Frequently Asked Questions
for new students - first year undergraduates

This FAQ is divided into the following sections:

• General Questions
• Questions for first-year undergraduates
• Questions for taught course graduate students 
  (MSc International Relations (IR), MSc IR Research, MSc International Political Economy (IPE), MSc IPE Research and Sciences Po-LSE Double Degree in Affaires Internationales and IR/IPE (SPDD), MSc IR Theory)
• Questions for first-year research students (MPhil/PhD)

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Questions for first-year Undergraduates (BSc IR):

1. Who is in charge of my programme?
2. What is the format of undergraduate teaching?
3. What kind of tutorial supervision will I receive?
4. How do I find out who my Tutor is?
5. How will I choose and sign up for my Year One courses?
6. Why does the IR Dept not offer half-unit courses at the BSc level?
7. How do I find out when and where lectures and classes are held?
8. How do I change the time of a class?
9. What guidance is provided on course teaching?
10. Why are reading lists for IR Dept courses generally so long?
11. What is the method of assessment for BSc students in the IR Dept?
12. Why is there very little continuous assessment?
13. How do I get my examination results?

Answers

In 2008/9, the BSc IR will be overseen by Dr John Kent as Departmental Tutor (DT), who is a full-time member of the IR Department. You are politely requested not to contact the Departmental Tutor before your arrival. If you have an urgent enquiry which cannot wait until the induction meeting, where much will be explained, you should instead email Andrew Sherwood, BSc IR Programme Administrator, at a.sherwood@lse.ac.uk or telephone him on 020 7955 7562. Matters related to your registration/payment of fees should be directed to the Student Services Centre. [back to top]

2.  What is the format of undergraduate teaching?

Each course generally comprises a series of lectures which are not compulsory but which you are strongly advised to attend and an accompanying class at which attendance is compulsory. While lectures can attract large numbers of students, classes are limited in size and provide an opportunity for students to give presentations and discuss issues raised both in the lectures and as a result of private study. You are entitled to attend any lectures offered throughout the School but should only attend those classes for which you are registered. Students are expected to supplement formal contact hours by extensive unsupervised reading, preparation for classes and essay-writing. Reading lists, and, in many cases, lecture handouts, are provided in hard copy and electronically. The former will be available from the beginning of the new session. See also Question 9 and Question 10 below. [Back to top]

3.  What kind of tutorial supervision will I receive?

Your tutor maintains an overview of your progress and offers advice as well as marking and giving feedback on essays for your first-year compulsory IR course, IR100 Structure of International Society. Arrangements for meeting your tutor on a regular basis will be explained at your first meeting with him/her. Although you may not request a particular tutor, if the relationship proves unsatisfactory, it is entirely proper for you to approach the Departmental Tutor (or, if your tutor is the Departmental Tutor, the Head of the Department) to request a transfer. In seeking such a transfer, requests for a specific tutor are not permitted. [Back to top]

4. How do I find out who my Tutor is?

You will be informed of your tutor's name and first appointment at the end of your induction meeting (see General Question 6).  [Back to top]

5. How will I choose and sign up for my Year One courses?

Please consult the Student Services Centre New Arrivals webpage for information regarding course registration. [Back to top]

6. Why does the IRD not offer half-unit courses at the BSc level?

The IRD believes that at the undergraduate level, breadth of study is just as important as depth of study. Half-unit courses are intensive, in-depth treatments of quite specialised areas and are thus most appropriately taken at the MSc level. However, this situation may be subject to review in the future. [Back to top]

7.  How do I find out when and where lectures and classes are held?

Timetabling is undertaken by the School rather than by Departments and the Module Timetable, which gives lecture times and venues, is available on-line (see LSE Teaching and Timetabling) shortly before teaching begins. Once you have been allocated to classes, this information will also be accessible via LSE For You towards the end of week 1 of Michaelmas Term. (Please note that the Module Timetable also lists details of MSc seminars and research student workshops which are not relevant to you.) Relevant Course Guides in the online Undergraduate Handbook also provide details of timetable arrangements, e.g. the number of meetings and when teaching begins. [Back to top]

8.  How do I change the time of a class?

If you have a timetable clash with other unavoidable and serious commitments you can ask to be assigned to another class. This class will be allocated by the Student Services Centre (SSC) on completion of a Change of Class Form available from the SSC. You will be required to get the signature of the Departmental Tutor of the Department that is responsible for the teaching, who will decide whether to approve the change. For further details, please see the Student Services Centre website.  [Back to top]

9. What guidance is provided on course reading?

Each course has its own detailed reading list, which is available in the IRD public folders. Some teachers make additional course materials available in the public folder for specific courses, or on Moodle, which is a web-based location bringing together a range of resources including course information and reading lists, discussion boards and online quizzes. Moodle is being used for a growing number of IR courses, details of which are provided at the beginning of each session. [Back to top]

10. Why are reading lists for IRD courses generally so long?

The IRD's teaching philosophy places great emphasis on independent study and student initiative. Reading lists are provided by course teachers but are intended as guides only. Teachers will not normally specify that you must read particular readings every week. Instead, they will highlight recommended reading (works that they themselves consider to be valuable on a particular topic) but you are responsible for ensuring that you have read widely and deeply enough to be able to contribute to class discussions and to write essays. You are thus free to choose readings from the reading list and your own research which you judge to be appropriate for the topic at hand. [Back to top]

11. What is the method of assessment for BSc students in the IRD?

Examinations are the primary method of assessment. In almost all BSc courses in the IRD you are assessed on the basis of a three-hour final exam in the Summer Term. The mark for that examination will constitute 100% of your mark in the course unit. The one exception is IR311 Europe's Institutional Order which requires students to write a long essay of 5,000 words, based on research involving original documents, in addition to a final three-hour exam. The essay constitutes 25% of the final mark.

In most courses, however, you must write four short essays (normally maximum 1,500 words in length) as part of your preparation for the examination. These essays are marked but the marks do not count towards your final mark. Note: Students may substitute the fourth essay for a timed, hand-written answer to a past examination question as long as it is submitted by the essay 4 deadline.

In addition, all BSc students could choose to write a 10,000-word Dissertation in their third year (IR398). The Dissertation is unsupervised and must be entirely the candidate's own work. Tutors are permitted to give advice of a general and bibliographic nature on the basis of the submitted outline. In no circumstances are they, or any other teachers within the School or the wider university community, permitted to read or comment upon a draft of the dissertation or any part thereof. Further information regarding the Dissertation is provided in the IR398 Course Guide and the School Calendar and in our Taught Courses Handbook which will be given to you at your induction meeting. [Back to top]

12. Why is there very little continuous assessment?

The Department generally adheres strongly to the pedagogical philosophy that final examinations are the fairest and most effective means of assessing student learning. Continuous assessment (via essays and mid-term examinations) has various drawbacks: grading essays can disincentivise students to experiment and to take risks in writing essays; there is much greater risk of plagiarism in essays; and the LSE's double-marking requirements make essay grading a very costly process. Final examinations also have the advantage of testing students after their knowledge and understanding has matured over the course of the academic year. [Back to top]

13.  How do I get my examination results?

Official results are sent to students' home addresses by the central Student Services Centre during August. Provisional results are available online in mid-July. If you fail to meet the progression requirements for the degree (e.g. if you fail more than one examination), you will be automatically sent details to your email address by the central administration on what you need to do next. This will be done by the end of July.  [Back to top]

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This page last modified on April 15, 2008

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