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The Senior Leader Apprenticeship + Marketing and Leadership MSc developed in partnership with Cranfield School of Management and CIM Academy. This part-time programme runs over 26 months and is delivered in two parts. It offers the best of academic theory, commercial insights and practical application. By completing both parts, learners will achieve a dual qualification, the Marketing and Leadership MSc and the CIM Marketing Leadership Programme and an option to register for Chartered Marketer status.
This programme meets the requirements of the Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship Standard. Apprenticeship Levy funding of £14,000 can be used to fund part 1 of the programme with an additional £5,000 required to fund part 2 of the programme to complete the full MSc and CIM Marketing Leadership Programme. The programme can also be attended by participants who choose to self-finance their studies.
This practical master’s course enhances your strategic marketing talent and ability to lead change. You will develop an understanding of management and leadership functions, including accounting and finance, growth and innovation, people management and organisational behaviour. In addition, you will learn specialist and advanced subjects relating to marketing including value propositions, customer relationships and delivery, marketing communications and evaluating marketing effectiveness.
As a CIM member, you will have access to a variety of benefits, all designed to give you a competitive edge and start your journey to becoming a Chartered Marketer.
This course is aimed at:
• Experienced marketing professionals who are seeking, or required, to take on leadership roles involving the development of market strategy, managing customer relationships and contributing to business growth.
• Early-career professionals who want a “real-world” business education which they can apply directly back to their workplace.
• Second career professionals seeking a change into marketing and leadership positions.
• Self-motivated marketing managers keen to develop themselves, enhance their skills, knowledge and abilities, and become more effective leaders.
Course Director
The course is director is Annmarie Hanlon. Dr Hanlon is an academic and practitioner in strategic digital marketing and the application of social media for business. Her PhD investigated benefits and outcomes of social media marketing within organisations for which she was awarded the Mais Scholarship. Originally a graduate in French and Linguistics from University of London, Annmarie studied for the Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma and won the Worshipful Company of Marketors’ award for the best results worldwide. She gained a Master’s in Business Administration, focusing on marketing planning and achieved a distinction for the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s E-Marketing Award.
This page is for employers and prospective students interested in the Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Marketing and Leadership MSc via the Apprenticeship Levy. If you are looking for information about the self-funded part-time Marketing and Leadership MSc, please view here.
• Cranfield School of Management consistently performs well in international business rankings. They are top 10 in the UK and 34th in Europe in the Financial Times European Business Schools 2021 Rankings.
• Cranfield University’s teaching is exclusively focused on postgraduate and executive levels and is designed to nurture your practical business skills and confidence.
• Cranfield University’s Centre for Strategic Marketing and Sales possesses a worldwide reputation for applied marketing research, particularly focusing on: marketing strategy and planning, strategic sales, key account management, customer relationships and digital transformation.
• You will have a distinctive and collaborative learning experience which is centred on interactive classroom sessions delivered by faculty directly involved with global businesses.
• You will study with a cohort of experienced professionals, build your network and gain insights into marketing and management best practice.
• You will gain knowledge of the latest marketing trends and develop general management skills, to enable you to lead change in your organisation and help you rise to the top of your marketing department.
• You will generate self-awareness and confidence to lead teams drawn from a diverse variety of cultures, business experiences and personalities.
• You will automatically become a CIM member and start your route to becoming a Chartered Marketer.
• Successful student will leave the course with the MSc in Marketing and Leadership and a Level 7, CIM Marketing Leadership Programme.
Your Career
The Marketing and Leadership MSc will enable you to develop your knowledge, skills and abilities while applying what you learn directly in your workplace. The programme will support your career progression, preparing you to successfully carry out senior leadership roles in the future.
You will work with accredited coaches, members of faculty and careers advisors throughout the course enabling you to:
• Discover and develop your leadership and team-working style
• Identify how to enhance your personal effectiveness
• Work out where you want to go professionally
• Learn the techniques of effective team leadership
• Become more sensitive to situations, cultures and contexts
• Prepare to lead change and face future challenges
• Start your route to becoming a Chartered Marketer.
Start date
25 March 2025
Expression of Interest deadline
10 January 2025
Application deadline
17 January 2025
Campus
Cranfield campus
CIM Moor Hall
Qualifications
MSc in Marketing and Leadership
CIM Marketing Leadership Programme (Level 7)
Membership
Apprenticeship levy
PgDip Part-time £14,000*
* This includes tuition fees and endpoint assessment only. Under the Apprenticeship Levy scheme employers can fund apprenticeships for any new and current staff with the right to work in the UK and whose main place of work is England. This programme meets the requirements of the Level 7 Senior Leader apprenticeship standard. Eligible organisations will be able to use £14,000 of their Apprenticeship Levy to cover the cost of the course. Either you or your employer can fund the additional £5,000 tuition fee to complete what remains of the MSc course.
Fee notes
The fees outlined apply to all students whose initial date of registration falls on or between 1 August 2022 and 31 July 2023.
