Lead contemporary and creative marketing with insight and global expertise.
Today’s marketers must do more than sell - they must strategise and solve. And they do it responsibly, ethically and with impact.
At KBS, you’ll combine data with creativity and insight with innovation.
Our CIM- and CMI-accredited MSc Marketing equips you with the advanced knowledge, practical skills and strategic mindset to lead in a fast-evolving industry.
You’ll explore marketing in a global context, develop cross-cultural competence, and learn how to use emergent tools and tactics responsibly.
Whether you’re launching your career or pivoting from another field, this course gives you the tools to stand out.
Learn from leading researchers and industry experts, take on real-world consultancy briefs, and choose from a summer internship or a marketing challenge that puts your skills to the test.
Taking a 12-month industrial placement allows you to gain work experience in the UK or overseas as part of your Master's. While the placements are self-sought, the School offers support through extra-curricular engagement with our dedicated placements team.
The following modules are what students will typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations.
You take all compulsory modules and in your final term, you will choose one of our capstone modules, either 'The Marketing Challenge' or the 'Professional Placement/Internship'.
The 'Professional Placement/Internship' module will give you the chance to work in a business as part of your degree, getting real world experience alongside your learning. Whereas 'The Marketing Challenge' is the perfect module for you to prepare for a career as a consultant. You'll pitch solutions to real organisational problems and create a consultancy report, demonstrating your skills and knowledge.
Whichever option you choose, you will be engaging with real problems in real businesses, giving you crucial experience and expanding your network. So you can make rapid progress in your career.
Compulsory modules currently include the following
In a fast-changing world strategic marketing skills are increasingly important to anticipate new trends and stay ahead of the competition. Couched within the marketing management process, this module introduces the core concepts of strategic marketing focusing on marketing analysis and strategy. After taking this module you will be able to critically analyse an organisation's situation and recommend courses of action consistent with its strategy.
Understanding how consumers and organizations acquire, possess, consume, and dispose of products, brands, marketplace communities, and experiences is the essence of marketing. The study of consumption delves into various subjects to help us to understand the decision making of consumers. You'll learn how to use this knowledge to target and influence consumers in the modern era.
Learn about Customer Insights using systematic marketing research methods in a global business environment. The module focuses on exploring the different types of data marketers can utilise, and how marketing research fits into the marketing management process to create customer insights. After taking this module you will have the skills to understand and critically appraise the diverse forms of data that marketers have access to.
Learn about Customer Insights using systematic marketing research methods in a global business environment. The module focuses on exploring the different types of data marketers can utilise, and how marketing research fits into the marketing management process to create customer insights. After taking this module you will have the skills to understand and critically appraise the diverse forms of data that marketers have access to.
Get ready for captivating discussions on cutting-edge topics such as artificial intelligence, privacy, sustainability, and ethics. This module is an invitation to be at the forefront of marketing evolution. Join the module as we navigate the twists and turns of the marketing landscape, where each challenge becomes an opportunity, and each question sparks innovation. Let the exploration begin.
Communicating with your target customers has never been more important. It is essential that managers understand how the latest developments in digital strategies like search engine advertising and influencer marketing can be used as well as traditional methods such as TV advertising. You will learn how to use the tools in a coordinated marketing communications campaign.
Marketing managers are recognising the intricacies of an interconnected and interdependent world inhabited by both buyers and suppliers of their products and services. It is essential that managers can capitalise on opportunities prevalent in both local and international markets. You will master intercultural marketing concepts and frameworks and gain a comprehensive understanding of the knowledge necessary to navigate the complexities of the global market.
Optional modules may include the following
The Marketing Challenge module connects students to organisational case studies and challenges them via a student consultancy experience. Students will be working in small teams on a company problem presented to them and their task will be to pitch a solution to the organization. Students will practice consulting, team-work, communication and self-reflection skills as part of this module.
Thinking about a career in a private sector? Or maybe you’re contemplating a career in the public or voluntary sector? Then this could be the module for you. This module builds on your previous subject specific learning, and enhances your understanding of how organisations operate in practice. You have the opportunity to gain experience whilst still on the postgraduate course and apply learning gained on the course. You will be able to reflect on the placement experience and how this relates to your academic knowledge. You will further enhance your critical thinking, communication, professional behaviours and resilience.
Your placement consists of two modules: Industrial Placement Experience and Industrial Placement Report. The Experience module is assessed as pass/fail only and the Report module is graded on a percentage scale. The chance to gain real industry experience as part of your MSc course gives you a real edge in the job market and boosts your career options.
