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Master of Public Administration (MPA)

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

This course is eligible for Master's loan funding. Find out more.

Start date

16 September 2024

Duration

2 years part-time

Places available (subject to change)

50

About the course

The Huddersfield MPA is a professional postgraduate degree designed to prepare you for your future road and career in responsible management of the public and non-profit sectors. It is designed to empower and equip you with the tools and skills that you can take into the public sector and better engage in the policy analysis and policy making process. You’ll be introduced to different frameworks that are relevant for the public service work, and will be immersed through case studies, capstone, and guest speakers.

A very distinctive feature of the Huddersfield MPA is that it is an interdisciplinary programme. The content enables you to learn more about public policy by taking a combination of modules from the disciplines of finance, leadership, technology, economics, people management and public policy. The programme aims to provide learners with the practical knowledge and skills required in the professional public sector environment regarding management and leadership.

Course detail

Responsible Leadership and Systemic Risk Management in the Public Sector

Good leadership is one of the most important factors for ensuring organisational effectiveness and efficiency. In the public sector, there is heightened scrutiny on leadership, at both national and local level: with accountability, governance, value for money, and trust as key issues both within and external to the sector. Public sector leaders need to be sentient of current and emerging policy, political and financial management issues, within a wider landscape, valuing sustainability and responsibility. This melting pot means that public leadership decisions are complicated and require choices to be made that manage both the issue, the range of stakeholder requirements, and work towards principles of New Public Management / Leadership. In this module, learners explore four key themes: the governance challenge, financial awareness, responsible leadership and systemic risk investigation and management in order to understand how as public sector leaders, they can identify, manage or mitigate risks for their organisation and drive efficiency and effectiveness of resource utilization and policy implementation.

Ageing Societies

Global demographics are continually changing and are now seeing an increasingly ageing population in many (but not all) countries. Put this together with changes to pension ages and age discrimination legislation and it means that in the future you will be working with many more older colleagues than has been the case to date. In this module, you will evaluate both the challenges and opportunities for business and management that come with increasingly ageing societies in the 21st Century. They will include ageing-related issues at the individual, organisational and societal levels, for example: creating novel and more flexible pension arrangements; innovative marketing to target older consumers; managing more flexible working patterns towards retirement; enabling more inclusive work environments by supporting workers with age-related health issues; and opportunities for career development in older life including starting a business. You will explore ways in which organisations and those working in them can adjust to changing needs in response to a shifting age demographic in the UK and elsewhere in the world.

Managing Big Data

With many industries generating huge volumes of data almost continuously the challenge for these industries is understanding how this data can be utilised for developing organisational value. This module introduces the field of Big Data, sources, management and visualisaiton. The module will evaluate and consider a range of features in the area, and provide opportunity to work with multiple online and offline data sets, investigate ethical issues around the data and explore different data collection strategies. Experience in these areas gives a holistic overview of organisational challenges and an informed perspective in decision making through the utilisation of big data.

People Matter

In contemporary workplaces and society at large, people matter. Organisations want to be successful in their chosen field and sector but today, more than ever emphasis is placed on how they gain this success. This module will therefore consider how sustainable success is delivered through strategic and responsible management of people. The module will explore a wide range of organisations and consider how responsible people practices encourage commitment and improve performance in the challenging environment which organisations exist.

Professional and Personal Excellence (PROPEL 1)

This module is focused on enabling you to maximise your professional and personal development, and develop the skills necessary to become continuous learners. To that end, knowledge and ability will be developed in the areas of learning styles and preferences, and research methods. The module provides an opportunity to develop insights into professional and personal preferences, and to reflect on professional development, past, present and future. You will be encouraged to undertake personal change to modify existing work behaviours and acquire new skills.

Additional information

Here at Huddersfield 100% of permanent teaching staff* have professional recognition as Fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Fellowships are only awarded to academics who can demonstrate their knowledge and ability to teach to a high standard.

We have links with a number of professional bodies that can help your professional development and offer additional insights to your industry and profession. Huddersfield Business School is an official HE Partner of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). You'll have access to a number of guest lectures and networking events throughout your studies.

*Permanent staff, after probation: some recently appointed colleagues will only obtain recognition in the months after their arrival in Huddersfield, once they have started teaching; research degrees applies to those on contracts of more than half-time.

We use a range of teaching methods with a significant emphasis on group discussion. You are expected to share your experiences. Lectures will provide the formal input to the modules. These will be supplemented by guided reading and case study analyses. We also use workshop, tutorial and seminar activities.

There are a variety of assessment methods, including individual and group reports, essays, learning logs, time constrained assessment activities and the dissertation.

The postgraduate dissertation proposal module is delivered through the entire programme, enabling you to get an understanding of the importance of research for business while you develop a research question which will inform your dissertation. You will undertake your postgraduate dissertation during the summer term, once all of the taught elements of the module have been completed.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally:

  • An Honours degree (2:2 or above) in any subject or an equivalent professional qualification.
  • At least two years' relevant work or managerial experience.

If you have significant management experience you may be admitted to the course without a degree or degree equivalent qualifications if you can demonstrate your potential to meet the learning requirements of the course.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our Where are you from information pages.

Student support

Our Learning, Innovation and Development Centre (LID) provides academic support to all students within Huddersfield Business School. Our academic skills tutors have taught at all levels including Master’s who can work closely with you to help you achieve your full potential throughout your time at the University of Huddersfield.

They can help with a wide range of academic skills including referencing, academic writing (such as essays, reports and coursework), research, reading, note-taking, dissertations and presentations as well as all other skills and issues relating to academia. As well as this, they also offer advice on dyslexia and can provide information on accessing disability support.

The team also provides support for international students. We recognise that there are many differences between studying here and in your home country. This is why we have dedicated academic skills tutors who can help you with both your study as well as your language skills.

International Student Development: We understand that settling into a new country and environment can be very stressful. So, if you are an international student, the International Student Development (ISD) team can help provide support in understanding and adapting to the UK Higher Education environment as well as settling into life in the UK.

In addition, we can also help you develop the essential academic skills needed to ensure you achieve your full potential throughout your time at Huddersfield. We provide help and guidance to students at all levels (both undergraduate and postgraduate) with timetabled academic skills sessions. These sessions are delivered in same-course groups by our experienced tutors. In addition, English language sessions are available at foundation, intermediate or upper intermediate level. The number of weekly sessions and support you receive will vary depending on the level you are currently working at.

Student Support & Guidance: Huddersfield Business School has a Student Support & Guidance service which aims to ensure that you are fully supported whilst studying here with us at The University of Huddersfield. They are able to offer you help, advice, support and guidance on a wide range of matters that may be having an impact on your general well-being or university life and studies.

The team can offer one to one pre-booked appointments or drop-In sessions to discuss or give advice on anything that concerns you which may include; attendance, disabilities, timetable Issues, welfare and any personal issues that may be impacting upon your studies.

Library services and online study support: Students at the University of Huddersfield have access to a wide range of study resources through the library and additional online study support resources. Our modern, professionally organised library provides a wide range of books, cds, dvds and additional online resources such as company reports, market research reports and academic and professional journal archives. At key times in the academic year the library is open 24-7 and our students also borrow laptops, reserve study rooms for group working and access computer software programmes.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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