Masters Degrees (Portsmouth)

Why take this course?

​What was the Royal Navy’s role in British history, and that of its empire? Why did Nelson become such a hero and how was he depicted? Through unique collaborations with the National Museum of the Royal Navy and HMS Warrior, this programme explores these questions in the context of 400 years of naval history. You will examine the importance of the Royal Navy to British and global history, while engaging with the life of the ordinary sailor in peace and war, the cult of the naval hero, and the navy – and its sailors – in popular culture. To do so, you will draw on a range of naval experts, curators, and primary sources, including the rich collections of Portsmouth’s naval museums. The flexible distance format allows you to learn from leading naval experts as well as the latest scholarship and debates in the field.

What will I experience?

On this course you will:

Access the rich archives and expertise of the National Museum of the Royal Navy and HMS Warrior to support your study.
Undertake study through flexible distance learning techniques, with the option to blend this with study days in Portsmouth.
Take advantage of unique connections with both Portsmouth and international maritime museums, with opportunities to go on field trips and experience behind the scenes tours.
Train in historical research and the interpretation of multi-archive sources.

What opportunities might it lead to?

This course is an excellent opportunity for students with an interest in British and Naval History to learn from experts in the field and develop a real grounding in this subject area. Offering specific real-life learning experience working with archives and museums, this course offers you the opportunity to develop key transferable skills, such as independent learning, written communication, textual analysis and time management. This course also assists you with refining key research skills appropriate for progression to PhD level research.

Possible career opportunities include:

Journalism
Law
Teaching
Administration
Archive and museum work

Module Details

You will study the following core units:

The Wooden Walls – The Royal Navy under Sail, 1509-1815
The navy changed immensely from that of Henry VIII, and his Mary Rose, to that of Nelson and Victory. Britain went from being a second rate European power to the sole world superpower by 1815. This module explores the changes which both navy and nation experienced in the early modern period. To do so, it looks at key events, including battles such as the Armada and Trafalgar, but also assesses how the navy was supplied and manned, and how the experience of the sailor changed in this period. Using the collections of the museums on the University’s doorstep, as well as the historic ships in Portsmouth, the course will look to understand what it was like to serve aboard a wooden sailing ship, and how the navy, and its heroes and ordinary sailors, were portrayed to the nation at large.

Rise and Fall – Naval Hegemony and Decline, 1815-1960
Emerging from the Napoleonic Wars as the dominant naval power, the Royal Navy assumed a role of imperial protector and global policeman. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, however, Britain began to be challenged globally, and found itself at war twice in the twentieth century. The rise of the USA, and the decline of its empire meant that, although victorious in both World Wars, Britain’s global power had disappeared soon after 1945. This module looks to understand how the navy fits into these wider trends, and the role it played in both peace and war. Using the collections of the naval museums, and those historic ships on our doorstep, including the first British ironclad, HMS Warrior, the course also looks at how technological change influenced its role, and how it changed the lives of those aboard.

Programme Assessment

The course can be studied entirely by distance learning through access to high quality interactive resources online, including unique primary sources, secondary literature, and video clips of world renowned experts. Dr Steven Gray, Lecturer in the History of the Royal Navy, will also be on hand to guide you through the course, as well as provide regular feedback and opportunities to discuss your work. Students will also be welcome to join optional campus based elements in Portsmouth, which will allow students to meet others on the course, participate in seminars, and access the resources, archives, historical artefacts and expertise of the naval museums in Portsmouth. There will also be optional field trips further afield, including abroad, that will further students’ understanding of the Royal Navy, and its role in the world. The MA is taught by university specialists in naval history, alongside staff from the National Museum of the Royal Navy and HMS Warrior, expertise, archives and galleries will offered to students at an unprecedented level. This flexible programme of delivery enables participation from students all over the UK and beyond.

Student Destinations

The degree will embed a range of highly desirable transferable skills such a communication, research and writing skills. In addition, the MA affords the student the opportunity to gain invaluable employability skills through internships arranged with the NMRN. Students who hold an MA in Naval History will be equipped for a variety of occupations such as teaching, the civil services, the armed forces, research for strategic studies bodies, and more general post-graduate employment. The MA also provides an ideal foundation for those who would like to embark on a PhD in naval history.

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Why take this course?

The University of Portsmouth Business School is delighted to announce the availability of 50% tuition MA Sales Management Scholarship for self-funding candidates entering the part-time MA Sales Management course in September 2015.

This course aims to make you aware of contemporary sales and account management issues such as integration with marketing, global account management and working with channels, enabling you to have a greater comprehension on the interaction of these functions.

The topics covered enable you to explore robust theory and the latest best practice, with a focus on their practical application within your own workplace.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Benefit from our wide links with companies and organisations willing to provide opportunities for invited guest speakers and live case studies
Make an effective contribution to your workplace, as well as improve your career prospects
Tap in to our Library’s vast selection of electronic resources, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection

What opportunities might it lead to?

This course aims to enhance your career prospects and prepare you for senior roles in account and sales management.

Our courses are mentored by our Visiting Professor, Neil Rackham, known globally for his latest thinking on sales performance. Portsmouth is recognised as a “Top University Sales programme” by the global University Sales Education Foundation.

The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM) is the UK professional membership body for sales and marketing management, representing the interests of the sales profession, and providing vocationally related qualifications which are regulated by the government’s regulatory body for education, Ofqual.

At this time, Portsmouth Business School is an ISMM Recognised Centre, for levels 2-6 (level 6 is highest).

Module Details

This part-time, work-based course allows you to fit studying easily with work and other commitments. It is also suitable for in-company delivery.

Teaching is delivered in one mid-week teaching block from Tuesday to Friday, after which there will be a period of self-study so that you can do research and prepare your research proposal and dissertation.

The learning element of the course focuses on research management and research methods. This will prepare you to complete a dissertation, but will also cover the nature of knowledge, the evaluation of information and managing a research project. It involves numerical and word-based analysis techniques.

The supported self-study element of this award is a 13,000-word dissertation on a sales management topic, which you may opt to produce alongside an in-company change project, such as auditing a strategic account management programme, sales employee retention programme, improving sales forecasting, or redesigning trade retail outlets.

The dissertation focuses on the collection, analysis and interpretation of both academic and commercial information. It is designed to provide you with an opportunity to apply research techniques for the planning, implementation and presentation of your dissertation. It enables you to demonstrate mastery of a sales management topic by examining both theory and application using primary and secondary data sources.

Programme Assessment

During this final stage of the programme, teaching is delivered solely through lectures and syndicate discussions. We will encourage you to explore your own life and work experiences in order to provide a context for your final self-study dissertation. This approach to learning and development brings real and often immediate benefits to you and your employer.

