In a world where over 1.4 billion people still live in poverty and inequality continues to rise, both within and between nations, the MSc Global Development with Poverty and Inequality equips you with the critical tools and real-world insight to address one of humanity’s most urgent moral and political challenges.
MSc Global Development with Poverty and Inequality focuses on the causes, consequences and lived realities of poverty and inequality across different global contexts.
You will explore how poverty and inequality are understood, measured and addressed, and examine the social, political and economic structures that shape people’s lives and opportunities.
The course is designed for students who want to move beyond headlines and statistics to understand the root causes of poverty and inequality.
You will consider how inequality is produced and contested across areas such as material deprivation, social exclusion, power, race, gender and rights, while developing the analytical skills needed to assess development policy and practice.
You will build critical and practical skills in analysing poverty, evaluating policy responses and understanding how more equitable alternatives can be developed. The course supports you to engage with different conceptual frameworks and real-world development challenges, helping you connect theory with the complex realities faced by communities, institutions and policymakers.
Studying at Manchester places you within the Global Development Institute, one of the largest development-focused research and teaching institutes in Europe.
You will be part of a university ranked in the world’s top five for Development Studies, with opportunities to engage with a diverse community of students and researchers focused on global development challenges (QS Rankings, 2026).
The programme is suitable for students seeking careers in government, international organisations, NGOs, civil society organisations, the private sector, research, policy and development practice.
We require a UK Honours degree with a First or Upper Second (2.1) classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline.
When assessing your academic record we take into account the grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.