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Overview
Take steps towards new levels of leadership in your public sector career with this distance learning PgDip Senior Leader Apprenticeship (Public Administration).
By studying online and applying your learning directly to your current role, you'll gain the skills and experience to pursue promotion into public sector strategic leadership and management. What's more, the Government or your employer pay your tuition fees – so it doesn’t cost you anything.
Learning from an expert team of practitioners and academics who work in the public sector, you'll learn how to lead and manage in specialised areas of public services, such as policing, healthcare, education, social services and environmental matters.
Once you complete the course, you'll have new perspectives to bring to your public sector career, as well as the option to continue your studies and top-up your qualification to a full Master's in Public Administration.
Course highlights
- Turn your experience, dedication and commitment to public services into skills that enable you to aim for higher levels of management within all aspects of the public sector
- Explore the latest changes and challenges facing the public sector, including advances of technology in artificial intelligence (AI) and the dark web
- Take advantage of our wide range of sector-specific contacts and receive mentorship and guidance from leaders in the sector
- Get a learning manager from the University and a workplace mentor
- Access our Library resources, including electronic resources which you can accessed from anywhere with a web connection
- Receive feedback from and take part in online discussions with lecturers and other students
Benefits of distance learning
- Work from anywhere, at your own pace, in your own time – with interactive online learning materials hosted on our virtual learning environment, Moodle, and available 24/7 on any device – find out how distance learning works
- Access to over 600,000 ebooks, 55,000 online journals, digital newspapers and a postal loan service from our University Library – see all
- Invitations to online forums where you can discuss your studies with other students and your lecturers
- Access to all student support services via email, phone, online chat or video call
Contact us
Entry requirements
PgDip Senior Leader Apprenticeship (Public Administration) (Distance Learning) entry requirements
- A honours degree or equivalent experience at managerial or leadership level.
- All applicants will be required to complete a Skills Gap Analysis before completing an application form.
- All applicants will be invited to attend an interview.
- All applicants to the Degree Apprenticeship courses must have an acceptable Level 2 qualification in English and Mathematics. Acceptable qualifications include GCSE with grade C/4 or above and Functional Skills with Pass - please note that we are not able to accept all kinds of Level 2 qualifications, so if you are unsure whether you have a suitable qualification please get in touch. If you do not have an acceptable qualification you may be required to take an additional assessment during the application process.
I'm an employer interested in this degree apprenticeship for my staff
There's more information for you about degree apprenticeships in general on our information for employers page, or you can contact us directly.
If you have an employee, or employees, in mind, that's great; if you are creating a new opening, we can help you shape and promote the role.
You and your employer
When you begin studying for your degree apprenticeship:
- You need to be 18 or over
- You should be able to satisfy government requirements on residency:
- you must be a citizen or have the right to live in the UK/EEA
- you must have been a resident in the UK/EEA (not the Channel Islands or Isle of Man) for a minimum of 3 years
- you must not need a Student Route visa, and must not have been on a Student Route visa within the past 3 years
- You need to have the right to work in the UK, and to spend at least 50% of your working hours in England
- Your job should meet the requirements of the apprenticeship standard relevant to this degree – we can advise you and your employer on this
- Your employer needs to have registered an apprentice service account – we can help your employer with this if needed
If you aren't currently working in a relevant field, you can apply for a job and degree apprenticeship simultaneously. Read more about applying for this degree apprenticeship.
Course costs and funding
Tuition fees
The course fee is shared between the Government and some employers, meaning no cost to you as the degree apprentice. Total tuition fees are £14,000 paid over 2 years.
Please see our Degree Apprenticeships page, or contact us, for further information.
Tuition fees terms and conditions
Additional course costs
These course-related costs aren’t included in the tuition fees. So you’ll need to budget for them when you plan your spending.
Additional costs
Our accommodation section show your accommodation options and highlight how much it costs to live in ´óÏó´«Ã½.
We recommend that you budget £75 a year for photocopying, memory sticks, DVDs and CDs, printing charges, binding and specialist printing.
If your final year includes a major project, there could be cost for transport or accommodation related to your research activities. The amount will depend on the project you choose.
Modules
Part-time
Core modules
You'll examine approaches to leading and managing in a sector which has transformed over the last two decades.
You'll research and explore traditional models of administration against those used now in a management orientated public sector that works in partnership with others on a continuous basis, for example via practical engagement with the private sector, commissioning and procurement with partners, managing people in new, networked models and transforming a sector constantly challenged by resource issues.
You'll gain professional skills in leadership and management, innovation and creativity, political awareness and partnership working, governance and probity.
You'll examine macro, meso and micro environments to create a vision and mission statement, plus strategic outcomes and a wider strategic plan. You'll identify appropriate business skills like planning and the planning/resource relationship.
Specifically, you'll evaluate environments using analytical tools and assess strategic models via creative, entrepreneurial skills and knowledge.
You'll also explore how to communicate and manage change effectively and evaluate structural and cultural influences on change processes in professional settings.
Core modules
You’ll apply policy and administrative theory to a range of case studies from the UK, EU States and beyond, comparing across a range of empirical cases, to explore and explain the influences and constraints acting on political decision-makers.
You’ll have the chance to share knowledge and experience from your own administrative and national systems with your fellow students to inform the case studies.
You'll approach issues such as economic challenges, pandemic preparedness, youth violence and crime, policing, health integration and conflict in policy.
Engage with policy issues and their multiple outcomes that cause challenges at local and national levels.
