Department of Anthropology

At the Department of Anthropology, you'll trace how power moves through kinship and resistance – guided by researchers who've done fieldwork with rural and urban communities, activists, and religious movements across every region of the world. Every assumption you carry gets tested against lived evidence, generation after generation.

That rigour has earned LSE the UK's #1 spot for Anthropology in the Complete University Guide 2027. Undergraduate options include BA Social Anthropology and BA Anthropology and Law. At the graduate level, you can pursue MSc Anthropology and Development or MSc Culture, Justice and Environment.

Department of Gender Studies

Founded by scholars who were told gender studies had "no place at a university," LSE Gender grew into the largest Department of Gender Studies in Europe. Its research tracks how gender, power, and inequality cross borders and cultures. Around 150 students sign up yearly to pursue its eight master's programmes, pairing feminist theory with real-world research. Choose from MSc Gender (Sexuality), MSc Gender (Rights and Human Rights), MSc Gender, Peace and Security, or MSc Gender, Policy and Inequalities, and many more.

Department of Health Policy

If you're passionate about health systems and the social and political forces shaping them, the Department of Health Policy sharpens that interest into real expertise with LSE ranked  #1 in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2027 for Social Policy.  That strength runs through every programme on offer. MSc Global Health Policy and MSc Health Data Science sharpen your skills in data analysis and policy design at the postgraduate level.

Department of Sociology

Founded in 1904 as the UK's first sociology department, LSE Sociology now ranks first in the UK in The Guardian University Guide 2026 and first in London in the Complete University Guide 2027 and first in London in the Complete University Guide 2027. Its research spans economic sociology, politics and human rights, social inequalities, and urban sociology. There are 10 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes offered, including BSc Sociology, MSc Sociology, MSc Political Sociology, MSc Human Rights, and MSc Economy and Society.

Department of International History

The department traces back to the Stevenson Chair of International History, endowed in 1926 to teach history "internationally and as far as practicable" beyond national borders. The success of its mission is clear for all to see in its recent rankings: 10^th in the world for History in the QS World University Rankings 2026, and 1^st in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2027. Research runs through the Cold War Studies Project and the Iranian History Initiative, feeding directly into teaching. Undergraduates study BA History  while graduates can choose MSc programmes including MSc History of International Relations and MSc Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation, double master's degrees or MPhil/PhD International History.

Department of Geography and Environment

Geography has been taught at LSE since its very first lectures in 1895, making the Department of Geography and Environment one of the school's founding disciplines. That 130-year foundation now holds second place globally for Geography in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026.

Its research focuses on economic and urban geography, urban planning, environmental social science, and climate change, all grounded in real-world applications. Five undergraduate programmes cover the core discipline. Ten postgraduate options go deeper, from MSc Environment and Development and MSc Regional and Urban Planning Studies through to MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation, and MSc Local Economic Development.