Assessment is through a research proposal and dissertation on an agreed topic of specific interest to you or your employer.

Student Destinations

This course provides you with the ability to reach senior and board level roles by consolidating your work-based experience and equipping you with the skills and knowledge required in today’s increasingly complex business environment.

You will gain a broad understanding of the role and value of account management and sales management within a strategic context in a variety of sectors. The course also helps to develop your critical appraisal skills so you can critique and identify management tools and techniques that are compatible with your employer's requirements. Primarily however, you will build the techniques to be a motivational leader and become adept at creating and implementing strategic plans in order to meet business targets and achieve results.

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Why take this course?

If you wish to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding in the rapidly developing field of coaching without giving up employment, then this course is ideal.

This course consists of three separate stages, the Postgraduate Certificate, the Postgraduate Diploma and the Master’s, each taking a year to complete. You can enter the programme at any stage relevant to your qualifications and experience. Completion of each stage enables you to continue to the next, with or without a break between each stage, but there is no obligation to do so. These part-time, work-based courses allow you to fit in studying easily around work and other commitments.

This programme is aimed at leaders, managers and training professionals who want to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in this rapidly developing field. Students may be seeking to use a coaching approach in a line management role, looking to build a coaching culture within their organisation to enhance performance or even embark on a second career as a professional freelance coach. This course is provided by the University of Portsmouth in conjunction with The Performance Coach, a well-respected company which provides coaching, training and consultancy services.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Make an effective contribution to your workplace, as well as improve your career prospects.
Tap in to our Library’s vast selection of electronic resources, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection
Learn from academically qualified and enthusiastic staff with research and consultancy experience and links with industry

What opportunities might it lead to?

Previous students have gone on to set up their own coaching companies and coaching training organisations. Here are some other routes our graduates have pursued:

Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:

Business development
Consultancy work
Mentoring
Education
Training
Health sector

Module Details

This final Master’s stage of the programme includes two days of research methods training held at the University of Portsmouth to enable you to develop a research proposal as the basis for completing your final research-based investigative project/dissertation. The unit in research methods will specifically cover the theory and application of research methodologies and consider concepts and qualitative methods and their use in research.

Programme Assessment

The course takes a work-based learning approach which allows you to apply this knowledge and theory to your workplace. This approach means you produce current and applied work-based assignments for assessment.

This programme is assessed, quality assured and awarded by the University of Portsmouth whilst TPC's world-class trainers and facilitators deliver course content and work with you to develop your knowledge and understanding of coaching.

Assessment consists of a 3,000 word research proposal leading to a 12,000 word Investigative Project/Dissertation allowing you to pursue a topic of personal interest which may directly relate to future employment, your organisation or to opportunities for future employment.

Student Destinations

This course is ideal if you are seeking to use a coaching approach in a line management role, looking to build a coaching culture within your organisation to enhance performance or even embark on a second career as a professional freelance coach. Previous graduates have also gone on to set up their own coaching companies and coach training organisations.

Whether you are an internal or external coach, this postgraduate programme will help you make an incredible difference to your clients.

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Why take this course?

The professional doctorate comprises a structured four-year programme with a taught element delivered through a small number of workshops in Portsmouth for the first two years and then two years of supervised research leading to a thesis.

Established in 2007, this course offers a framework for criminal justice professionals to reflect on and contribute to practice in their area of work. The emphasis is on developing researching professionals (which is distinct from the more traditional PhD route which aims to develop professional researchers).

What opportunities might it lead to?

The overall aim of the course is to develop criminal justice professionals whose work informs, and is informed by, original research in the field. Previous graduates have followed research projects into profession-related subjects such as:

Reform and the Garda in the Republic of Ireland
The National Intelligence Model and reduced risk in the public sector
Gender within specialist police departments

Module Details

A central feature of this programme is that you will be studying with the same cohort of people over the whole four years. The interaction that this provides will give you the opportunity to work, learn and develop together. This avoids the sense of isolation that some PhD students experience.

It is accepted that for most professionals it will not be possible to attend all of the workshops so we also use an online learning environment to make best use of technology to keep in touch.

A professional doctorate at the University of Portsmouth is achieved in two distinct stages with the second stage being divided into two parts.

Stage 1

This stage comprises 180 M level credits which is the direct entry level to Stage 2.

Stage 2

This stage comprises Parts 1 and 2.

Part 1 (years 1 and 2)

This is the 'taught' component of the course and last for two years. During this part you will earn 120 D level credits in assignment work.

Outline
Professional development and review
Advanced research techniques in criminal justice
Publication and dissemination in criminal justice
Criminal justice project proposal

Part 2 (years 3 and 4)

This part comprises the professional research and development, leading to a thesis of 40,000 words. This will earn 240 D level credits and is mainly independent study and research combined with supervision meetings and opportunities to meet with your peers to review and gain critical comment on your progress.

Programme Assessment

The doctoral programme aims to develop your research ability in the broad area of Criminal Justice to an advanced level and promote evidence-based practice development. The development of the quality and value of your practice and research will be enhanced through:

Seminars and workshops on critical research and criminal justice issues specifically focused on the development needs of criminal justice professionals
Support from peers and staff to ensure your work reaches the necessary (doctoral) standard
Supervision from a team with a very wide range of development and research interests and many years of professional experience
Access to University of Portsmouth library facilities including a large number of e-books, journals and databases accessed electronically
The use of an online learning environment enabling you to keep in easy touch with your peers and the course team
Development of wider national and international perspectives through networking with the peer group
Building ongoing productive links between criminal justice organisations
Raising the profile, credibility and influence of your profession in both academic and practice contexts

Ultimately you will be assessed on the strength of your thesis.

Student Destinations

Your professional needs and interests shape the research you undertake on this course. You may, therefore, use your increased knowledge and awareness of your profession to support your career aims at the same time.

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Why take this course?

The Professional Doctorate in Security Risk Management (D.SyRM) is a structured, four-year, part-time programme targeted towards security professionals in the UK and overseas. It comprises a taught element delivered through a small number of workshops in Portsmouth for the first two years and then two years of supervised research leading to a thesis.

The aim of the course is to provide a framework for security professionals to reflect on and contribute to practice in their area of work. Its emphasis is on developing researching professionals (which is distinct from the more traditional PhD route which aims to develop professional researchers).

What opportunities might it lead to?

The overall aim of the course is to develop security professionals whose work informs, and is informed by, original research in the field. Current research topics include:

Managing complex crises
Securing the oil and gas sector
Security of tax havens

Module Details

A central feature of this programme is that you will be studying with the same cohort of people over the whole four years. The interaction that this provides will give you the opportunity to work, learn and develop together. This avoids the sense of isolation that some PhD students experience.

