MA Educational Leadership in Practice
About This Programme
The MA Educational Leadership in Practice is a two-year, part-time master's for teachers and other education professionals who want to take on leadership, whether in schools or in wider educational organisations. Written for a time when standardisation and teach-to-test approaches put heavy pressure on educational leaders, it builds the intellectual and practical confidence to lead, work at more senior levels and influence change, along with transferable skills and knowledge of education and social policy. It is taught mainly online, so students keep working and use their own workplace as a live learning context, with a three-day workshop in Manchester at the start and the option of a workshop at a centre of their choice in year two. Students complete four taught units in year one and two taught units plus a research project in year two: five core units on research, models of leadership, networks and partnerships, educational change and education policy, one optional unit on digital technologies or on leading international schools, and a 60-credit research stage. The programme has a strong international focus, including the multilingual and multicultural settings of the UAE and the Gulf. Applicants must currently work in an education-related role, and the next intake is September 2027.
Course Highlights
- Designed for working educators: study online around your job and use your own workplace as a live learning context.
- For current and aspiring leaders, with no leadership title needed: teachers, department heads, curriculum leads and coordinators can apply, as can people working in education outside the classroom, in training, consultancy, administration or policy.
- Research-backed teaching from University of Manchester academics in educational leadership and policy.
- A three-day workshop in Manchester at the start, and the option of a year-two workshop at a centre of your choice, subject to availability and visa requirements.
- A strong international focus, relevant to multilingual and multicultural schools in the UAE, the Gulf and beyond.
- No exams: each unit is assessed through two pieces of individual or group coursework.
- Named the University of Manchester Faculty of Humanities' Outstanding Programme of the Year.
- Build a global network of educators, meeting peers and experts at workshops in Manchester or at the University's global centres.
What You'll Study
An online and blended part-time programme. Units are delivered through a virtual learning environment with course materials, online reading lists, discussion boards, podcasts and the University's online library, supported by online tutorials and collaborative work with classmates. According to the University's main programme page, each 20-credit unit is studied over about three months with 150 hours of study (roughly 15 hours a week, against the branch's figure of about 20 hours a week), with formative online quizzes and no exams: each unit is assessed through two pieces of individual or group coursework. The branch page says the course opens in September with a three-day workshop in Manchester to meet the teaching team and classmates, and that in year two you can attend a workshop at a centre of your choice, subject to availability and visa requirements; the University's main page describes two in-person workshops a year, in Manchester or at its centres in Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. The fee does not cover travel, accommodation or other costs of attending workshops. The course directors are Dr Paul Armstrong and Dr Bee Hughes. The University adds that a three-day workshop runs at the start of the teaching period each year, that each unit is taught by an academic with extensive educational leadership experience, and that its admissions team helps with enrolment, fee options, online learning skills, workload management and special circumstances, including a possible professional entry route.
Core units (compulsory)
Five compulsory 20-credit units. Four taught units are completed in year one and two in year two, the optional unit included.
Engaging with Research in Educational Leadership20 credits
How to find, review and use the empirical research on educational leadership: themes in educational research, the role of the literature review, why researching leadership matters, and reflecting on your own practice in the light of theory. The University's page adds tracing the history of the field, writing a small-scale critical literature review, and ethics and trustworthiness in qualitative research.
Models of Educational Leadership20 credits
Educational leadership understood as models, including transformational, distributed and instructional leadership, what these mean in different international settings, and thinking beyond models in practice. The University's page adds how a model can support leadership in some settings and limit it in others, and how models shape practice, organisational culture and professional identity.
Leading Networks, Partnerships and Collaborations20 credits
The principles, practice and problems of leading networks, partnerships and collaborations in education, including group dynamics and system-level challenges, a critical look at collaborative leadership theories and strategies, and how to evaluate collaborative projects. The University's page adds an individual project that is planned, delivered and evaluated collaboratively, building trust and collaborative cultures, managing stakeholders, and ethical leadership in collaborative work.
Leading Educational Change20 credits
What change means in education and its ideological, political and cultural contexts, what drives or undermines it, and how to lead and evaluate change that advances equity and real improvement. Drawing on scholars such as Ainscow, Hargreaves and Evans, it covers the discursive, sociological and policy drivers of change and how school cultures and structures relate to change.
Educational Policy and Leadership20 credits
How global policy discourses relate to educational reform: what policy is, how it is made and enacted, how it is shaped by welfarism, social democracy and neoliberalism, who the policy actors are, and the part leaders play in driving or responding to reform. The University's page, which titles it Education Policy and Leadership, adds policy reforms, policy actors and enactment, and who makes policy and whom it benefits or disadvantages, within and across national boundaries.
Optional unit
Choose one optional unit, or apply for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) in its place.
Optional units
Digital Technologies and Educational Leadership
How digitisation is changing educational leadership: using theoretical frameworks to evaluate technologies, weighing their opportunities and risks, how data, policy and ethics shape leadership decisions, and applying digital strategies to teaching, learning and organisational change. Topics include the history of educational technology, the social shaping of technology, models of innovation and adoption, digital and information literacy, digital stewardship, what learning analytics can and cannot show, digital divides and assistive technologies, and the datafication and surveillance of education.
Leadership of International Schools
Leading international schools: the effects of globalisation and internationalisation, internationalism, equity and teacher retention, how culture, governance and curricula shape leadership, and transformative leadership through human rights and Global Citizenship Education. Taught in four themes: internationalism and globalisation; emancipatory education amid the privilege of international schooling; leadership challenges from cultural diversity, governance and accountability to recruitment, retention, turnover, finance and student wellbeing, with the UN Sustainable Development Goals; and hierarchy, international curricula (with particular reference to the IB) and transformational leadership. Assessment includes a formal video presentation.
