BlogToBoom: MPA at Manchester Business School

Why do an MPA?

There's an increasing awareness of the importance of the public sector in creating a cohesive society. There is also increasing pressure for public services to be run more like businesses, but at the same time to be accountable in a way that private sector organisations aren't obliged to be.

Therefore, the public sector is becoming an increasingly complex place to work. Our need to understand policy issues is as great as ever and the solutions are ever more complex to deliver on the ground. The demands of citizens have never been higher; governments are more intent on securing high quality, but at ever higher levels of efficiency in the use of resources.

The Manchester MPA is designed to help you deal with these challenges by building your skills, competence and confidence so that you can progress in any area of the public sector.

You'll consider trends in governance, public policy and management at the regional, national and international levels and the role of public service in leading organisational and community capacity-building to achieve socio-economic development goals. You'll be able to consider your own role in the workplace and respond effectively to changes that are going on around you.

Why do the Manchester MPA?

The University is an international academic power house that attracts the best students, teachers and researchers in the world. Once you’ve enrolled you’ll find that there are some distinct benefits to the Manchester MPA:

An impressive reputation
The University has a reputation that is both a guarantee of quality and has impact with employers. The University recently won the Sunday Times University of the Year award and the Times Higher Education Supplement Higher Education Institution of the Year award. Presenting the latter award, the Prime Minister complimented the University on its “…vision for the future and determination to reinvigorate itself to become one of the top research universities in the world…”.
Design your own route
At each stage of the programme you are able to choose from a menu of specialist electives, to select those that are most relevant to you. You're effectively designing an MPA to meet your own career goals.
Learn by doing
The challenges that you face in the workplace don't fit neatly into subject areas so neither does our teaching. We teach using the Manchester Method, a practical and project based method that emanates from the principle that education is more rewarding when it is put into practice. By relating your MPA to a live organisational environment, we make learning more relevant and exciting to you.
Learn from international colleagues
Because the programme recruits internationally you're able to share experiences of how public sector organisations operate in other countries, and compare and apply this to your own environment. You'll also learn how to work with people from different cultures. This international mix makes the process of learning more interesting. The programme involves opportunities for international travel, where you’ll be able to compare your own practices with those in other countries.
A minimum of disruption
Other programmes entail many months of disruption to your working week. The structure of our programme means that your time won’t be disrupted for several years. The programme is grouped into six four-day course units, so that your study is concentrated and impacts less on your work life. Course units run once every two months for students on the part-time route, who complete the programme in two years, while those studying full-time attend once a month and complete the programme in one year.
No examinations
Your performance on the programme is assessed through coursework, projects, dissertations and group work, which are spread throughout the programme. This means that assessment isn't focused around a single intensive examination period.