It is accepted that for many professionals it will not be possible to attend all of the workshops so we also use an online learning environment to make best use of technology to keep in touch.

A professional doctorate at the University of Portsmouth is achieved in two distinct stages with the second stage being divided into two parts.

Stage 1

This stage comprises 180 M level credits which is the direct entry level to Stage 2

Stage 2

This stage comprises Parts 1 and 2.

Part 1 (years 1 and 2)

This is the taught component of the course and lasts for two years. During this part you will earn 120 D level credits in assignment work. The four taught units are delivered in two-day blocks, each assessed through a coursework assignment of 6,000 words. Each student is assigned a personal tutor to support them through this part of the course.

Course structure:

Professional development and review
Advanced research techniques in security risk management
Publication and dissemination in security risk management
Security risk management project proposal

Part 2 (years 3 and 4)

This part comprises the professional research and development, leading to a thesis of 40,000 to 50,000 words. This will earn 240 D level credits and is mainly independent study and research, combined with supervision meetings and opportunities to meet with your peers to review and gain critical comment on your progress.

Programme Assessment

The doctoral programme aims to develop your research ability in the broad area of security risk management to an advanced level and promote evidence-based practice development. The development of the quality and value of your practice and research will be enhanced through:

Seminars and workshops on critical research and security-related issues specifically focused on the development needs of security professionals
Support from staff and peers to support you in reaching the necessary (doctoral) standard
Supervision from a team with a very wide range of development and research interests and many years of professional experience
Access to University of Portsmouth library facilities including a large number of e-books, journals and databases accessed electronically
Access to additional, targeted training courses delivered through our Graduate School to meet any specific learning needs related to your individual research
The use of an online learning environment enabling you to keep in easy touch with your peers and the course team
Development of wider national and international perspectives through networking with your peer group
Building ongoing productive links between security organisations
Raising the profile, credibility and influence of your profession in both academic and practice contexts

Ultimately you will be assessed on the strength of your thesis.

Student Destinations

Your professional needs and interests shape the research you undertake on this course. You may, therefore, use your increased knowledge and awareness of your profession to support your career aims at the same time.

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Why take this course?

If you work in and lead a dental practice, this short distance learning course will enable you to prepare for a successful inspection. You will learn how to apply key theories and professional practice in leading and managing people, to ensure that patient safety is at the heart of your dental practice. This course has been developed in partnership with the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK).

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Develop leadership and management skills
Explore national healthcare policy and processes
Analyse the roles of key stakeholders

What opportunities might it lead to?

The content and structure of this short distance learning course has been designed within a Masters framework, meaning on successful completion you will accrue 30 credits. You can use this continue with professional development and study at Masters Level. Successful completion will enable you to prepare your practice and lead your staff through an inspection from any of the key stakeholders. You will also be able to demonstrate a range of transferable skills including policy writing, appraisal, the ability to communicate, argue complex ideas verbally, and the ability to evaluate the ideas of others objectively.

Module Details

Topics will include:

Leadership and management
Policy development
Risk assessment
Appraisal
Revalidation

Programme Assessment

Studying at a distance doesn’t mean studying alone and being left to fend for yourself. Rather, distance learning means studying at a time and place which suits you, with all of the resources that you need readily accessible. Your distance learning journey is well-supported by Dental Academy Staff.

Course content is delivered using the Moodle platform and a blended learning approach, utilising e- learning you will be directed to a range of electronically sourced material. You will also have access to the University of Portsmouth Library who provide an excellent service for students who choose to study at a distance. Skills4Study Campus from Palgrave Macmillan is the University of Portsmouth's online study skills resource; its modules cover all of your essential study skills needs which can be accessed from the Moodle course 'skills@portsmouth'. As part of the course you will also do coursework to demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes, development of knowledge transfer and evidence based inquiry. The focus is on the application of learning in a work related context through reflection.

Assessment is 100% Coursework:

1. Written report of 2,500 words

2. Portfolio of evidence (collection of evidence and a 2,500 word reflection on the principles of Quality Assurance)

3. An online poster presentation of a risk assessment undertaken at own practice.

Student Destinations

On completing this course, you will become skilled in decision making, reflection and self awareness enabling you to develop and lead a successful dental practice that respects both the patient and the staff. Many of our graduates choose to continue with postgraduate study to complete Master’s or Professional Doctorates and PhDs.

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Why take this course?

Our course is designed to update your knowledge and enhance your understanding of the principles and theories underlying effective marketing practice and provide you with leading edge contemporary marketing skills. You will explore this dynamic and challenging field to an advanced level.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Benefit from advice and interaction with our many professional visiting speakers
Apply live case studies to your coursework through the wide links we have with companies and organisations
Work in teams on the Market2win simulation software gaining invaluable experience of strategic marketing decision-making

What opportunities might it lead to?

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the leading professional body for marketers worldwide and exists to develop the marketing profession, maintain professional standards and improve the skills of marketing practitioners. The University of Portsmouth has joined forces with CIM to give students the opportunity to gain professional qualifications through CIM Graduate Gateway. Those graduating with a mark of 50% or more will be exempted from the Strategic Marketing module in the CIM Level 6 Professional Diploma in Marketing for a period of three year following graduation. CIM qualifications are highly sought after by employers, and map alongside our own degrees which ensures you have best opportunities for a successful marketing career.

This course aims to enhance your career prospects and prepare you for roles in marketing and marketing-related functions.

Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:

Business development
Direct marketing
Marketing research
Digital marketing
Marketing communications
Sales

Module Details

The MA Marketing course at Portsmouth Business School aims to make you highly employable in the field of marketing. You will develop advanced marketing knowledge and skills and also develop skills in critical appraisal, team working, debating, writing, research and giving presentations.

In the first teaching block you will critically examine the fundamental concepts and practices of marketing. Alongside this you will explore the tools and techniques used by marketing departments in business analysis and research.

In the second teaching block you will interact with senior marketing practitioners and explore contemporary issues in marketing such as digital marketing and the impact of social media, sustainability, crisis management and the relationship between marketing and sales.

Alongside this you will examine how marketers can offer shareholder value by developing customer relationships and managing brands for value, and you will gain invaluable experience of strategic marketing decision-making by using the Market2win simulation software.

The culmination of your Master's course will be either a Dissertation or a Critical Marketing Study.

