Program Overview

Educational Leadership in Practice

Overview

The University of Manchester's blended learning, online Master's Degree in Educational Leadership in Practice is designed for educators and teachers looking to move into leadership roles within educational organizations. This part-time, 24-month program allows students to advance their careers in educational leadership without taking a break from work.

Key Features

• Learn on the job with practice-based learning that enables students to create change in the workplace from day one.
• Build a global network with peers and experts during workshops held twice a year at the prestigious Manchester Centre.
• Practice new skills learned from world-leading academics in educational policy and educational leadership.

Who This Course Is For

This program is designed for current and aspiring educational leaders, including policymakers and education consultants. It is ideal for teachers or educators looking to move into leadership roles within educational organizations.

What You Will Learn

• Gain a deep understanding of theories, research, intellectual debates, and best practices from across the globe.
• Reflect on how these could apply to your own practice.
• Develop higher-order thinking skills to inspire you as a leader of education.
• Apply educational leadership skills and find solutions to real-world problems from local and global education organizations.

Where and When You Will Study

This online and blended, part-time master's program allows you to study from anywhere in the world and fit your learning around your day-to-day life. You'll be expected to apply what you learn to your current role, enabling you to create change in the workplace from day one.

Course Units

Mandatory Units

• Models of Educational Leadership: Explore conceptualizing educational leadership practice as adjectival models, considering what this means in diverse international contexts, and examining and evaluating a range of key models.
• Engaging with Research in Educational Leadership: Learn about the empirical literature base and develop the skills to review this literature purpose and practice as well as determine trustworthiness.
• Leading Networks, Partnerships and Collaborations: Explore the key conceptual frameworks and terminology for understanding collaboration, partnerships, and networks, and gain insights into leading networks, partnerships, and collaborations in educational settings.
• Leading Educational Change: Examine how notions of 'change' are located within ideological, political, and epistemological contexts and structures, and develop critical skills on how reform agendas require problematisation to evaluate how they may disrupt or reproduce inequities.
• Education Policy and Leadership: Focus on how international discourses variously enable or hinder certain policies and/or reform agendas, and examine the role of educational leadership in policy reform, welfarism, and The Great Reform Movement (GERM).

Optional Units

• Digital Technologies and Educational Leadership: Demonstrate an understanding of a range of frameworks and theories for the analysis of digitization and digital technologies as they impact on educational leadership, and apply these to influence your own and your institution's practice in this area.
• Leadership of International Schools: Examine historical, critical, and productive perspectives on leading international schools, including the birth and expansion of international schools, implementing emancipatory education, and problematic influencers of change in international settings.

Independent Supervised Study/Project

• Research Skills and the Application of Research to Professional Practice: Develop research skills and apply research to professional practice, including selecting and formulating a dissertation question/topic, study design and methodology, and ethical, safety, social responsibility issues.
• Project-Based Enquiry: Conduct a project-based enquiry, investigating some element of your educational leadership practice.

Course Structure

Our MA in Educational Leadership is taught online to cater to the training needs of professionals around the world. The program comprises five core 20-credit units, one optional unit or apply for APL (Accreditation of Prior Learning), and a 60-credit research project.

Admissions Information

Entry Requirements

• A good honours degree (minimum 2:1) or the overseas equivalent.
• An initial qualification in teaching, or at least one year's professional experience in a public or private educational organization, are desirable but not essential requirements.
• Applicants with a 2:2 will be considered if they have at least three years of teaching experience.

English Language

• IELTS profile of 6.5 overall with no less than 6.5 in the writing component and no other subsection below 6.0.
• TOEFL internet-based score of 90 or more overall, with a minimum writing score of 22 and no other section below 20.
• Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) or Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) overall score of 176 or above, with 176 in writing and no sub-section below 169.

Application and Selection

• Apply online by the deadline of 31 August 2025.
• Submit the following documents with your completed application form:
  • Copies of official degree certificates and transcripts of your previous study.
  • Your CV with details of your work experience.
  • Copies of English Language Certification.
  • A personal supporting statement (up to 500 words).

Scholarships and Bursaries

• UK State School Teachers Bursary: Eligible teachers taking the MA Educational Leadership in Practice will receive a 50% bursary towards their course fees.
• Postgraduate Loans (UK/EU): If you're an English or EU student living in the UK, you may be eligible for a loan from the government.
• Manchester Master's Bursary (UK only): We're committed to helping talented students access further education, regardless of background.

Fees and Funding

• Total course tuition fees for Manchester in September 2025 are £17,000.
• Tuition Fee Discounts:
  • Alumni discount for online students (15%): If you have successfully graduated from a credit-bearing qualification at The University of Manchester or UMIST, you can receive a 15% discount on the tuition fees that you are personally funding.
• Employer Funding: If you are looking to secure funding from your employer, we can help you build a business case or talk to your employer directly.
• Payment by Instalments: During registration, you will have the opportunity to pay your fees in three equal instalments.