Overview
Top reasons to study with us
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9
9th for Business and Management in the UK
QS World University Rankings (2024)
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72
72nd for Business and Management in the world
QS World University Rankings (2024)
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Lancaster University is top 10 in The Complete University Guide 2025
The PG Diploma in Leadership Practice programme provides a flexible, bespoke work-based route to a postgraduate qualification. It is a progression route for students intending to specialise in Leadership who have completed one of the following awards:
- PGCert Leadership and Management 60 credits
- PGCert Leadership and Management (Healthcare) 60 credits
- PGCert Professional Practice (60 credits)
- PGCert Professional Development (60 credits) *** dependent on modules completed.
This qualification is also available through the Senior Leadership Apprenticeship pathway.
You may also be eligible to make a claim for credit for prior learning and experience to gain exemptions from some modules.
Course structure
You will complete the core modules shown in the course structure below and select the appropriate modules for your own personal development from our wide range of optional modules.
Course duration
This programme will take 2 - 4 years to complete.
For more information or to apply please make an enquiry to the CETAD team.
Entry requirements
Academic Requirements
A first degree or equivalent professional qualification.
We may also consider non-standard applicants, please contact us for information.
If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.
English Language Requirements
We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.
We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.
Course structure
You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
Core
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This core module is integral to your Postgraduate Certificate programme. You begin the module by taking part in activities that help you become more self-aware of your strengths, areas for improvement, and the skills and knowledge needed for your personal and professional growth. This helps you plan a course of study that aligns with your personal and professional development needs. Throughout the programme, you will receive support from a learning mentor.
After designing and negotiating your programme, this module will support you throughout your learning journey until its completion. The main purpose of the module is to help you learn about learning and develop this important lifelong and work-based skill. This will give you the confidence to critically evaluate and challenge ideas, advocate for your own opinions, and communicate complex ideas to different audiences.
Optional
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Effective collaboration and successful teamwork are key features of successful organisations. This course will develop your critical understanding of the features of "high-performing teams" and your skills working as a team leader or member.
You will explore key concepts, models and theories of team roles and dynamics and relate these to your own experience. You will evaluate frameworks for assessing and developing team performance and consider their usefulness and applicability to your own practice.
We will explore with you the answers to some key questions:
- What is the impact of leadership on the performance and development of teams?
- What leadership skills and strategies are effective?
- What is 'collective leadership'?
- What are the specific challenges of working with inter-agency and inter-professional teams?
You will evaluate ideas, relate them to your situation and develop practical strategies you can adopt at work.
Creative thinking is the ability to imagine or invent something new and is a powerful skill in the work context spanning the spectrum of 'brilliant ideas' to 'better ways of doing things'. It can be closely linked to problem-solving. This module will help you develop your abilities and support you to develop a creative, innovative culture in your team.
You will examine concepts and models used to stimulate creative thinking and frameworks for problem-solving and assess their applicability and usefulness to your work. For example, you might look at the work of experts such as Edward de Bono and evaluate ideas such as ‘left and right brain thinking’, ‘six thinking hats’ and a ‘solution focus rather than a problem focus’.
In this module, you will:
- Develop your knowledge and understanding of a range of strategies through which work-based change may be achieved
- Enhance your ability to select and apply work-based change models to suit your own organisation context
- Explore factors affecting the adoption of change in organisations, including power, ethics, culture and resourcing implications
- Design and plan a change project.
Core
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This module is a key part of how we support you in customising your postgraduate programme.
As part of this, you will:
- Develop your learning objectives to meet your personal development needs, the needs of your workplace, and the University's requirements.
- Update your personal development plan.
- Engage with your key stakeholders to determine organisational needs and the requirements for a substantive work-based project.
- Negotiate your future postgraduate programme, selecting modules to best meet your needs.
- Outline a proposal for a work-based project to fulfil personal, organisational and University requirements.
You will also negotiate timescales, target award and award title to construct an achievable programme that meets your career aspirations and the requirements for success at postgraduate level.
The project syllabus will be largely determined by the focus and nature of your project and will be agreed between you and your mentor-facilitator. You will be guided, supported and encouraged to take a proactive role in designing your own learning. It is likely this learning will be located in the following areas:
- Knowledge creation - identifying potential enquiry approaches suitable for work-based projects that deliver impact
- Developing critical cognitive skills for questioning and challenging existing organisational ideas and practices
- Developing clarity and consistency in communicating with a range of organisational and academic audiences.
- Exploring social and ethical challenges in changing organisational contexts
Optional
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This module takes you through the process of analysing drivers for change in your own organisation. It will develop your critical understanding of the external and internal factors that influence the need for change in your organisation and your skills in working with the complexity and uncertainty of change.