Here are the units you will study:

Essentials of Marketing: This unit explores the fundamental concepts and practices of marketing, which include:

Business orientations
Macro and micro marketing environments
Segmentation, targeting and positioning
Marketing planning and research
Consumer and organisational behaviour
Tools, media and content
Marketing across borders
Ethics and marketing

Marketing Analysis and Decision: This unit is designed to provide you with a foundation in the tools and techniques used by marketing departments in business analysis and research. It will include:

Business finance for marketing
Marketing metrics
Marketing planning
Marketing information systems
Marketing research
Customer relationship management (CRM)

Contemporary Issues in Marketing: This unit is largely delivered by senior marketing practitioners who will expose you to Contemporary and often controversial issues that organisations are grappling with in the real world. Topics may include:

Digital marketing
Managing innovation
Globalisations of SMEs
Integration of sales and marketing
Sustainability and marketing

Strategic Marketing Management: This unit focuses on the strategic role of marketing in delivering value to stakeholders. You will examine:

Marketing and shareholder value
Customer relationships
Growth strategies
Competing for organisational resources
Managing products and brands for value
Value-based pricing
Innovation

Dissertation: a substantial piece of independent research drawing on secondary and primary data

or

Critical Marketing Study: requiring evaluation of an organisation's marketing activities using secondary sources only.

You will be provided with extensive support in research methods, and a supervisor to guide you, as you complete your Dissertation or Critical Marketing Study.

Programme Assessment

You will experience a range of stimulating teaching methods including tutor-led presentation of material, case study analyses, student presentations, computer-based simulation group work and in-class discussion. You will also be encouraged to read widely and critically evaluate academic and practical materials.

You will be assessed throughout the course by means of coursework assignments and examinations. Here’s how:

Group work
Presentations
Essays
Case study analysis or reports
Closed or open book exams

Student Destinations

This course will provide you with credibility in a highly competitive field and the confidence you will need to obtain the most sought-after roles. In particular, it demonstrates a commitment to marketing and an expertise in the field, immediately enhancing your career prospects.

You will be qualified to enter a wide range of marketing-related jobs. Previous graduates have been successful in securing roles in a variety of organisations, including advertising, financial services, airlines, manufacturing, textiles and market research.

If you are already employed in marketing positions, you will find this course enhances your promotion prospects and provides a stepping stone to more senior positions.

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Why take this course?

The Master of Architecture provides a vibrant, challenging and expansive programme aimed at equipping you with the professional and creative skills for a successful career as an architect and leads to Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Part 2 exemption. Through the design studios you will be exposed to a range of related architectural interests, including urbanism, landscape, practice, sustainability and culture, providing a cross-disciplinary learning environment that is appropriate in today’s professionally complex architectural world. We can also provide all incoming, full-time MArch students with funding toward a Course field trip.

What will I experience?

On this course you will undertake studio-based design projects, with opportunities to:

Engage with current collaborative projects with academic institutions in other countries – in the past these have included Turkey, Spain, Denmark and Australia
Work on projects with 'live' clients through our RIBA registered Project Office practice
Opt to study at a choice of European universities through the ERASMUS exchange scheme

What opportunities might it lead to?

This course is professionally accredited by the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). It is structured to ensure the integration and synthesis of contextual, technical and professional complexities inherent within the design process, helping you to engage with the prescribed ARB/RIBA criteria, and attain RIBA Part 2 exemption.

Module Details

The design curriculum is delivered through studios, each having a distinct research topic relating to the research and practice of the studio tutors. The studio topics and pedagogy provide a framework and guidance for student projects in Year One and support in Year Two as you develop your particular thesis questions into design propositions. Studios topics change annually in response to current issues in practice and society, challenging the architectural profession, and offering variety in scale,content and context in the UK and abroad.

Please see our proposed 2016/17 MArch studios below. You can find more information on our course blog and see output in our MArch Gallery.

MArch Studios 2016-17*

Latent Culture- Exploring the Reading, Mapping and Making of Place: Mapping, reading and drawing out, Studio 1 will explore cartography, archaeology, memory, narrative and material of place. Through a series of thematic studies – text and making based – the studio will bring together an understanding of place using artefacts, films, maps and narratives.

Littoral Landscapes: Change Labs for Coastal Experimentation: This studio will experiment with the ‘seeds’ of transformation, focussing on littoral landscapes – coastal villages, towns and cities in the UK and abroad. The studio is the Lab, the seeds are about speculation, growth, invention and entrepreneurialism - small changes which can lead to revolutions.

Urban Futures. Cities constantly change in response to changes in society: Today, major environmental and economic challenges we are facing require new models for the built environment that are capable to be resource efficient, adaptable to environmental modifications and designed to facilitate placemaking.

The Emergent Studio: Architecture of, on and around the Edge: The Emergent Studio explores the idea of making architecture within cultural contexts that are not ‘our own’; always in a location that in some way exemplifies an edge condition. Our theoretical platform for exploring these conditions has been, and continues to be, rooted within phenomenology, drawing from the writings of the humane Nordic modernist tradition, in informing our methodologies of interrogation and design.

Portsmouth: The Anatomy of "The Island City”: This studio continues our reflections on Portsmouth's response to climate change induced rise in sea levels adding an analysis of infrastructures and their impact on developing Urban & Architectural visions for the city.

Tactical Urbanism: Tactical Urbanism will investigate, in a radical and provocative way, how a university environment will change in the future and create alternative and hypothetical social scenarios as starting point for your design project. The aim is not to create a futuristic environment but to challenge the current paradigms and try to address the real problems and issues that our society will face in a near 2050 future.

Coastal Latent Dynamics: Material Voids: This new studio will frame the architectural process, starting with a close up of the Micro (the detail, the material qualities of place, prototyping), continuing to a wide shot of the Macro (the notion of municipality in a coastal context) and then zooming into the Meso (dealing with the opportunities of voids, empty buildings and their environs).

*Please note: studio offers may change due to staff and student numbers.

Programme Assessment

You will be taught through a combination of individual and group tutorials in your selected studio, while year-wide units are lecture-based, complemented by seminars and workshops. Our studio-teaching method will mean that you will be working with tutors with professional and academic experience in their field and all unit programmes are complemented by contributions from external professionals.

Studio programmes will often entail shared sessions with European and, sometimes, other overseas institutions, in countries such as Denmark, Turkey, Morocco, Italy and Spain. Representatives of local public and private bodies and agencies frequently contribute to studio tutorials and crits. All this helps to ensure that your learning and studio research outputs can have regional impact and global reach.

Design assessment is through studio review (crit) as work progresses and portfolio assessment at the end of the academic year. ‘Taught’ units, in support of the design curriculum, are assessed through various forms of illustrated written coursework – both individual and group, such as reports and the Dissertation.

Student Destinations

Careers in architecture are demanding ever-increasing specialism and professional competence.

