MA Human Rights - Political Science (Standard Route)

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £15,800
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £28,400
• MA (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £7,900
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £14,200

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

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).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

The course aims to provide students with:

• Strong knowledge of the latest perspectives in political analysis;
• a broad-ranging awareness of tools and methodologies available to researchers undertaking advanced-level primary research in politics;
• strong critical abilities in evaluating leading scholarly work in politics;

• provide a deep and applied understanding of concepts necessary for undertaking original advanced level research in politics.

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

• understand some of the major conceptual debates in the field of comparative politics;
• critically evaluate leading research in politics;
• understand conceptual and methodological questions with greater depth;
• understand the range of analytical tools available for conducting politics research;
• apply the analytical frameworks in their own work, including the dissertation.

The course is comprised of 1 hour lecture and 1 hour seminar. The seminars combine small group and whole-class discussions. Students are expected to critically engage with the reading and to form opinions about it. We aim to provide knowledge of the main analytical perspectives and hold in-depth discussions about key political concepts.

Online Test worth 30% and one main essay 2800 words, worth 70%.

David Marsh and Gerry Stoker's (2010) [eds] [3rd edition] Theory and Methods in Political Science, Basingstoke: Palgrave