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MPA
Masters in Public Administration

Location
Southwark

Duration
30 months - 5 semesters (part-time)

Start date
September

Simple timetable information
Part-time, 1 afternoon and 1 evening per week, plus dissertation time with a dissertation supervisor/facilitator

How to apply
Direct to LSBU

LSBU code
3096

Course Contact
Ms Chrissie Oldfield
oldfiec@lsbu.ac.uk – 020 7815 7835

Course Units

Year 1 , Semester 1

– Public Management and Governance

– Public Policy and the Managerial Environment

– Weekend Residential

Semester 2

– Methods for Managers

– Contemporary Issues for Public Sector Managers

– International Summer School

Year 2, Semester 2

– Human Resource Management in the Public Sector Pathway Specific
– Integrative Management and Change (MPA) or Law and Ethics Relating to Health (MPA-HSM)

Plus 2 options from:

MPA route

– Managing within a Regulatory Framework

– Strategic Management in the Public and Not-for-Profit Sector

– Performance Management and Reward in the Public Services

– Public Sector Entrepreneurship

– The Practice of Management Consulting in the Public Sector

– International Employment Relations

– Strategic Consulting in the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors

– Marketing and Meeting Customer Needs MPA (HSM) route

– Health and Social Policy

– Leadership in Health Services

– Public Health

– Current Quality Issues in Health Care

– Commissioning for Health and Social Care

Students choose at least one pathway specific unit

Year 3
Dissertation (pathway specific)


Course description

The course is designed to meet the needs of middle and senior managers working in the public sector including the health service. An MPA is an internationally recognised qualification seen as the public sector equivalent to the MBA. Our course is one of the first of its kind in London and the south-east and builds on years of experience in delivering successful masters degrees in both Public Service and Health Service Management. The programme is supported by an established researchbase in public health and not-for-profit management, and academics with vast experience of teaching and consulting in these areas.

Content is designed to reflect the changes in styles of public management theory and practice, and managers requirements for the skills to manage cross-sectorally as well as inter-sectorally and to enhance the necessary skills, academic knowledge and confidence needed in order to manage in such a rapidly changing sector.

The International Summer School is an integral part of the course run in partnership with prestigious European Universities offering comparable MPAs. It enables debate with internationally renowned academics and practitioners on public service management and governance and a good opportunity to network with colleagues across Europe.

A variety of teaching and learning methods are used to reflect different learning styles and needs of busy, mature, part-time students. There are no formal exams. Course assessment is by written assignments,presentation work and case studies.

There are three pathways to choose from: MPA, MPA Health Service Management (HSM), MPA Social Work Management (SWM). The programme offers course participants the opportunity to study five core management units over the first three semesters, and then to opt either for the MPA route or the MPA-HSM route. Course participants taking the MPASWM route will already have completed the specialist social work units in the Faculty of Health and Social Care in Year One, and will take four of the five core public management units in their second year.

Students enrolling for the MPA may choose to graduate with a PgCert at the end of Year One, or PgDip at the end of Year Two. Students can return to complete their MPA at a later date.

Career opportunities

Graduates progress to more senior positions within their public and not-forprofit organisations. Recent successes include appointment to Directorate Level and Heads of Service.

Professional contacts/industry links

European Partner Institutions: Bocconi Milan, Erasmus, Rotterdam, Esade Barcelona, Copenhagen Business School, Potsdam University, Limerick University and Hint and Hist University, Norway. The course is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).