Leadership in Professional Contexts at University of Aberdeen

About

Recognise your talents and become a dynamic leader in your field.

Join an online MSc in Leadership designed to inspire ambitious leaders for our public and third sectors.

The degree features educational leadership training created in partnership with the Scottish College for Educational Leadership, Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Government.

Grow confidence as you build your skills in leadership and management theory.
Learn to identify issues and facilitate improvements within your own organisation.
Start putting your new skills into practice from day one.

Using work-based projects, you’ll explore leadership in the context of your own workplace – and enjoy teaching that’s tailored to you, your work and your career goals.

You’ll access and work with the latest academic research in this area, and train with successful leaders from a range of sectors from around the world.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements

MSc, PgDip, PgCert

You can apply for this degree if you:

have an undergraduate degree
or can provide evidence that you can work at postgraduate level.

This degree involves some work-based learning, so you must also:

be able to undertake studies in your workplace or other appropriate agency.

International students

Entry requirements

We welcome students from all over the world.

See the minimum entry requirements above. If you do not have qualifications from the UK, check equivalent qualifications from your country.

Visa requirements

You do not need a student visa to study online with us.

English language requirements

Teaching is delivered in English.

If English is not your first language, use our English requirements checklist to see if you need to provide evidence of your English language skills when you apply.

English language tests and scores

If you do need to provide English language test scores, these are the tests and minimum scores we accept.

These are our Postgraduate Higher requirements.

IELTS Academic, IELTS UKVI Academic, and IELTS Online (not IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training)

6.5 overall
5.5 for listening and speaking
6.0 for reading and writing

TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition

90 overall
17 for listening
21 for reading
20 for speaking
21 for writing
TOEFL DI code is 0818

Cambridge English: B2 First, C1 Advanced, or C2 Proficiency

176 overall
162 for listening and speaking
169 for reading and writing

LanguageCert Academic/LanguageCert Academic SELT

70 overall
60 for listening and speaking
65 for reading and writing

LanguageCert International ESOL B2 Communicator (Written and Spoken) – Online / In-centre

Overall High Pass
33 for listening, reading and speaking
38 for writing

Oxford ELLT Digital – English Language Level Test Online

7.0 overall
5.0 for listening and speaking
6.0 for reading and writing

PTE Academic (online test not accepted)

62 overall
59 for listening, reading, speaking and writing

Duolingo – tests taken from 1 July 2024 onward

120 overall
95 for listening and speaking
105 for reading and writing

University of Aberdeen English Pre-sessional Programme (PSE)

Pass
Valid for one year. Refresher can be offered if out of date

Pre-sessional academic English preparation programmes undertaken at other UK universities

Pass at an equivalent of 6.5 (C1)
B2 in all four skills
Certification must be within one year prior to the start of your course

For more information about language qualifications see our English Language Requirements page.

How to apply

You apply through our online Applicant Portal. It allows you to upload relevant qualifications and documents.

There is no application fee for our online degrees.

What you need to apply for this degree

Degree transcript
Personal statement
Degree certificate
References x2

References

You will need two reference letters. One should be from your university discussing your academic ability. If you have been out of education for a long time, you can use your current or most recent employers or other professional individuals.

Apply now

Start with our step-by-step guide. It explains degree transcripts, what to write in your personal statement and how to use our Applicant Portal.

When to apply

You can apply to start in either September or January.

Apply as early as you can. This is so we have time to review your application and get a decision to you. We also want to ensure you have time to enrol before teaching starts.

January 2025 intake

For our January 2025 intake, the application deadline is 9 December 2024.

You will need to accept your offer and provide any outstanding documents to meet the conditions of your offer by 18 December 2024.

Teaching starts on 27 January 2025.

September 2025 intake

Teaching starts on 22 September 2025.

Application deadlines will be announced in due course.

IT requirements

You will need access to:

A computer (PC, laptop or Mac) operating on either:

Windows 10 or later
macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later.

Most teaching materials are smartphone- and tablet-friendly. But we recommend a proper laptop or desktop for completing assignments comfortably.

Reliable internet access

We recommend:

a wired connection
a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps so you can take part fully in live sessions.

Speakers or headphones

We recommend a headset with built-in microphone and earphones if you’re likely to study in an environment with background noise.
A webcam is optional, but you may like to use one for some interactive sessions.

Software

We’ll give you access to Office365 applications. This means you can use online versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and install these programs on up to five personal devices.

If your course requires specialist software, we’ll provide you with access to this and a licence that lasts throughout your studies.

See our detailed IT requirements for more information.

English Program Requirements

For postgraduate study, there are two main distinct English language criteria, referred to as Postgraduate Standard and Postgraduate Higher as outlined in the table below.

Postgraduate Standard requirements are used by the Schools of Biological Sciences; Engineering; Geosciences; Natural and Computing Sciences; and Psychology.

Postgraduate Higher requirements are used by the Schools of Business; Divinity, History and Philosophy; Education; Language, Literature; Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition; Music and Visual Culture; Law; and Social Sciences. The MSc in Oil and Gas Enterprise Management and MSc in Integrated Petroleum Geoscience also make use of the Postgraduate Higher requirements.

IELTS Academic or IELTS UKVI Academic (not IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training) or IELTS Online The University accepts valid IELTS One Skill Retake test scores Listening - 5.5 or above Reading - 5.5 or above Speaking - 5.5 or above Writing - 6.0 or above Overall - 6.5 Listening - 5.5 or above Reading - 6.0 or above Speaking - 5.5 or above Writing - 6.0 or above Overall - 6.5

TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition The University accepts MyBest scores for the TOEFL iBT test in addition to TOEFL iBT scores from a single test date TOEFL DI code is 0818 Listening - 17 or above Reading - 18 or above Speaking - 20 or above Writing - 21 or above Overall - 90 Listening - 17 or above Reading - 21 or above Speaking - 20 or above Writing - 21 or above Overall - 90

Fee Information

Tuition Fee

GBP 0

Application Fee

GBP

Leadership in Professional Contexts

University of Aberdeen

University of Aberdeen

Key Facts

Start & Deadlines