Get the skills and experience you need for a postgraduate degree in the humanities and social sciences, designed for international and EU students.
Are you changing disciplines? Need to improve your level of English? Don't otherwise meet the academic entry requirements for direct entry to a master's degree? Our Graduate Diploma in Humanities and Social Sciences offers non-UK students a one-year pathway to postgraduate study at Queen Mary and other UK institutions.
Running from either September to June or January to July, this highly intensive diploma is primarily aimed at those wanting to study business and management, politics and international relations, linguistics or film.
You'll take two compulsory modules along with two other modules of your choice, which will be determined by the subjects you want to study at Masters Level after completing your diploma. You'll develop solid knowledge in your chosen academic field, and improve your ability to use academic English effectively at postgraduate level.
Start your Graduate Diploma in Humanities and Social Sciences in either September or January. You’ll choose your modules based on which postgraduate degree you want to study after your diploma.
You choose the rest of modules depending on which master's degree you want to take after the diploma.
Compulsory
Plus one of the following pairs:
Choose two from the following pairs:
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The most impressive feature is diversity, students from different countries, different cultures. This can broaden my horizon and worldview. Moreover, the teachers are very professional and dedicated, the courses are practical and useful for the following Masters programme.
Academic subjects are taught in lectures and seminars. Lectures can contain up to 50 students, but seminars will be divided into smaller groups of up to 18 students. English language and study skills modules are taught in groups averaging 16 students.
You will attend classes for up to 20 hours per week: 12 hours of English Language and Study Skills and up to eight hours of academic subjects. You will also be expected to undertake independent study.
Assessment typically includes a combination of coursework (portfolios, individual and group presentations, written assignments, in-class tests, research projects and seminars) and/or examinations in May or June.
To progress onto Masters programmes at Queen Mary you will need to achieve minimum grades in individual modules.
The School offers excellent on-campus resources to aid your studies, including:
Degree
Diploma of Higher Education
We accept a wide range of European and international qualifications. Please visit International Admissions for full details.
We require IELTS 5.5 overall including 5.5 in Writing, Reading, Listening and Speaking. Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.
You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.
Once you have met the conditions of your offer, you will need to pay a deposit of £2,000 towards your tuition fees. This deposit will help in applying for your Tier 4 (General) student visa.
Find out more about deposits and read our refund policy.
If your fees are being paid by a government sponsor we do not require a deposit; however, we will need a formal letter from your sponsor confirming the arrangement.
We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.
Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:
Students who achieve the required grades in the diploma are guaranteed a place on a relevant postgraduate degree at Queen Mary. The diploma will also help you to access postgraduate study at other leading UK institutions.
Recent students have gone on to earn postgraduate degrees in:
Languages, lingustics and film
Geography
School of Medicine and Dentistry: Centre for Public Health Policy
** Also available as an MRes.
The Queen Mary careers team can offer:
Learn more about career support and development at Queen Mary.
The School of the Arts combines innovation, discovery and excellence in education and research in Drama, Film, Modern Languages, English & Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, Linguistics and Liberal Arts. We rank in the top 100 worldwide for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024)
With our commitment to social justice, inclusivity and social mobility, our collaborations with external organisations, prominent writers and performers, and our facilities that support both academic and practice-based learning, an education in the School of the Arts equips our students with critical thinking and practical skills, unleashes their imagination and enables them to reach the levels of excellence needed in today’s industries.
We regularly host prominent writers and performers and collaborate with leading organisations such as the V&A, the Barbican, the Live Art Development Agency and Shakespeare’s Globe.
We are renowned for the depth and impact of research - which leads our teaching. We rank 1st for drama and in the top 10 for film in the UK for the quality of our research (REF2021). Our multilingual community brings together brilliant minds from across the world to share a wealth of expertise combining research excellence with an unrivalled commitment to social justice and social mobility.