Postgraduate Courses

Edexcel Level 7 Strategic Management & Leadership

Level 7 is postgraduate level study.

Level 7	MA, MBA, Edexcel Level 7 Strategic Management & Leadership
Level 6	BA, BSc
Level 5	HND, Foundation Degree, Edexcel Level 5 Management & Leadership
Level 4	Certificate of Higher Education
Level 3	A Levels, BTEC National Diploma
Level 2	GCSE

There is no need for mature students to progress sequentially through the levels; these Level 7 management qualifications were designed for experienced managers, rather than those following an academic route. The qualifications at Level 5 and 6 are designed for younger students without management experience.

Structure of the Level 7 Strategic Management & Leadership Programme

There are three qualifications: Certificate, Diploma, and Extended Diploma. They can be taken sequentially by adding Units to "top up" from one qualification to the next, or you can choose which qualification you want to achieve and simply enrol for that course.

Level 7 Certificate is 2 Units worth 20 Credit Points
Level 7 Diploma is 6 Units worth 60 Credit Points
Level 7 Extended Diploma is 9 Units worth 120 Credit Points

The Extended Diploma includes a research project, which gains extra Credit Points. This is ideal preparation for those students who wish to continue on to the final stage of an MBA. An MBA is worth 180 points in total.

For all of the Units the method of study is by distance learning. One Unit is taken at a time, under the guidance of a personal tutor.

Certificate Units:

Developing Strategic Management & Leadership Skills
Strategic Change Management

Diploma Units:

Developing Strategic Management & Leadership Skills
Strategic Change Management
Professional Development
Strategic Planning
Strategic Marketing Management
Strategic Human Resource Management

Extended Diploma Units:

Developing Strategic Management & Leadership Skills
Strategic Change Management
Professional Development
Strategic Planning
Strategic Marketing Management
Strategic Human Resource Management
Managing Financial Principles & Techniques
Project 1 Research Methods
Project 2 Development & Implementation

Recognition and Further Study Opportunities

The Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership is a valuable qualification in its own right, and managers in both the private and public sectors study for it at colleges and universities throughout the UK in order to enhance their career prospects. Most of them progress to achieve the Extended Diploma, which is a more traditional management qualification, with a wide range of subjects. This indicates to employers that the holder has a broad outlook, and possesses generic management skills that can be used in any organisation.

The Diploma and Extended Diploma qualifications clearly show the Credit Points that have been earned. The Extended Diploma is a much more substantial qualification than others that are available at Level 7, as it is worth 120 Masters Level Credit Points, and indicates that the holder has the intellectual capacity to succeed at Masters Degree Level. Holders of the Extended Diploma only have to acquire another 60 Level 7 Credit Points in order to be awarded the full MBA; this is achieved by studying the final stage of an MBA programme - referred to as the "MBA Top up".

The Edexcel Level 7 Strategic Management qualifications form part of the most widely recognised qualification for strategic managers – the MBA. For successful students who wish to carry on studying, there is a continuous and guaranteed "ladder" of progression from the Diploma, to Extended Diploma and to MBA.

Stratford Business School has partner universities that will automatically accept our Extended Diploma holders on to the final stage of their MBA programmes.

Northampton University has a Distance Learning MBA Top Up programme which has a Strategic Change Unit, followed by a Research Project.

Plymouth University has a Part Time MBA Top Up programme that can be studied by distance learning, but has the option of attendance and tutorials. This programme requires a Research Project.

For further details of these programmes please contact Stratford Business School.

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