MA development studies admission practice interview
Development debates, community perspectives, policy evidence and readiness for interdisciplinary postgraduate study. Practise the 5 questions admissions panels ask with follow-ups. Paid plans add scored feedback on every answer.
Free with an Intaviu account: 320 credits a month, at 10 credits a minute of practice. Private: interview creators never see them.
- 15 minutes
- 5 questions
- Scored feedback on paid plans
About the programme
This interview assesses how you think about complex development problems rather than whether you know one approved answer. The panel wants evidence that you can connect theory, policy and lived experience, question the quality of evidence and approach communities with humility.
How to prepare
- Select two development issues and map their economic, political, social and historical dimensions.
- Review a policy or programme and separate its activities, outputs, outcomes and wider effects.
- Prepare an example of how stakeholder interests or power shaped a project or public decision.
- Read contrasting arguments on one issue and decide where the evidence is strongest.
- Define a focused area of study without pretending to have a complete research proposal.
Common mistakes
- Describing communities only as passive recipients of outside help.
- Using broad claims about poverty or inequality without examining causes and evidence.
- Measuring success only through activities completed rather than changes experienced.
- Presenting a personal commitment to development without a clear academic question.
What to expect
A real admissions interview
5 questions the way admissions panels ask, with follow-ups when an answer needs more.
Spoken, like the real thing
Speak your answers in your browser or the free desktop app, with live captions. You can ask the interviewer to repeat anything.
Scored on 4 areas
The things this interview weighs most. With a paid plan, your report shows how you did on each one.
A private report
On Plus, Pro and Premium: every answer scored, your strongest lines quoted and what to say differently next time. Interview creators never see it.
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