We’re delighted to announce that the first cohort of the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) and Department of Social and Policy Sciences MSc in Public Policy (MPP) have graduated.

On 2 December, students took part in the University’s virtual graduation celebrations to mark the completion of their MSc. The MPP is a two-year, part-time specialist course for working professionals, which offers in-depth study of how public policy is made, what shapes it and how public policy professionals can make a difference in diverse contexts.

Our graduates are the first out of our now 51 MPP students to complete the course, having studied – both face-to-face and online - over the past two years.

In managing COVID-response and public service provision as part of their job, while studying how to change policy from the ground up, it has been a challenging year, but one that shows promise for the future of policymaking.

Director of Studies of the MPP, Dr Emma Carmel, adds:

"We are delighted and very impressed by the achievements of our first MPP graduates and we are confident that they will go on to make significant contributions to public policy and to wider social, economic and political life in their diverse fields. We very much look forward to working with them in the future and to maintaining the close relationship between the programme alumni and the University’s research and teaching."

Congratulations again to our MPP graduates.