The unique learning experience we offer on this course will enable you to develop as an expansive, creative and professional individual capable of success in a range of creative and professional environments. The breadth of engagement with the discipline and range of studios ensures that you will become confident in responding to the demands of the profession. The regional, national and international destinations of the School’s alumni are testament to this, as are our graduate employment take-up statistics.

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Why take this course?

This course is suitable for graduates wishing to build a professional career in Quality and Business Improvement, as well as experienced professionals who want to develop knowledge, understanding and business management and skills in Quality and Business Improvement. It will lead to an advanced qualification that will support your practical industry knowledge and experience.

Our MSc Strategic Quality Management has been adopted by Hewlett Packard (HP) since 2010 to build on its Lean Sigma Black Belt training for specially selected staff. It provides an academic dimension which encourages strategic thinking and critical awareness leading to more effective and sustainable improvement solutions. HP has reported significant benefits and major financial returns. This annual arrangement has also benefited the University with current practice within the technology sector feeding into the course.

What will I experience?

You will be introduced to a broad range of current theory and best practices covering operational, functional and strategic quality management. Critical thinking and self-directed study are important aspects of working at postgraduate level and the programme includes practical ways to deepen existing skills, which can be applied in both academic and business settings.

The course provides you with a deep understanding of quality and its role in the organisation together with techniques to enable you to make a significant contribution to an organisation’s strategic vision for success. It will also help you in the effective implementation of policies to achieve customer focus and continuous improvement. You will be working with academically qualified and enthusiastic staff with research and consultancy experience and links with industry.

What opportunities might it lead to?

The course provides you with quality, organisational and people management skills, and techniques to enable you to make a significant contribution to an organisation’s strategic visions for success. It will also enable you to make an effective contribution to the implementation of policies in order to achieve customer focus and continuous improvement.

Our graduates are in employment in quality management roles, operations management, training and development, and auditing and business process improvement.

Portsmouth Business School is a member of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM),) and the British Quality Foundation (BQF). On completion of the course, students are able to use their MSc qualification as part of their portfolio of evidence to apply for individual membership of the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI).

Module Details

The course is very flexible. You can either study full-time or part-time in Portsmouth in a classroom environment.

This well-established course comprises four units followed by a dissertation:

Business Transformation through Quality Management introduces you to the fundamental concepts of Total Quality Management and Organisational Behaviour, focusing on the application of these concepts in the organisation. It includes driving a culture of continuous improvement and managing change.

Quantitative and Research Methods evaluates concepts of quantitative methods and the application of specialist statistics to aid decision-making within organisations. It also covers the theory and application of research methodologies to support organisational improvement activities. These skills are further developed in the dissertation.

Business Operations – the Quality Management Perspective will give you knowledge of business systems for quality planning, quality standards and the benefits accruing from integrated management systems and their application in the workplace to generate organisational efficiencies. It shows you how tools such as SERVQUAL, FMEA, QFD and Benchmarking can help evaluate how an organisation is performing against their strategic vision and goals.

Strategic Organisational Excellence looks at the links between concepts of excellence (as used by EFQM and other excellence models) and their use in the strategic management of an organisation. It explores issues raised by variations in culture and sector, both within the organisation and in its relationships with its stakeholders. It will also introduce you to Corporate Social Responsibility and Quality in the Supply Chain.

The Dissertation provides the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to identify, design, plan and undertake research and effectively communicate your findings in an individual research project. Your dissertation will focus on a specific quality management issue of your choice, which may relate to a work situation. You will receive one to one supervision during the dissertation.

Programme Assessment

The course uses a range of teaching methods including formal lectures, tutorials, in-class exercises and work based assignments. Classes are also interactive with the use of case studies and invited speakers. The University’s virtual learning environment (VLE) further supports student study by hosting a range of activities and resources online. There will be staff-led online tutorials with other students for distance learning. We encourage and develop critical thinking and self-directed study, with academic support from University Tutors.

Performance in all units is assessed by means of coursework. The assessment comprises a mixture of individual and group work assessments, case study analyses and reports, essays and presentations. Individual and generic feedback is provided for all assessments.

Student Destinations

The aim of this course is to enable you to improve performance at a professional and organisational level. In turn, this should boost your own career prospects by helping you to take the next step up the managerial ladder.

Our previous graduates have gone on to undertake a variety of roles in the Public and Private sectors including quality manager/director, quality engineer, quality adviser, quality analyst, quality consultant, quality environmental and health and safety manager, amongst others.

On successful completion of the course you are eligible to apply for Associate and Practitioner membership of the Chartered Quality Institute. You also may qualify for Chartered Quality Professional status through the qualification route, subject to satisfying the work experience criteria - at least five years' quality management or systems experience, two of which should be in a managerial or supervisory capacity (including the management of people, processes or systems).

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Why take this course?

The Executive MBA is a globally recognised business management degree. Designed for working professionals, this part-time Masters in Business Administration will develop your leadership and management skills to fulfil your career ambitions.

The Portsmouth MBA creates opportunities for you to develop your capabilities as a leader and manager, inspires confidence to improve your performance and can transform your future by developing the skills to progress your career.

Find out more about this course, see our facilities and meet with members of the MBA admissions team by attending one of our regular open evenings where you can meet teaching staff and current students.

What will I experience?

Integrated management subjects – links theory and research to management practice
Masterclasses - tailor your MBA learning experience and keep up-to-date with latest research and practice
Group consultancy project - delivers real value for business clients (your own organisation or another)
Individual strategy project – hones your analytical and research skills on a topic of your choice
Business simulation project – challenges your assumptions and encourages new insights
Executive coaching (optional) – supports your professional development and career progression
UK weekend residential – a conference that supports your leadership development
International study visit (one week) – an overseas experience with emphasis on global business
Guest lectures and business visits – learn while expanding your network

What opportunities might it lead to?

The MBA programme is a transformational journey. Some MBA graduates accelerate their careers by progressing to more senior levels of leadership. Others use the MBA to prepare for their next career change, such as exploring the potential of entrepreneurship to set up their own business.

Module Details

The Portsmouth MBA is a flexible part-time course ensuring minimal disruption to your work and home commitments. It is mainly taught in two-day blocks on alternate weeks, over two academic years. You will also attend Master Classes, a UK residential and an international residential that are typically delivered outside the two-day teaching block. Our MBA academics and professional staff, who understand the pressures of combining work and study, will fully support you throughout the programme.

