Our MBA degree in Leadership develops your talent and potential as a creative, innovative and enterprising leader.

  • Develop your theoretical understanding and professional expertise in strategic management and leadership.
  • Engage with current debates on the issues and challenges facing managers and leaders today.
  • Learn to manage complexity, diversity, and change, and develop innovative approaches to the challenges facing teams, organisations, and sectors.

The MBA Leadership course at Bath Spa offers executive leadership education and professional career development for individuals with existing management experience.

Created and delivered through close consultation and collaboration with employers, the course is designed to ensure that you'll graduate with the leadership skills that organisations need in an ever-changing business environment.

The MBA Leadership supports the development of strategic leaders who can work effectively in a range of roles, drawing on a broad mix of transferable professional skills and experience.

CMI accreditation

Chartered Management Institute Higher Education Partner

After you graduate, and provided that you pass every module, you'll gain a Level 7 Strategic Diploma in Management and Leadership Practice from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in addition to your MBA qualification.

What is an MBA? 

An MBA (Master’s of Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree that’s designed to accelerate your business career. You’ll usually, but not always, have several years of business experience in any industry, with a keen interest in management roles and senior leadership. This qualification can help boost your salary and career prospects.

At Bath Spa University, we offer the following MBAs:

  • MBA (London): Our London MBA covers many aspects of business, including change management, marketing, data analysis, and financial decision making. It's designed for those who aspire to manage others effectively and ethically. 
  • MBA Leadership (Bath): This course offers executive leadership education for those with existing management experience. It's designed for applicants with ambitions to enter senior leadership, strategic, and C-suite roles.

What you'll learn

Overview

The MBA Leadership is designed to further develop your understanding of theoretical and practical knowledge and expertise in business, management and leadership.

The course enables you to take an international perspective about business, management and leadership to deepen your understanding of the impact of globalisation on business, societies and the environment.

It supports your professional leadership development through scholarly enquiry, peer discussion and networking, evaluation, work-based learning and reflective practice.

And it challenges you to further develop leadership and management expertise that is relevant to your chosen career path and develop the lifelong learning skills crucial to your ongoing personal professional development

Course structure

The MBA Leadership is delivered either full-time over one year, or part-time over two years.

You need to take 120 credits of classroom-based taught modules first, before completing your 60 credit Leadership Project.

Course modules

This course includes or offers the following modules. Please check the programme document for more information on which modules are core, required or optional.

  • Leading, Managing and Developing People
  • Strategic Management
  • Leading Change and Innovation
  • Governance and Risk Management
  • Strategic Marketing Management
  • Corporate Financial Management
  • Project Management
  • Professional Development Portfolio
  • Leadership Project
How will I be assessed?

You'll be assessed by a variety of methods that may include some or all of the following across the various modules on the course:

  • Reports
  • Case studies
  • Business plans
  • Proposals for work-based projects / consultancy project
  • Reflective learning, professional career development and work-based experience portfolio
  • Project evaluations
  • Presentations.
How will I be taught?

We combine academic study with work-based learning and your own professional experience. You'll learn through a variety of activities including lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, online activity and discussion, case studies, and project work.

Staff on this course offer you access to a wide range of academic and practical expertise in leadership and senior management. You'll benefit from one-to-one tutorials, workshops, peer-support and shared learning. We work with you to ensure that what you learn on the course develops into effective practice in the real world, and enhances your professional career development.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

Opportunities

Work-based learning, industry learning and professional networks

The MBA Leadership is designed for people who have experience in a management capacity. You're encouraged to use examples and case studies to relate the wider contexts of academic scholarship and debates about current best practice in business management and leadership to real world examples relevant to businesses and organisations today - and relevant to your own experience so far, and career aspirations.

Careers

On this course, you'll develop your leadership and management expertise in the context most relevant to your chosen career path, and develop lifelong learning skills, including an enthusiasm for business and learning as part of personal professional development.

The embedded real world content and context-based assessment on this course ensure that you leave with relevant experience, executive level skills, and will have further developed your own professional networks.

Adobe Creative Campus

Develop a wealth of indispensable digital skills that you can take into your future career. One of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, we provide all Bath Spa students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite, giving you the tools to communicate creatively, whatever your course or chosen professional field.   

Fees

2025 entry
Student Annual tuition fee
UK full time £10,810
UK part time £5,405
International full time £18,440

Additional course costs

You may need to pay additional course costs over and above your tuition fees, for example, for specialist equipment or trips and visits. Please check the course Programme Document (linked under the main image on this page) for details of any additional costs. You can also read our Additional Course Costs Policy for further information.

Funding opportunities

Please visit our Funding pages for an overview of the funding options that may be available, including scholarships and bursaries.

Interested in applying?

What we look for in potential students

You'll usually have a strong undergraduate degree in any academic subject. You'll also normally be expected to have at least two years work experience after graduation, where you can demonstrate that you have management experience and need to further develop your leadership skills and business and management expertise.

You may be considered without an undergraduate degree if you can demonstrate considerable relevant experience. In this case, you'll be asked to attend an interview, or to submit a portfolio supporting your application. See our Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) web page to learn more.

If English is not your first language, you'll need to provide evidence of proficiency in the English language. We're looking for a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component (Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking).

How do I apply?

Ready to apply? Click the 'apply now' button in the centre of this page.

Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply webpages.