We will explore the change agenda in your local context and start to question and challenge existing organisational capacity to respond to these.
You will learn to identify your organisation's key internal and external drivers for change. You will be able to analyse how change is affecting your organisation and understand how change impacts you and your role.
Modern-day workplaces can be constantly changing, and many factors cause stress and prevent individuals from maintaining high levels of performance and wellbeing. In this module, we will explore workplace resilience as a tool to cope with modern stresses. This will provide you with an opportunity to build a strategy to improve your own resilience and that of others.
We will delve into the lessons learned from the science of positive psychology and other perspectives, such as the importance of confidence, adaptability, and purposefulness. We will also critically analyse current themes around new age perspectives, such as mindfulness, by looking at academic research and the applicability of techniques to workplace practice.
This module will cover:
- Managing people for effective performance through the life cycle of employment
- Managing day-to-day performance
- Dealing with performance issues
- Understanding an individual’s motivation, personality, and behaviours
- Developing appropriate, effective people management responses
- Leading and developing your staff
The module will help you develop an understanding of best practices for managing staff performance and a range of skills to enhance your ability to lead and manage staff routinely. You will increase your understanding of others' behaviours and motivations, explore a range of tactics to engage staff and improve your own ability to manage staff performance.
The module covers the following topics:
- History and development of Quality Improvement Science
- Models and techniques for Quality Improvement and Improvement Science
- Policy and context of Quality Improvement in healthcare
- Organisational readiness for Quality Improvement
By the end of the course, you will have developed
- A critical understanding of the role of improvement science in a healthcare context
- Knowledge and understanding of key models related to Quality and Improvement Science
- An understanding of improvement practices in relation to your own organisational role and context.
The topics covered in this module include:
- What is leadership? What is management?
- Leadership and management: current debates and issues in relation to the challenges of your own role
- Social and ethical challenges for management and leadership in changing organisational contexts; managing with integrity
- Organisation culture, values, power – impact on expectations and behaviours of leadership and management
- Understanding your own leadership style, behaviours, habits
- Evaluating your own strengths and development needs in the context of management and leadership
- Developing authentic leadership effectiveness – aligning your approach to fit with current and future organisational needs
This module will help you to understand different perceptions of effective leadership and management and examine the effectiveness of leadership and management in the context of your own organisation. You will be able to devise a strategy for your own personal leadership development to help you address the current challenges of your role.
Fees and funding
Fees for 2024/25 (Per 10 credit module)
Home and International: £500
- MSc/MA = 180 credits
- PGDip = 120 credits
- PGCert = 60 credits
Find more information on course fees and start dates for executive education programmes.
Additional fees and funding information accordion
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
College fees
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small College Membership Fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2025, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses.
Computer equipment and internet access
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
For most taught postgraduate applications there is a non-refundable application fee of £40. We cannot consider applications until this fee has been paid, as advised on our online secure payment system. There is no application fee for postgraduate research applications.
For some of our courses you will need to pay a deposit to accept your offer and secure your place. We will let you know in your offer letter if a deposit is required and you will be given a deadline date when this is due to be paid.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
If you are studying on a programme of more than one year’s duration, tuition fees are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
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Management and Business
- Business Administration MBA
- Business Administration (Executive) MBA
- Business Analytics MSc
- Cyber Security Executive MBA MBA
- Digital Business, Innovation and Management MSc
- Human Resource Management MSc
- Human Resources and Consulting MA
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc
- Innovation and Improvement Science MSc
- Innovation and Improvement Science PgCert
- Innovation and Improvement Science PgDip
- International Business and Strategy MSc
- International Masters Program for Managers No Qual (PGT)
- Leadership and Management PgCert
- Leadership and Management (Health Care) PgCert
- Leadership Practice MSc
- Leadership Practice (Apprenticeship Pathway) PgDip
- Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc
- Management MSc
- Management (Entrepreneurship and Strategy) PhD
- Management (Organisation, Work and Technology) PhD
- Management Science MRes
- Management Science PhD
- Management Science PhD (Integrated)
- Medical Leadership MSc
- Medical Leadership PgDip
- Medical Leadership PgCert
- Organisation, Work and Technology MRes
- Politics, Philosophy and Management MSc
- Professional Development PGCert
- Professional Practice MA
- Professional Practice MSc
- Professional Practice PgCert
- Professional Practice PgDip
- Project Management MSc
- Theory and Practice of Management PhD
- Theory and Practice of Management (IDPM) PhD
Important Information
The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
Our Students’ Charter
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.