The Executive MBA course structure includes eight taught units and two developmental units that focus on professional development:

Year 1

Accounting and Financial Management
Marketing and Sales Management
Strategic Management
Managing in the Global Economic and Financial Environment
Integrated Strategy Project
Consultancy, Research Methods and Professional Development, including Executive Coaching, Master Classes and UK residential

Year 2

Strategic Project Management
Strategic Leadership and Change
Managing Operations and Systems
Innovation and Enterprise
Consultancy, Research Methods and Professional Development, including Executive Coaching, Master Classes and international residential

Programme Assessment

You will receive regular feedback on your development throughout the course. Our friendly, supportive learning environment makes use of lectures and seminars, business simulations, group discussions, team projects and case studies designed to help you analyse complex problems, evaluate opportunities and risks, propose solutions and plan their implementation, drawing on current management research and practice.

Academic performance is assessed through group work and presentations as well as work-related assignments, exams, reports and a research project. Assessment methods vary, but clearly laid out assessments, supported by instruction and guidance, will assist you in fulfilling programme requirements and utilising your learning for business impact.

Student Destinations

MBA students refine their career plans throughout the programme with the support of course tutors, MBA career workshops, organisational visits, residential study tours, career services events, and the University’s Careers and Recruitment Service.

Some of the roles our graduates have taken include:

Technology Consultant / Business Consultant
Operations Manager
Head of Transformation
Engineering Services Business Manager
Business District Improvement Manager
Finance Director
Managing Director

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Why take this course?

The DBA is our flagship programme in business and management at Portsmouth Business School. It has been designed for private and public sector management professionals who wish to advance their careers by studying and researching for a doctoral degree in business and management. It allows students to conduct applied, practice–oriented research on topics that are directly relevant to their employing organisations and provide benefits both for their own careers as well as for the employers.

DBAs are increasingly recognised as valuable alternatives to the traditional PhD doctoral research degree that is mostly much more theory-oriented and less applied to concrete organisational problems and needs. The DBA also includes an intensive taught phase that prepares students in considerable depth for the empirical research that they undertake – usually in the organisation where they are currently employed at a senior/executive level.

What will I experience?

The DBA offers students the opportunity to:

Experience a unique approach to intellectual inquiry emphasizing the integration of theory and practice
Conduct practice-oriented research
Contribute to applied management knowledge
Develop intellectually and personally as an individual, as an executive and as a contributor to the professional community
Gain a prestigious doctoral degree achieved through a rigorous, structured and comprehensive educational experience

What opportunities might ti lead to?

The DBA is aimed at Master’s or MBA-qualified postgraduates who wish to:

Take their management and professional development to new levels
Add to their professional body of knowledge
Further develop their own management careers

The research focus of the DBA addresses real business issues, with the results providing professional outcomes that are of direct relevance to your organisation. Research is both theoretical and practical. The DBA thesis is comparable to a PhD in terms of effort, rigor, contribution to knowledge, supervision and assessment.

Module Details

Our part-time programme involves between three and four years study and includes taught units, research methodology and action research. It is assessed by assignments primarily during year one (taught year), culminating in the final assessment of a doctoral level, research-based report.

The Portsmouth DBA comprises two key stages:

Year one: the taught component and assignment assessments.

Years two, three and four: the research component and final assessment.

A formal ‘Progression Board’, by which students should have successfully completed all first year assignments, denotes progression from stage one to stage two.

Part 1

This is the 'taught' component of the programme, which will equip students with the skills that they will need in preparation for Part 2. Part 1 consists of four units, namely:

Professional Review and Development: This unit will enable you to conduct a critical self-evaluation and identify your own learning requirements in relation to your doctoral programme of study and your own continuous professional development (CPD).

Advanced Research Techniques: This unit is key to your research practice and will allow you to successfully employ appropriate research theory and methodology in your own doctoral study and professional practice.

Publication and Dissemination: This unit focuses on output – analysing and critiquing publication and dissemination routes/methods within the field of business and management. It will cover both academic and professional dissemination in journals, books and conferences, as well as examine the need to communicate effectively with a range of professional groups.

Proposal for Professional Research and Development: This unit will enable you to reflect upon and consolidate prior learning and will underpin the preparation of a costed, coherent, realistic, achievable and well-argued proposal for a programme of professional research and development. This proposal must have been successfully completed in order to be approved by the formal Progression Board.

Part 2

You will study a research unit (Professional Research and Development) spanning years two, three and four. This will primarily involve supervision by your assigned DBA Supervisor and is overseen by the DBA Director, who will seek to ensure that timely progress is being made in the research, resulting in appropriate completion.

Programme Assessment

Our approach to learning is friendly, supportive and participative. The programme encourages active involvement and debate and fosters a lively exchange of ideas and knowledge. Our focus on application, rather than theory alone, is embedded throughout.

In year one, you will need to participate in the taught sessions, workshops and discussion forums and must be available to attend these. There is no attendance requirement in subsequent years, as your research is likely to comprise independent study in your own organisation, although regular meetings with your supervisor will be necessary.

Supervision and support is also a major component of the course. An allocated supervisor will guide and support you throughout your research programme and you will benefit from the ideas and learning experiences of your peers in what we call a ‘learning set’ (a small group of 3 or 4 peers who are at the same stage of DBA research as you).

Assessment is by coursework assignments at the end of the first year and students progress to the individual research phase after having passed the year one assessment. During the first taught year, students are allocated a mentor to help them develop their research topic in more depth and to prepare them for the research phase where they will be guided by a team of two academic supervisors over the following years.

Student Destinations

Your research will endeavour to make a significant original contribution to professional practice and theory relating to business and management. It will also challenge current assumptions and provide authoritative solutions, as well as influence and provide inspiration and leadership for others in the changing environment of professional practice.

Overall, the DBA is the highest level of professional and academic achievement inevitably leading to career growth in your current organisation and paving the way to further employment opportunities.

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Why take this course?

If you wish to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding in the rapidly developing field of coaching without giving up employment, then this course is ideal.

This course consists of three separate stages, the Postgraduate Certificate, the Postgraduate Diploma and the Master’s, each taking a year to complete. You can enter the programme at any stage relevant to your qualifications and experience. Completion of each stage enables you to continue to the next, with or without a break between each stage, but there is no obligation to do so. These part-time, work-based courses allow you to fit in studying easily around work and other commitments.

This programme is aimed at leaders, managers and training professionals who want to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in this rapidly developing field. Students may be seeking to use a coaching approach in a line management role, looking to build a coaching culture within their organisation to enhance performance or even embark on a second career as a professional freelance coach. This course is provided by the University of Portsmouth in conjunction with The Performance Coach, a well-respected company which provides coaching, training and consultancy services.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Participate in live web-based chat forums to discuss your work with TPC trainers and other students
Make an effective contribution to your workplace, as well as improve your career prospects
Tap in to our Library’s vast selection of electronic resources, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection

What opportunities might it lead to?

