
Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Arts (MA)
- Duration
- 1 year
- Entry requirements
-
We require a UK bachelor's degree with a First or Upper Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline.
When assessing your academic record we consider your degree subject, grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.
- How to apply
- Apply online
Course options
Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
---|---|---|---|---|
MA | Y | Y | N | N |
Course overview
- Study a master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies at a university ranked top 10 in the UK and top 40 worldwide for Politics (Times Higher Education World Rankings by Subject 2025).
- Benefit from a course developed by one of the world’s most prominent peace scholars, Professor Oliver Richmond.
- Develop a sound understanding of international peace architecture and interventions. See peacebuilding in action on an academically enriching international field trip.
- Tailor your studies to your interests with a broad choice of optional course units examining a range of pressing global issues.
- Join one of the UK’s largest and most prestigious politics departments, situated in a uniquely political city.
- Graduate from one of the UK’s most targeted universities by top employers (High Fliers, The Graduate Market Report 2024).
- Seamlessly transition from master's to PhD study through a fully-funded 1+3 pathway with our prestigious ESRC North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP).
Open days
On this day, you will learn more about the School, our resources, and meet academic and admissions staff who will be able to answer any questions you have.
For more information, see open days and visits .
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:
-
MA (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £17,900
International, including EU, students (per annum): £28,900 -
MA (part-time)
UK students (per annum): £8,950
International, including EU, students (per annum): £14,400
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.
All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for international students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit postgraduate fees .
Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1,000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
For information on available scholarships please visit: Master’s Fees and Funding
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Social Sciences
- Contact name
- School of Social Sciences Admissions Office
- Telephone
- +44 (0) 161 306 5500
- pgt-politics@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/politics/
- School/Faculty overview
-
See: School Subjects
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
We require a UK bachelor's degree with a First or Upper Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline.
When assessing your academic record we consider your degree subject, grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.
English language
Applicants whose first language is not English should meet the following language requirements:
- IELTS Academic test score of 7 overall, including 7 in writing with no further component score below 6.5
- TOEFL IBT 100 with 25 in writing and no further score below 22 in each section. TOEFL code for Manchester is 0757
- Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 76 overall, with 76 in writing and no further score below 70
Further information on accepted language requirements can be found here .
Pre-Sessional English Courses
We will consider applicants who do not meet these scores but you will be required to complete a pre-sessional English language course at the University of Manchester prior to the start of the course.
To be considered for a pre-sessional English language course for this programme we require the following minimum IELTS (Academic) scores:
6 Week Pre-Sessional Course : IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and no more than one sub-skill of 6.0.
10 Week Pre-sessional Course : IELTS 6.0 overall with 6.0 or above in each sub-skill
If you have not yet completed your current academic study and are interested in studying a pre-sessional course, you must hold an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) test certificate to ensure that you are eligible for a separate visa for the English language course.
English language test validity
Some English Language test results are only valid for two years. Your English Language test report must be valid on the start date of the course.
Applicants from Majority English-speaking countries
If you are a national of a majority English-speaking country (or have studied for a full bachelor's degree or higher from one of these countries) you may be exempt from submitting further evidence of English language proficiency.
Other international entry requirements
We accept a range of qualifications from across the globe. To help international students, the university provides specific information for many individual countries. Please see our country-specific information page for guidance on the academic and English language qualifications which may be accepted from your country.
Application and selection
How to apply
Advice to applicants
Please note, due to the high volume of applications we receive, an early application is advised.
If you meet our entry requirements but we are unable to make you an offer, you may be placed on a waiting list.
Candidates on a waiting list will receive an offer only if places become available.
Re-applications
Transfers
Course details
Course description
With peace processes collapsing into war in many places around the world, there has never been a more important time to study how and why peace processes succeed or fail. With the help of award-winning academics, our Peace and Conflict Studies master's course will build your understanding of how peace is defined, built, and maintained.
Our MA in Peace and Conflict Studies draws on expertise from the fields of politics, history, anthropology and the arts to offer you the opportunity to engage with conflict management, conflict resolution, conflict transformation, peacebuilding and statebuilding theories and practices. The course has a particular focus on the actors responsible for building peace, from grassroots agents to intergovernmental organisations like the United Nations. It will also empower you to critically evaluate the very notion of peace itself from postcolonial, gender and global justice perspectives.
