MBA Master of Business Administration (Executive)

MBA Master of Business Administration (Executive)

Award

MBA

Start Date

27/01/2025 (Full), 22/09/2025

Duration

36 months

Mode

Part-time

Location

University of Bolton

If you're in full-time employment and aiming for a senior management role, the Executive Master of Business Administration qualification could be for you. This stimulating course explores the skills required to tackle large-scale, strategic business challenges, supporting your growth as a leader in almost any field.

Apply Now Download Prospectus Programme Specification

Course Overview

The University of Bolton's Executive MBA focuses on helping full-time business professionals transition into senior managers. Whatever sector you currently work in, this enriching MBA programme will help you understand the problems and challenges facing enterprises and organisations – and identify potential solutions.

The aim is to stretch your management competencies into new areas of potential responsibility. The syllabus incorporates vital skills that can be applied in almost any business, such as building a thorough knowledge of an organisation and its leadership, developing creative and systematic approaches to underlying business issues, and understanding how business and management practices can be improved.

This part-time three-year programme is designed to dovetail with the demands of a full-time job. The course runs one evening a week from 6pm to 9pm. Learning is supported via interactive in-class sessions and independent study. Course materials are available online, so you can prepare work at home, ensuring that in-class learning is highly interactive.

Highlights

Key Features

Entry Requirements

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

Career Opportunities

No matter what part of industry or commerce you work in, the Executive MBA course will assist you in gaining a critical understanding of the problems and challenges facing enterprises and organisations and equip you with the analytical and critical faculties to identify potential solutions.

An MBA is usually undertaken as a means to progress your career. For some, the objective is to become a general manager and leader, while for others, the motivation is to switch sectors, develop a specialism further or prepare for a new business start-up. Businesses, from tiny start-ups to large companies, need someone with experience and the necessary education to support common business processes like accounting, finance, human resources, marketing, public relations, sales, and management.

What can I do with this qualification?

While an MBA often appeals to people wanting to switch industries, an Executive MBA can attract those who want to progress, graduating from middle manager to a more senior management role. A wide range of employers – financial institutions, technology companies, blue-chip companies and SMEs – recruit Executive MBA graduates. The universal appeal stems from the focus on collective business principles.

Popular options for Executive MBA graduates include management consultancy, marketing and supply chain management. It can also help you specialise in your current sector or a new industry you want to move into.

Alternative career options

Graduates can also use this qualification as a stepping-stone into various other careers. Some of these roles may require relevant experience and/or postgraduate. Some possibilities include:

  • Hotel and leisure management
  • Public relations
  • Financial management
  • Information systems
  • Market research analysis
  • Product management
  • Health policy and information
  • Purchasing
  • Teaching and education
  • Media (TV, film, online, newspaper, magazine)
  • Advertising
  • Self-employment
  • Logistics
  • Banking
  • Auditing and quality assurance
  • Project management
  • Risk and insurance
  • FMCG
Professional Recognition

Successful completion of the Executive MBA may entitle you to apply to CMI for their Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership (this is a process separate from the programme and will incur additional costs payable to CMI).

Fees & Funding

Home/EU Fees

Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £3,240 per academic credit, for the academic year 2024/25.

International Fees

Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £5,317 per academic credit, for the academic year 2024/25.

Bursaries

Click here for more information on our Master's Bursaries.

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2024-25 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

How to apply

Home Applicants

You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:

You should have to hand:

  • Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates

  • Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies

  • Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role

  • Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately

  • Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference

Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.

Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.

If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk

International Applicants

International applications are not possible for this course

As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.

We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.

Teaching & Assessment

We take a blended learning approach, combining face-to-face sessions with online and practical work as appropriate. You can expect a range of learning and teaching methods, including face-to-face or online lectures, seminars, tutorials, discussion groups, guest speakers and master classes. We'll expect you to devote a significant amount of time to guided independent study. This can include, for example, general background reading, online activities, assessment work and preparation for sessions.

The Executive MBA fosters an independent learning culture and offers a rewarding yet challenging learning experience. Our assessment strategy facilitates real-world learning and authentic assessment that serves several functions. The obvious and primary function is to evaluate your achievement. However, assessment also helps you organise and develop your learning. We'll provide feedback to help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.

Assessments fall into two general categories: formative and summative. Formative assessments don't contribute to your overall module grade. However, they are an integral part of a module's learning strategy, so you are required to complete them. They will be marked, and you'll receive feedback on your level of achievement. Summative assessments, on the other hand, are activities for which the marks will contribute to your overall module grade. You'll also receive feedback on these assessments so you can see what you've done well and where you can improve.

We employ many different forms of assessment, such as coursework, reports, case studies, oral presentations, research proposals and an extended project.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

  • Leadership and Management
  • Marketing and Operations
  • Financial Management and Decision Making
  • Strategy
  • Organisational Behaviour
  • Strategic HRM
  • Digital Business and Data Analytics
  • Business Ethics, Sustainability and CSR
  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  • Professional Project

Assessment methods

Level Assessment method
Level 1 Coursework 100%

Learning Activities

Level Activity
Level 1 Guided independent study 90%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 10%

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.

Programme Contacts

Help Centre

We have the answers to your questions, find all the advice and support in one place.

Part of the University of Bolton Group

Bolton college
Alliance learning
Anderton centre2
QQA Scheme Participant

Help Centre

We have the answers to your questions, find all the advice and support in one place.

Part of the University of Bolton Group

Bolton college
Alliance learning
Anderton centre2
QQA Scheme Participant