You'll also explore modern issues affecting policy design and development, professional practice and partnership, working in all aspects of governance and bringing innovation and creativity to solving new and complex problems in public services delivery.
Changes to course content
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, course content is revised and regularly reviewed. This may result in changes being made in order to reflect developments in research, learning from practice and changes in policy at both national and local levels.
How you'll spend your time
Teaching
Postgraduate study is deeper and more specialised than an undergraduate degree. This means you'll focus on something that really matters to you and your career as you work closely with academics committed to the subject.
You'll spend more time in independent study and research than you did for your undergraduate degree.
Course structure
This PgDip will take:
- 2 years (part-time study)
On this apprenticeship, you'll work four days and study online one day during your working week. You'll also be expected to study out of work time.
You can expect:
- two hours of live online sessions each week, mainly taking place in the afternoon/evening
- all core material available online at all times so you can create your own study schedule around work or other commitments
Assessment
You'll be assessed through:
- narrated presentations
- simulations
- essays
- reports
You'll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
Career development
Public sector professionals are facing a new set of challenges, not least from the advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the dark web.
On this course, you'll develop knowledge and skills that will help you protect and enhance life for our citizens through public services, as well as examining the complex issues of technology, funding and exponential service demand. It's essential learning for those seeking a higher level of management or leadership within all aspects of the public sector.
After this course, you can also choose to top up your PgDip with a dissertation module to achieve a full MPA in Public Administration.
Graduates of this course could go on to work in areas such as:
- parliamentary advice
- political lobbying
- police leadership
- educational leadership
- social and caring services leadership
- social justice
- third sector and volunteering
- strategic planning and management
- health and public safety
Career planning
During your course you'll have expert career support from your tutors and from our Careers and Employability Centre, which you can access for 5 years after you graduate.
You'll benefit from:
- Networking events
- 1-to-1 appointments
- CV and cover letter advice
- Interview preparation and practice
- Workshops to enhance your employability skills
- Recruitment events including the Student and Graduate Opportunities Fair
- Support starting your own business
Supporting you
Postgraduate study is more focused on independent learning than undergraduate study, but you'll get lots of support via video and phone from teaching and support staff to enhance your learning experience and help you succeed. If you choose to study on-campus, you'll also get face-to-face support. You can build your personalised network of support from the following people and services:
Types of support
Your personal tutor helps you make the transition to postgraduate study and gives you academic and personal support throughout your course.
As well as regular scheduled meetings with your personal tutor, they're also available at set times during the week if you want to chat with them about anything that can't wait until your next meeting.
You'll get a workplace mentor who's there to support you during your apprenticeship. They'll understand your workplace responsibilities and help you to balance your workload in your workplace and in your studies
You'll have help from a team of faculty learning support tutors. They can help you improve and develop your academic skills and support you in any area of your study in one-on-one and group sessions.
They can help you:
- master the mathematics skills you need to excel on your course
- understand engineering principles and how to apply them in any engineering discipline
- solve computing problems relevant to your course
- develop your knowledge of computer programming concepts and methods relevant to your course
- understand and use assignment feedback
During term time, Faculty Academic Skills Tutors (AST) are available for bookable 1-to-1 sessions, small group sessions and online sessions. These sessions are tailored to your needs.
Support is available for skills including:
- University study
- Getting into the right study mindset
- Note-taking and note-making skills
- Referencing
- Presentation skills
- Time management, planning, and goal setting
- Critical thinking
- Avoiding plagiarism
If you have a disability or need extra support, the Additional Support and Disability Centre (ASDAC) will give you help, support and advice.
Our online will help you plan for managing the challenges of learning and student life, so you can fulfil your potential and have a great student experience.
You can get personal, emotional and mental health support from our Student Wellbeing Service, in person and online. This includes 1–2–1 support as well as courses and workshops that help you better manage stress, anxiety or depression.
If you require extra support because of a disability or additional learning need our specialist team can help you.
They'll help you to
- discuss and agree on reasonable adjustments
- liaise with other University services and facilities, such as the library
- access specialist study skills and strategies tutors, and assistive technology tutors, on a 1-to-1 basis or in groups
- liaise with external services
Library staff are available in person or by email, phone, or online chat to help you make the most of the University’s library resources. You can also request one-to-one appointments and get support from a librarian who specialises in your subject area.
The library is open 24 hours a day, every day, in term time.
If English isn't your first language, you can do one of our English language courses to improve your written and spoken English language skills before starting your degree. Once you're here, you can take part in our free In-Sessional English (ISE) programme to improve your English further.
How to apply
I'm applying with my current employer
If you're already in full-time work, and your employer is interested in you studying this course, get them to contact us and we'll work out how to work together.
If your employer isn't interested yet, you might find it useful to share our information for employers page with them.
Employer contact form Information for employers
I'm looking for a job with a Degree Apprenticeship role
If you're not in full-time employment, or your current employer is not interested in degree apprenticeships, you'll need to find a role that does offer a degree apprenticeship. You can search the gov.uk list of , or contact us with your details and we'll let you know when degree apprenticeship vacancies come up.
When you apply for a role that includes one of our degree apprenticeships, you'll follow the company's standard recruitment process for the job, while we assess your academic suitability for the course.
Admissions terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the ´óÏó´«Ã½, you also agree to abide by our Student Contract (which includes the University's relevant policies, rules and regulations). You should read and consider these before you apply.