extinction. How can we understand these changes? How can we acquire skills to work within changing media organisations? Our Media and Cultural Studies MA gives you the opportunity to be at the center of digital innovation – from theory to practice – in areas of media and cultural studies.

You will have the chance to interact with key texts, debates and thinkers, ranging from cultural theory through to scholarship in new media, digital technology, globalised culture, media power, and identity. You will also have opportunities to gain practical skills in areas such as digital journalism, visual storytelling, and audio-visual culture.

Our aim is to advance your skills in the kinds of critical thinking, independent research, and creative production relevant for development and innovation in the cultural and media sectors and in furthering critical scholarship. Our graduates have gone on to careers in research, digital journalism, publishing, marketing, as well as founding their own media organisations. 

This degree normally comprises of three core (compulsory) modules and three optional modules.