School of Social Sciences

Security and International Law MA

Year of entry: 2025

Course length: 12 months Full-Time | 27 months Part-Time

About the course

This topical MA enables you to gain the skills you need to develop your career in international security or enter the field without the need for an undergraduate law degree.

You'll become an expert in international security and the UN system and build the unique skill set necessary to understand key contemporary challenges surrounding armed conflicts, terrorism, modern warfare, and the security of international transactions and intellectual property.

See the full course profile on our website >

Benefit from our first-class facilities, including a purpose-built moot court where you can practically develop your skills

Join a university with a strong heritage of providing legal education since 1872, including graduates such as Dame Christabel Pankhurst

Our graduates are among the most targeted by top UK employers

(High Fliers 2024)

Compulsory Units

Foundations of International Law
International Law and Security
MA Research Paper One
MA Research Paper Two

Optional Units

International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law
Global Environmental and Climate Change Law
International Courts and Tribunals
International Investment Law
International Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Law

These are examples of units offered in 2023/24 and are subject to change. See the full list of units and find out more on the full course profile >

Where will your degree take you?

Today's turbulent world is in increasing need of graduates with unparalleled expertise on legal issues of international security. Our degrees allow you to develop a variety of both subject-specific and transferable skills suited to a wide variety of roles, such as critical thinking, legal analysis, research, problem-solving and communication.

Most of our recent graduates have gone on to work with leading organisations such as government agencies, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, law firms, multinational corporations, the army, and at top universities, with job titles such as Civil Servant, Senior Legal Counsel, International Lawyer, Consultant, and Researcher.

Many of our graduates choose to go on to research degrees (PhD), either at Manchester or at another leading university, where they expand the boundaries of our knowledge and pursue careers in research or academia.

Jesse Soria

Security and International Law MA Graduate

“The University of Manchester Law School is truly an international school and I don't think I have ever been exposed to working with and befriending so many skilled, intelligent, and empowering people with different nationalities. It is an experience that has shaped how I interact with others and that I will cherish for years to come.

The highlight of my course has been an intense week-long module in which the classroom consisted of 50% nuclear scientist PhD candidates and the other half of us were law students. We worked together to find solutions to contemporary issues, as we would in the outside world, and learned from each other."