Research stage (60 credits, year two)
An independent supervised project in two parts, as set out on the University's main programme page.
Research Skills and the Application of Research to Professional Practice30 credits
Three University research skills modules: choosing and framing a dissertation question or topic, study design and methodology, and ethical, safety and social responsibility issues. It builds research methods, from framing a research question or hypothesis to generating and analysing data, synthesising findings and stating conclusions and recommendations, with the ethics of practitioner research.
Literature or Practice-based Enquiry30 credits
An individual supervised project, written up as a report, investigating an aspect of your own educational leadership practice. The problem must relate explicitly to educational leadership; an action or practice-based project in your own organisation is encouraged, and a desk-based literature study or a secondary data analysis are also possible, with supervision throughout.
What You'll Learn
The University's stated aims for the course
- A deep understanding of the theories, concepts, research and debates on leadership practice around the world.
- The skills and knowledge to bring about change in your own educational organisation, using critical approaches to leadership.
- Flexible, transferable leadership skills for your career and beyond.
- Higher-order thinking, and the ability to apply leadership skills to real problems in local and global education organisations.
- A network of educational leaders in academia and the sector, and a personal development plan for the year ahead.
How the University says it helps your career
- Leading with more confidence in complex educational settings.
- Making critical, evidence-informed decisions.
- Applying research and policy insight to your professional practice.
- Responding with confidence to change, reform and challenge.
- Being ready for progression into leadership across education.
Entry Requirements
Supporting documents: two professional or academic references, a detailed CV covering your full work experience, and a personal statement of about 500 words on why you chose the course. You do not need to hold a leadership post: teachers, department heads, curriculum leads and coordinators are all suitable, as are people working in education outside the classroom, for example in training, consultancy or administration.
Careers
The branch says graduates move into school leadership, curriculum director posts, education policy and institutional management, including in international schools, and that many report a marked change in how they lead in their current role. The University's main programme page adds consultancy as a route and describes the aim as preparing you for leadership careers in education in the UK and internationally. The branch does not typically offer direct job placements; its career services include individual career coaching, employability sessions, workshops and masterclasses, and alumni networking events. Career advisors in Dubai offer one-to-one career sessions, and the MentorME programme connects Dubai students and alumni with experienced alumni mentors.
Accreditation & Professional Recognition
Accredited in the UAE by the Commission for Academic Accreditation, which lists the award as Master of Arts Educational Leadership in Practice (Active), together with a Postgraduate Certificate and a Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership in Practice for the branch. The branch is licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and says every master's it offers awards the same qualification as its UK counterpart.
Programme Details
Award
Master of Arts (MA) in Educational Leadership in Practice
Start Date
September (next intake September 2027)
Typical Offer
A 2:1 honours degree or equivalent with a teacher training qualification or at least one year of teaching or relevant experience, and a current education-related role
Duration
24 months part-time
Qualification
MA
Subject Area
Education
Study Pattern
Part-time
Delivery Format
Online / Blended
Tuition Fee
AED 93,476 total
GBP 18,690 as published, converted at 5.0014 (UAE Central Bank, 19 August 2026)
Apply online through the University's application portal and upload: a statement of purpose on why you are applying (the University asks for up to 500 words on what attracted you to the course, what you hope to gain and how it will help your aims); scanned degree certificates and transcripts, with certified translations if they are not in English and the grading scale for non-UK degrees; a CV of no more than two pages in reverse chronological order, listing all your qualifications and each job since your first degree with start and end month and year, employer and job title; and evidence of English. One reference is required when you apply, and you can name two referees: two lecturers if you have no work experience, or two work referees, or one academic and one work referee, if you do; if you cannot attach one, the branch sends your referees a template. Applications are reviewed once the CV, transcripts, English evidence and at least one reference are in, and a decision usually follows within two weeks. The University's main programme page gives 23 August 2027 as the application deadline and 6 September 2027 as the teaching start date for the September 2027 intake, with induction about a week earlier. Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) can replace the optional unit if you have an equivalent unit from a complete previous degree, or relevant professional experience from the last five years, that matches its learning outcomes; it needs a formal application with a portfolio of evidence, reviewed by an academic panel and sometimes an interview, and credits from a University of Manchester degree can only be used if that degree is rescinded. Fees for the September 2027 intake: GBP 18,690 in total, paid as GBP 1,000 on acceptance, GBP 3,671 for the rest of semester 1, and GBP 4,673 for each of semesters 2, 3 and 4. Discounts: Strategic Talent Partnership 15%; alumni 15%; and discretionary awards of 10% to 15% from a limited pot (family loyalty 15% for spouses and siblings referred by alumni and students, student referral 10% for new students referred by alumni or current students). The terms also mention a discretionary 12.5% scholarship for difficult cases, such as a better offer elsewhere or financial constraints; an exceptional discount needs a 300-word essay and a competing offer letter showing a lower fee. The branch's study overview also mentions early bird discounts across its master's programmes. Many employers sponsor staff, and the team can help build a business case or speak to your HR department. Fees can also be paid by Emirates NBD credit card (0% over 6 to 12 months, AED 49 processing fee per transaction, for cardholders living in the UAE), Emirates Islamic credit card (0% over 3, 6 or 12 months on payments of AED 1,000 or more, no processing fee) or a payment plan agreed with a programme counsellor.