The dynamics of these various contributions to peace will be the focus of a guided research visit with the range of peace and conflict management actors present in either Bosnia Herzegovina or Cyprus in Semester 2.
You’ll also be able to tailor your course to fit your interests, exploring topics such as:
- Humanitarianism and Conflict Response;
- The Ethics of Killing;
- Human Rights in World Politics;
- Critical Environmental Politics.
See a full list of mandatory and optional course units below.
Throughout the course you will develop highly desirable and transferrable skills in critical enquiry, conflict analysis, critical thinking, presenting research and teamwork.
At the point of completion, you will be well placed for a broad range of careers in areas such as international and regional organisations, policy analysis, the NGO and international NGO sector, foreign ministries and development agencies, among others.
This course is eligible for the 1+3 studentship offered by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP), offering a unique, fully-funded route into postgraduate research. If your application is successful, you’ll be able to seamlessly transition from master's-level study to a PhD. Find out more on our 1+3 ESRC NWSSDTP webpage.
Aims
You will develop a critical understanding of:
- Key issues and debates related to the theories in Peace and Conflict Studies such as conflict management, conflict resolution, conflict transformation. We will investigate how thinking about peace has changed across the different generations of theorising, with particular reference to the main debates in International Relations theory.
- Concepts and practices used within the international peace architecture, especially peace negotiations, mediation, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and statebuilding. We will examine how these practices are supposed to work together and explain why peace processes stagnate or falter despite such concerted efforts.
- The range of international actors and organisations, their policies and practices, and the benefits as well as shortcomings of their interventions. Here, we will also analyse the factors that are blocking international and localised efforts to promote peace.
- The range of social science topics that influence peacebuilding, statebuilding, conflict management, etc., (including political, historical, anthropological understandings of peace and related programming strategies). You will become familiar with the methodological and normative underpinnings of these disciplines.
- The analytical and policy literature concerning peacebuilding, international governance structures, statebuilding, and the role of key actors and institutions including NGOs and military and other security actors. You will be able to evaluate the theory and policy tools in the context of the recent history of peacebuilding and statebuilding since the end of the Cold War.
- Local approaches to peacebuilding, including an awareness of the problems and critiques associated with `bottom up' approaches. You will examine current debates on the nature of everyday peace and hybrid forms of peace, related questions about `local agency' and forms of resistance, activism, and social mobilisation.
- The on-the-ground realities of peacebuilding and statebuilding through a research fieldtrip to Bosnia and Herzegovina or Cyprus. You will encounter the range of actors involved in the peace process (from international to regional, national, and local actors) and you will be able to conduct your own research.
Special features
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It's amazing that this programme is only one year because I learned so much nuanced material.
The professors in the politics department are passionate, helpful and understand how to preapre students for academia or outside research. The fieldwork trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina is especially rewarding.
Liliana Solomon, USA / MA Peace and Conflict Studies graduate
Enhanced experience
This course offers a novel configuration for research, teaching and practical enquiry, uniquely examining the perspectives of peace practitioners, researchers and policymakers within the broader international peace architecture. As a student, you will have the opportunity to enhance your learning with voluntary and extracurricular activities such as:
- Country-specific case briefings;
- Discussions of policy analysis with UN staff;
- A dedicated Peace and Conflict Studies speaker series with key thinkers in the field;
- A conflict mapping internship;
- Our annual peacebuilding conference in Manchester, where you can participate in a student panel.
Field trip
Usually to Bosnia and Herzegovina or Cyprus, this research trip is included in the cost of your degree and serves to develop your conflict-sensitive research skills. You will meet policymakers, staff of international and regional organisations (such as the UN, OSCE, EU, OHR), and local peacebuilders. Afterwards, you will carry out your own small-scale research project.
Prestigious department in a unique city
Our MA in Peace and Conflict Studies is developed and led by Professor Oliver Richmond, one of the world’s leading scholars in the fields of International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies.
The University of Manchester boasts one of the largest and best-known politics departments in the UK. We are home to some of the world’s leading experts and academics in the subject, and co-hosts (with Oxford) of the British Election Study, one of the longest-running election studies in the world and the longest-running social science survey in the UK.
In our biased opinion, there’s no better place to study politics than Manchester. Politics and history, revolutionary ideas and radical reform, are etched into the city’s streets and character, from workers' rights to feminism, Marxism to devolution.