Previous students have gone on to set up their own coaching companies and coaching training organisations. Here are some other routes our graduates have pursued:

Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:

Business development
Consultancy work
Mentoring
Education
Training
Health sector

Module Details

Teaching is delivered through five workshops over ten days covering a range of specific coaching topics, including 30 hours of coaching practise.

Here are the topics you will study:

Foundation coaching skills:

Develop core coach competencies
Understand the key skills and models for coaching and be able to apply these in a coaching relationship
Define coaching and understand the range of coaching styles
Understand the boundaries for a coaching relationship and how to contract effectively
Explore the importance of supervision within coaching
Learn to self-reflect and appraise coaching capabilities to identify areas for personal development in coaching, and plan for new learning

Creating insights:

Exploring your vision and identity as a coach; understanding your signature strengths and areas of focus
Becoming more self aware and emotionally intelligent as a coach
Learning to self-evaluate performance and ways of being as a coach
Helping clients develop emotional intelligence and personal insight
Exploring a number of different concepts and tools which generate personal insights in others and enable personal change

Applied positive psychology in coaching:

Understand different tools, concepts and approaches from Positive Psychology and how these can be used to impact learning and performance
Helping a system and clients to become more resilient and have more of a strengths-based focus
Working with purpose and meaning
Using transpersonal tools and techniques to create deep awareness and personal change

Coaching leaders:

Understand key leadership models and frameworks
Explore models, tools and concepts for effective leadership development
Experience practical tools and techniques which are congruent with developing leaders
Enabling leaders to create a vision for their leadership, to think strategically, to problem-solve
Coaching leaders in transition
Assess participants' current level of coaching competence

Programme Assessment

The course takes a work-based learning approach which allows you to apply this knowledge and theory to your workplace. This approach means you produce current and applied work-based assignments for assessment.

This programme is assessed, quality assured and awarded by the University of Portsmouth whilst TPC's world-class trainers and facilitators deliver course content and work with you to develop your knowledge and understanding of coaching.

Assessment is also orientated around the workplace in the form of two 4,000-word work-based learning projects.

Progression: This programme offers a work-based Master's qualification using the integrated flexible Master's framework leading to the award of MSc.

Student Destinations

This course is ideal if you are seeking to use a coaching approach in a line management role, looking to build a coaching culture within your organisation to enhance performance or even embark on a second career as a professional freelance coach. Previous graduates have also gone on to set up their own coaching companies and coach training organisations.

Whether you are an internal or external coach, this postgraduate programme will help you make an incredible difference to your clients.

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Why take this course?

If you wish to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding in the rapidly developing field of coaching without giving up employment, then this is the ideal course for you.

This course consists of three separate stages, the Postgraduate Certificate, the Postgraduate Diploma and the Master’s, each taking a year to complete. You can enter the programme at any stage relevant to your qualifications and experience. Completion of each stage enables you to continue to the next, with or without a break between each stage, but there is no obligation to do so. These part-time, work-based courses allow you to fit in studying easily around work and other commitments.

This programme is aimed at leaders, managers and training professionals who want to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in this rapidly developing field. Students may be seeking to use a coaching approach in a line management role, looking to build a coaching culture within their organisation to enhance performance or even embark on a second career as a professional freelance coach. This course is provided by the University of Portsmouth in conjunction with The Performance Coach, a well-respected company which provides coaching, training and consultancy services.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Participate in live web-based chat forums to discuss your work with TPC trainers and other students
Make an effective contribution to your workplace, as well as improve your career prospects
Tap in to our Library’s vast selection of electronic resources, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection

What opportunities might it lead to?

Previous students have gone on to set up their own coaching companies and coaching training organisations. Here are some other routes our graduates have pursued:

Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:

Business development
Consultancy work
Mentoring
Education
Training
Health sector

Module Details

Teaching is delivered through five workshops over ten days covering a range of specific coaching topics, including 30 hours of coaching practise.

Here are the topics you will study:

Transformational coaching:

Creating a deep awareness of values, beliefs and identity with clients
Introduce a range of tools and techniques for working with coachees at deeper levels to unlock barriers and help them reach their potential
Creating internal transformation to enable outstanding high performance
Enable coach to get into high performance state to serve coaches

Coaching within organisations:

Understand the impact the organisation has on the coach, the coachee and the context
Learn how a coach can create the most effective way to partner an organisation to create a way of working that delivers outstanding results
Develop a systems view
Explore further the importance of diversity within the workplace and the contribution made by coaching
Helping the coach understand organisations better

Coaching teams and groups:

Learn how a team coach can enhance the performance of teams and groups
Appreciate the complexities in coaching teams and groups
Explore approaches in team development and team performance and the relationship between them
Develop core team coaching skills and approaches
Learn techniques to influence group dynamics

Coaching mastery:

Assess participants' current level of coaching capability
Reflect on development throughout the programme, identifying key strengths and future focus for practitioner development including supervision
Be fully aware of their own process when coaching, and the complexity of intra-personal and interpersonal dynamics
Use a variety of advanced methods and techniques to address business and performance issues
Skillfully apply their knowledge and skills of the personal and transpersonal dimensions of human experience to coaching in an assessed coaching session

Programme Assessment

The course takes a work-based learning approach which allows you to apply this knowledge and theory to your workplace. This approach means you produce current and applied work-based assignments for assessment.

This programme is assessed, quality assured and awarded by the University of Portsmouth whilst TPC's world-class trainers and facilitators deliver course content and work with you to develop your knowledge and understanding of coaching

Assessment is orientated around the workplace in the form of two 4,000-word work-based learning projects.

Progression: This programme offers a work-based Master's qualification using the integrated flexible Master's framework leading to the award of MSc.

Student Destinations

This course is ideal if you are seeking to use a coaching approach in a line management role, looking to build a coaching culture within your organisation to enhance performance or even embark on a second career as a professional freelance coach. Previous graduates have also gone on to set up their own coaching companies and coach training organisations.

Whether you are an internal or external coach, this postgraduate programme will help you make an incredible difference to your clients.

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Why take this course?

This course is suitable for graduates wishing to build a professional career in Quality and Business Improvement, as well as experienced professionals who want to develop knowledge, understanding and business management and skills in Quality and Business Improvement. It will lead to an advanced qualification that will support your practical industry knowledge and experience.

The course can be studied through campus-based or distance learning and is also available as a Postgraduate Diploma and a Masters.

What will I experience?

You will be introduced to a broad range of current theory and best practices covering operational, functional and strategic quality management. Critical thinking and self-directed study are important aspects of working at postgraduate level and the programme includes practical ways to deepen existing skills which can be applied in both academic and business settings.

You will be working with academically qualified and enthusiastic staff with research and consultancy experience and links with industry.