All students pay the tuition fee set by the University for the full duration of their registration period.
Additional fees for extensions to the agreed registration period may be charged.
Eligibility for Home fee status is determined with reference to UK Government regulations. As a guiding principle UK or Irish nationals who are ordinarily resident in either the UK or Republic of Ireland pay Home tuition fees. All other students (including those from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) pay Overseas fees.
We welcome applications from talented candidates from all backgrounds. Candidates are normally high potential, managers with 3 to 10 years’ post-qualification experience in Marketing roles.
Candidates normally possess a first or second class UK honours degree (or an international equivalent). Alternatively we will consider a professional qualification (such as CIM, IDM, ISM) together with a minimum of 5 years’ post-qualification work experience.
Other relevant qualification, together with significant experience, may also be considered.
Professional experience and personal qualities are equally important to us and each application is considered on its individual merit.
English Language
To study for a formal award at Cranfield you will need to demonstrate that you can communicate effectively in English in an academic environment. Full details of how you can meet this requirement can be found at English Language requirements page.
Approved English test for Marketing and Leadership MSc
Please note that:
We verify all test scores with the text providers.
We are only able to accept tests taken within two years of the course start date.
All elements of the test results must be demonstrated in one test, we are unable to accept a combination of scores across two or more tests.
In extremely rare circumstances we may reject a test score if one element of the test has a very low score. This would only occur if we believed this would impact on your ability to study with us or if the score did not meet UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requirements to study in the UK.
IELTS
IELTS Academic, IELTS Indicator, IELTS Online, IELTS for UKVI Academic – 6.5 overall and 6.0 in all skill components.
TOEFL
TOEFL iBT (we accept TOEFL iBT, TOEFL, iBT Home Edition and TOEFL iBT Paper Edition) – 92 total and minimum skill component scores of 20 reading, 20 listening, 21 speaking and 20 writing.
Pearson PTE
PTE Academic, PTE Academic Online, PTE Academic UKVI – 65 overall and 62 in all skill components.
Cambridge Assessment English
Any Cambridge Assessment English test meeting the required score will be accepted. The following are recommended as being within the scale score range: Cambridge C1 Advanced, Cambridge C2 Proficiency, Linguaskill General – Cambridge English Scale score of 180 overall and 175 in all skill components.
Trinity College London
Integrated Skills in English – ISE III (C1) – Overall Pass outcome.
LanguageCert
International ESOL B2 Communicator (both the Written and Spoken tests must be taken), International ESOL SELT B2 (this test includes all 4 skill components) – High Pass overall and 33 in all skill components.
Course details
The course covers core subjects in a series of 11 modules. These are delivered in seven one-week residential sessions over 15 months. Alongside the residential weeks, 20% of the course is delivered through a mix of online and face-to-face learning. The course is highly interactive and student-centred with large elements of teamwork, group projects and private study. The independent work-based project or thesis commences in the latter part of the second year. You will tackle live company challenges or select a relevant thesis topic, with the support of academic experts and company-based professionals.
The Cranfield Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Marketing and Leadership MSc is delivered in two parts:
Part 1: 11 modules are studied over a 15-month period. During this time, students build their portfolio of work-based evidence with support from their employer and their Cranfield Apprenticeship Tutor. Students also have peer coaching alongside their studies. This concludes with an End-Point Assessment (EPA), completed over a five-month period, which includes the student’s Strategic Business Proposal, supported by their employer.
Part 2: Progression to the Marketing and Leadership MSc over a further six-month period including research preparation and an organisation-based or relevant research project.
All the modules listed below need to be taken as part of this course.
CIM Informed by industry
An external advisory panel informs the design and development of this course, and comprises senior marketing practitioners, reinforcing its relevance to the modern business world. Many of our faculty have held senior positions in industry and continue to engage with industry through consultancy and teaching. They are also supported by a team of international industry speakers and professors who bring the latest thinking and best practice into the classroom.
Course delivery
Part 1 taught modules are mapped to the revised Senior Leader Apprenticeship Standard (SLA). These are assessed through assignments that relate to a wide range of marketing and management themes. Part 2, the written thesis project, is written individually and submitted at the end of the course.
Independent work-based project
Your independent work based thesis commences in the second half of the second year. You will tackle live company challenges, or develop a relevant research question, and with the support of academic experts, and company-based professionals, develop a reflective report.
Modules
Keeping our course up-to-date and current requires constant innovation and change. The modules we offer reflect the needs of business and industry and the research interests of our staff. As a result, they may change or be withdrawn due to research developments, legislation changes or for a variety of other reasons. Changes may also be designed to improve the student learning experience or to respond to feedback from students, external examiners, accreditation bodies and industrial advisory panels.
To give you a taster, we have listed above the compulsory and elective (where applicable) modules which are currently affiliated with this course. All modules are indicative only, and may be subject to change for your year of entry.
To speak to a CIM Academy learning advisor call +44 (0)1628 427240, email cimacademy@cim.co.uk or complete the contact form below.
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