Teaching and learning
The MA Peace and Conflict Studies is taught by an interdisciplinary team using a variety of delivery methods:
- lectures;
- workshops;
- student-led presentations and debate;
- group work;
- individual research.
The course is influenced and informed by the research of both staff and postgraduate research students at the department, such as:
- political space in the aid industry;
- local / hybrid approaches to peacebuilding;
- the contribution of BRICS nations to peace and security programming;
- ethnographic approaches to understanding violence;
- refugees and internally displaced persons;
- the political economy of conflict.
Coursework and assessment
You will be assessed through several methods, with the aim of building up numerous academic and professional skills.
Forms of assessment will include:
- research essays (3,000+ words);
- the running of group workshops;
- reflective journals/learning logs;
- contribution to group discussion boards (electronically);
- oral presentations;
- literature reviews/research design.
Part-time students
Part-time students complete the full-time course over two years. There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time course.
Course unit details
A master’s degree is formed of 180 credits.
120 of these credits are made up by a mix of mandatory and optional course units, worth 15 credits each. You will need to select eight of these course units (two mandatory and six optional), with 60 credits taken each semester. On the MA Peace and Conflict Studies, there are two mandatory course units:
- POLI70991 Rethinking Peacemaking in the 21st Century
- POLI71102 Practical Approaches to Studying Conflict Affected Societies
You will also choose six optional course units – see the full list below.
The availability of individual optional course units may be subject to change. Information that is sent to you in August about registration onto the course will clearly state the course units that are available in the academic year ahead.
The remaining 60 credits are awarded through a compulsory research component in the form of a 12,000-to-15,000-word dissertation. Your dissertation must be within the area of one of the course units you have chosen.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Rethinking Peacemaking in the 21st Century | POLI70991 | 15 | Mandatory |
Practical Approaches to Studying Conflict Affected Societies | POLI71102 | 15 | Mandatory |
Dissertation | POLI72000 | 60 | Mandatory |
Humanitarianism and Conflict Response: Inquiries | HCRI60031 | 15 | Optional |
Anthropology of Violence and Reconstruction | HCRI60131 | 15 | Optional |
Humanitarian Diplomacy and Negotiation in Practice | HCRI60222 | 15 | Optional |
Governing in an Unjust World: Justice and International Relations | POLI60182 | 15 | Optional |
The Ethics Of Killing | POLI60221 | 15 | Optional |
Global Governance | POLI70422 | 15 | Optional |
Human Rights in World Politics | POLI70492 | 15 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 18 course units | |||
Display all course units |
Facilities
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities

Before taking this postgraduate course, I have always considered myself to have a solid professional experience in a variety of areas related to this course as I spent more than 9 years working with different UN agencies in conflict-affected countries.
The top-quality learning methodologies and the excellent teaching cadre have turned this programme into an eye-opener and a thought-provoking experience theoretically and practically. Indeed, the excitement in this postgraduate programme from the discovery through the process of in-depth learning and interaction is immensely satisfying.
Fakhri Mansour, Syria / MA Peace and Conflict Studies graduate
The University of Manchester is one of the most targeted universities by the UK’s top graduate employers (High Fliers, The Graduate Market Report 2024).
Our MA Peace and Conflict Studies gives you the specialist knowledge and skills required for a range of careers across the public, private, and third sectors, such as in:
- local and central government;
- international and supranational institutions, such as the UN and the EU;
- research, policy, think-tanks, institutes, and NGOs;
- management and policy consulting.
You will also acquire vital skills relevant to many different sectors and roles, such as research design and academic writing, communication skills, and teamwork skills. Recent graduates from The University of Manchester’s master’s courses in Peace and Conflict Studies, International Relations, and Politics have succeeded in organisations such as:
- British Red Cross;
- Home Office;
- NHS;
- House of Commons;
- KPMG;
- BNY Mellon;
- Boeing;
- Princeton University.
Another popular option is to continue specialising for a career in research and universities through a PhD in Politics or in another related field.
The University has its own dedicated, award-winning Careers Service where you can benefit from tailored careers support, practice interviews, CV and application support, job listings for Manchester students, and much more. Better yet, you will have access to our Careers Service both during your course and for two years after you graduate, so we know you’re on the right path.