For distance learning, resources for the course are available through the University’s online learning system – you will need a fast, reliable internet connection. To facilitate your study, you will join in web-based interactive sessions with lecturers and other students and our University Library has extensive online resources that can be accessed online at any time.

What opportunities might it lead to?

The course provides you with a deep understanding of quality and its role in the organisation together with techniques to enable you to make a significant contribution to an organisation's stategic vision for success. It will also help you in the effective implementation of policies in order to achieve customer focus and continuous improvement.

Our graduates are in employment in quality management roles, operations management, training and development, and auditing and business process improvement.

Portsmouth Business School is a member of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM),) and the British Quality Foundation (BQF). On completion of the course, students are able to use their qualification as part of their portfolio of evidence to apply for individual membership of the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI).

Module Details

Our course is very flexible. You can study part-time in Portsmouth in a classroom environment or by distance learning, supported by thorough online resources. For study by distance learning, you can complete the postgraduate certificate in one year part time distance learning and the Master’s in a little over two years.

This is a well-established course. The Master’s comprises four units followed by a dissertation; the Postgraduate Certificate comprises two units:

Business Transformation through Quality Management introduces you to the fundamental concepts of Total Quality Management and Organisational Behaviour, focusing on the application of these concepts in the organisation. It includes driving a culture of continuous improvement and managing change.

Business Operations – the Quality Management Perspective will give you knowledge of business systems for quality planning, quality standards and the benefits accruing from integrated management systems and their application in the workplace to generate organisational efficiencies. It shows you how tools such as SERVQUAL, FMEA, QFD and Benchmarking can help evaluate how an organisation is performing against their strategic vision and goals.

Programme Assessment

The course uses a range of teaching methods including formal lectures, tutorials, in-class exercises and work based assignments. Classes are interactive with the use of case studies and invited speakers. The University’s virtual learning environment (VLE) further supports student study by hosting a range of activities and resources. We encourage and develop critical thinking and self-directed study, with academic support from University Tutors.

For distance learning, you will benefit from comprehensive learning materials including online video, audio and written resources. There will also be staff-led online tutorials with other distance learning students. We encourage and develop critical thinking and self-directed study, with academic support from university tutors.

Performance in all units is assessed by means of coursework. The assessment comprises a mixture of individual assessments such as case study analysis and reports and essays. Individual and generic feedback is provided for all assessments.

Student Destinations

The aim of this course is to enable you to improve performance at a professional and organisational level. In turn, this should boost your own career prospects by helping you to take the next step up the managerial ladder.

Our previous graduates have gone on to undertake a variety of roles in the Public and Private sectors including quality manager/director, quality engineer, quality adviser, quality analyst, quality consultant, quality environmental and health and safety manager, amongst others.

On successful completion of the course you are eligible to apply for Associate and Practitioner membership of the Chartered Quality Institute. You also may qualify for Chartered Quality Professional status through the qualification route, subject to satisfying the work experience criteria - at least five years' quality management or systems experience, two of which should be in a managerial or supervisory capacity (including the management of people, processes or systems).

Read less

Why take this course?

This course is ideal for graduates wishing to build a professional career in Quality and Business Improvement, as well as experienced professionals who want to develop knowledge, understanding and business management skills in Quality and Business Improvement. It will lead to an advanced qualification that will support your practical industry knowledge and experience.

The programme is taught part time over two years (both campus-based and distance learning) and is also available as a Postgraduate Certificate or Masters. Find out more about this course, our facilities and generous scholarships by attending one of our regular open evenings where you can meet teaching staff and current students. Alternatively, join our next online SQM information session.

What will I experience?

A broad range of current theory and best practices covering operational, functional and strategic quality management.
Critical thinking and self-directed study are important aspects of working at postgraduate level and the programme includes practical ways to apply in both academic and business settings.
Learn from staff with a research background and consultancy experience, including links with industry.

What opportunities might it lead to?

The course provides you with a deep understanding of quality and its role in the organisation. You will learn techniques to make a significant contribution to an organisation's strategic vision for success. It will also help you in the effective implementation of policies in order to achieve customer focus and continuous improvement.

Our graduates are in employment in:

Quality management roles
Operations management
Training and development
Auditing and business process improvement.

Portsmouth Business School is a member of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and the British Quality Foundation (BQF). On completion of the course, you will be able to use your qualification as part of your portfolio of evidence to apply for individual membership of the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI).

Module Details

Our course is very flexible. You can study part time in Portsmouth in a classroom environment or by distance learning, supported by thorough online resources.

The postgraduate diploma comprises four units:

Business Transformation through Quality Management introduces you to the fundamental concepts of Total Quality Management and Organisational Behaviour, focusing on the application of these concepts in the organisation. It includes driving a culture of continuous improvement and managing change.

Business Operations – the Quality Management Perspective will give you knowledge of business systems for quality planning, quality standards and the benefits accruing from integrated management systems and their application in the workplace to generate organisational efficiencies. It shows you how tools such as SERVQUAL, FMEA, QFD and Benchmarking can help evaluate how an organisation is performing against their strategic vision and goals.

Strategic Organisational Excellence looks at the links between concepts of excellence (as used by EFQM and other excellence models) and their use in the strategic management of an organisation. It explores issues raised by variations in culture and sector, both within the organisation and in its relationships with its stakeholders. It will also introduce you to Corporate Social Responsibility and Quality in the Supply Chain.

Quantitative and Research Methods evaluates concepts of quantitative methods and the application of specialist statistics to aid decision-making within organisations. It also covers the theory and application of research methodologies to support organisational improvement activities.

Programme Assessment

The course uses a range of teaching methods including formal lectures, tutorials, in-class exercises and work-based assignments. Classes are interactive with the use of case studies and invited speakers. The University’s virtual learning environment (VLE) further supports your studies by hosting a range of activities and resources. We encourage and develop critical thinking and self-directed study, with academic support from University Tutors.

Performance in all units is assessed by coursework. The assessment comprises a mixture of individual and group work assessments, case study analysis, reports, essays and presentations. Individual and generic feedback is provided for all assessments.

Student Destinations

This course will improve performance at a professional and organisational level. In turn, it will boost your own career prospects by helping you to take the next step up the managerial ladder.

Our previous graduates have gone on to undertake a variety of roles in the Public and Private sectors including quality manager/director, quality engineer, quality adviser, quality analyst, quality consultant, quality environmental and health and safety manager, amongst others.

On successful completion of the course you are eligible to apply for Associate and Practitioner membership of the Chartered Quality Institute. You also may qualify for Chartered Quality Professional status through the qualification route, subject to satisfying the work experience criteria - at least five years' quality management or systems experience, two of which should be in a managerial or supervisory capacity (including the management of people, processes or systems).

Read less