Our MA Educational Leadership masters is a flexible course for anyone interested in critically exploring educational leadership. We offer a full-time and part-time route, as well as an offsite provision so that you can study at a pace that suits you. Whether you are a current or aspiring leader in education or a related field, our course appeals to a variety of backgrounds and professions. You’ll be joining a diverse and thriving community of postgraduate students from the UK and across the world. You’ll critically analyse the key approaches and debates in the field of educational leadership from UK and global perspectives and develop your understanding of different leadership models.

Career prospects

Our suite of masters courses are designed to help you secure positions in senior leadership, consultancy or research scholarships.

Our graduates have taken up leadership roles in nurseries, schools and colleges, from assistant head teachers and head teachers to nursery managers. One of recent graduates achieved a masters distinction in educational leadership and was a refugee aspiring to set up education projects in refugee camps.

You’ll gain skills to help you pursue a leadership or management position in education and develop a clear understanding of the role a leader plays in education to define your vision as a leader.

By choosing your own topics and option modules, you can focus on your areas of interest – your priorities, targets and aspirations.

Our graduates have used our courses to help further careers, either in their current sector, or to make an informed move into a different role or field of education. Many students who complete our courses intend to study at PhD level. If you’re considering pursuing a research degree (such as an MPhil, PhD or EdD) in education, this masters course is a good foundation towards that ambition. Each year, several of our current and former students win scholarships for further study or have articles published.