Mini MBA in Strategic Operational Leadership for Schools and Trusts

The Mini MBA is an educationally contextualised level 7 qualification designed specifically for School Business Professionals and those who lead across school or trust operations.

The qualification is designed to:

• Develop in-depth strategic operational leadership knowledge

• Allow for your school’s or trust’s context to be considered as part of the qualification to ensure that the programme provides practical benefits to both you and your school or trust. This is implemented within MOL’s delivery method and design.

• Develop strategic knowledge and offer you an opportunity to stand out from your peers.

• Provide career development opportunities in more strategic positions (e.g. Director of Operations or COO roles).

• Gain you recognition as a qualified professional with a pathway to gaining CMI Chartered status.

Unit overviews are set out below:

1. Strategic Leadership – The aim of this unit is to equip leaders with an in-depth understanding of strategic leadership within schools and trusts. Leaders will explore the complexities of the role and the theoretical perspectives, approaches, behaviours and skills which can enhance their professional practice. The unit focuses on the leader’s ability to respond creatively to complex organisational challenges and understand how to set and deliver sustainable strategic goals.

2. Leading and Developing People – The aim of this unit is for leaders to develop an in-depth understanding of how to effectively lead and develop people. They will explore the influence and impact of leadership theories, culture, development and design, policy and strategy that can be used creatively within the leadership role.

3. Leading Strategic Change in Schools and Trusts – The aim of this unit is for leaders to understand the scope, context and complexity of leading strategic change in schools and trusts. Leaders will understand how the application of analytical techniques, theories and models of change, and creative problem-solving can be used to equip them to lead strategic change with confidence.

4. Organisational Design and Development – The aim of this unit is to enable leaders to understand the relationship between organisational design and development and the achievement of strategic objectives. Leaders will understand the impact of current and emerging factors which influence the need to be agile and adaptive. On successful completion of this unit, leaders will be able to develop a proposal for sustainable organisational design and development to respond to current and emerging needs.

5. Strategic Project Management – The aim of this unit is for leaders to undertake a strategic management project of their own choosing. To achieve this outcome, leaders will develop a business case, propose research design to inform the project’s direction, and recommend project management methods and tools to structure the delivery of the project. Leaders will report on project outcomes and reflect on the skills and behaviours which ultimately influence the success of the strategic management project.

6. Leading Quality Management in Schools and Trusts – Effective quality management is critical to meeting stakeholder needs and expectations, developing trust and reputation. It impacts on profitability, processes and procedures, and the achievement of strategic objectives. Quality is not something that occurs by chance. It is reliant on strategic and operational planning and the commitment and drive by professional managers, leaders, teams and individuals to make it a success.

This is a strategic-level qualification and suitable for those currently working in, or aspiring to work in, a strategic operational role in a school or trust. Those working in a maintained school may currently work as a School Business Leader, Operations Manager or Operations Director, for example. Those working in a trust may currently work as a Head of Operations, Operations Director or Chief Operating Officer (COO), for example.

This qualification is also suitable for current Finance leads (for example, Finance Director or Chief Finance Officer). If you have already undertaken the CIPFA Diploma in Financial and Operational Leadership, then this would be a suitable step to enhance your strategic operational leadership (on the journey to becoming a COO or CFOO).

Although there are no prior entry requirements as such, there is an expectation that you are currently, or progressing to be, working at a strategic level. For individuals who already hold a level 4 or 5 qualification, this is a natural progression step.

The units are delivered via Live Online, which includes live, interactive webinar sessions delivered by one of MOL’s industry expert tutors. All units are educationally contextualised for SBPs and the education sector.

You don’t need to worry about an emergency occurring in school (e.g. Ofsted visit) that means you miss a live online session. All live sessions are recorded to enable you to access them on demand, and you will also have access to all of the relevant on-demand resources for each unit, should you need to.

This mini MBA is approximately 12 months in length.

Each module takes around 7 weeks (12 weeks for the Strategic Leadership unit) when studied via live online delivery.

You can expect to study between 8–10 hours on average per week during a module. The time spent studying will vary depending on your ability as a learner, your existing knowledge/experience, and which unit of the programme you are studying at the time.

MOL’s dedicated Customer Experience Team will be in contact prior to the start of the programme to outline how the programme will run and to deal with any queries or concerns you may have at the outset. When your studies commence, they will also proactively contact you to make sure that you are OK, that the course is going well, and to gather feedback on your experience of studying with MOL.

Whilst studying the mini MBA, you will attend regular, live webinar sessions offering the opportunity to interact with your tutor and peers. The sessions are designed to be vibrant and engaging and will include elements such as group and paired work, discussion topics, Q&As and interactive polls whilst looking at areas of the qualification.

MOL’s expert tutors are also available to support you whenever you need them. The tutors do not just provide information and advice within the live online, interactive sessions; they are on hand when you need them to provide dedicated support and feedback to guide you in your learning.

You will be assessed through a mixture of formal assessments, activities and personal reflections. All assessment methods relate directly to your school or trust.

By completing this qualification, you will also gain a level 7 CMI Award in Strategic Leadership.

Upcoming start dates are listed below but generally take place twice per year.

This is a closed programme only available through ISBL. Therefore, cohorts will be made up of similar peers who work in Operations or Business Management across a school or trust.

There is no automatic route from this qualification to a full MBA due to the contextualisation of the programme. However, by completing unit 1 in Strategic Leadership, you will achieve a CMI level 7 Award worth 11 credits that may be taken forward as prior learning.

We work closely with the Institute for Equity University Centre, which offers an MBA in Leadership, Equity & Organisational Development and will take account of prior learning.

Further details can be viewed here: https://instituteforequity.ac.uk/programme/mba/

There is an ISBL member rate and a non-member rate for all our training programmes. All rates quoted below are inclusive of VAT and per person:

ISBL member rate: £3,780

Non-member rate: £4,488


One of the benefits of being an ISBL member is being able to access the member rates for training and conferences. If you are not a member, you can find out more about joining ISBL by clicking here.

To be able to access the ISBL member rate, your membership needs to be active before you book your place on the programme.

The full cost must be paid in full before you start the programme. Our Terms & Conditions can be found here.