Compulsory modules currently include the following
The Year in Industry Placement Exit Interview provides students with a structured opportunity to combine work experience or entrepreneurial activity with academic study. It allows students to develop and reflect on managerial and/or professional practice in real and often complex situations, and to integrate this with the study of the relevant subject(s) of your main degree programme. Students develop, reinforce and apply professional and/or technical expertise in an employment or entrepreneurial context. The Year in Industry Placement Exit Interview requires students to reflect on and evidence their experiences in relation to both their university studies as well as to a wide range of employability skills. Students will further enhance their critical thinking, communication, professional behaviours and resilience.
The Year in Industry Placement Experience provides students with a structured opportunity to combine work experience or entrepreneurial activity with academic study. The Year in Industry allows students to develop and reflect on managerial and/or professional practice in real and often complex situations, and to integrate this with the study of the relevant subject(s) of your main degree programme. Students develop, reinforce and apply professional and/or technical expertise in an employment or entrepreneurial context. The Industry Placement requires students to document their experiences in relation to both their university studies as well as to a wide range of employability skills. To be able to undertake this module it is necessary for the student to secure a placement. The placement should be appropriate to the student’s degree and experience. The length of the placement should normally be at least 39-44 weeks. Students will further enhance their critical thinking, communication, professional behaviours and resilience.
Here’s a sample timetable from your first term at Kent. You'll learn through a mix of lectures, seminars and workshops - in both big and small groups with focused teaching blocks and time to work, rest or explore uni life.
Items in green are confirmed, whereas anything marked yellow could be scheduled at a different time or day depending on your group, but this gives a good sense of what to expect.
Plan your week better: at least one free weekday for catching up on course work or just taking a breather.
Focused days without burnout: No isolated 1-hour campus days.
Time to live the uni experience: Space for societies, part-time jobs and downtime.
2.2 or above
A minimum of a second-class UK degree, or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification in any subject area is needed for this course.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and those without an honours degree may also be considered on the basis of work experience, professional qualifications and the relevance of the programme to their current professional role.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
The 2026/27 annual tuition fees for this course are:
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
Tuition fees may be increased in the second and subsequent years of your course. Detailed information on possible future increases in tuition fees is contained in the Tuition Fees Increase Policy.
The 2026/27 annual tuition fees for UK postgraduate research courses have not yet been set by the Research Councils UK. This is ordinarily announced in March. As a guide only, the full-time tuition fee for new and returning UK postgraduate research courses for 2025/26 is £5,006.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
You'll need regular access to a desktop computer/laptop with an internet connection to use the University of Kent’s online resources and systems. We've listed some guidelines for the technology and software you'll need for your studies.
Find out more about student accommodation and living costs, as well as general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Search our scholarships finder for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both:
Kent is a leading research university, meaning that you will be informed about new discussions and developments by the people making them. This means your work will have real potential to make a difference.
From the moment you start with us, our efforts are focused on helping you gain the knowledge, skills and experience you need to thrive in an increasingly competitive workplace. You can increase your career prospects through an optional short-term Professional Placement/Internship module as part of your degree, develop consultancy skills through our optional 'The Marketing Challenge' module or progress onto a 12-month optional Placement. You can even transform your idea into a business through the Business start-up Journey with Aspire. Our qualified careers practitioners provide support for up to three years after graduation.
Our careers and employability support at Kent Business School is designed to make sure you are ready to hit the ground running when you graduate, when you study with us you can expect:
1-2-1 personalised Career Coaching with qualified and experienced coaches.
Pre-arrival guidance for international students to support navigating the UK labour market
Mentoring opportunities through professional bodies, business leaders and Kent alumni
Workshops and events designed to support your career planning, finding and securing work and work experience, and professional development, including insights from industry.
Access to careers fairs, live projects/competitions with employers and networking opportunities
Plus access to extracurricular professional development and skills courses run by industry professionals
Additionally, the Postgraduate Employability Edge programme, available to postgraduate students at Kent Business School takes place from Welcome Week until the end of your studies and is designed to enhance your career prospects further.
Our Marketing graduates find work in consumer or business-to-business marketing, in a variety of marketing functions including marketing analytics, marketing communications, sales and brand management.
Companies that graduates have found work in, include:
Mazda UK
Amazon Web Services
Merkle
Zalando.
Many of our students also stay local and find job opportunities regionally in small and medium firms or even set up their own businesses as well-equipped entrepreneurs.
Accredited skills that employers value
A degree can boost average lifetime earnings by over
Learn more about the application process or begin your application by clicking on a link below.
You will be able to choose your preferred year of entry once you have started your application. You can also save and return to your application at any time.
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