The programme is designed to develop Students English language skills and introduce students to essential academic and study skills before travelling to the International Study Centre to begin their academic programme.

The Pre-Masters is a three-term programme that provides the specialist academic and English language preparation students need to succeed as a postgraduate student at Durham University. Once they successfully complete this Pre-Masters programme and achieve the required grades, they can start their chosen Masters degree at Durham University. After completing this pathway, students will transfer to the Master of Arts in Research Methods. This is a degree offered in collaboration with other departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences. It is designed to provide a strong all round training in research methods allied to further specialisation within the fields of politics, international relations and security for those intending to go on to register for a PhD. As such it implements the ESRC research training guidelines for '1+3' PhD students, and includes compulsory elements in a wide variety of techniques including statistics and quantitative methods, but contains less subject-specific content than the other MA courses.