This programme starts in January, perfect for a career break, or to meet international visa requirements. We also provide a September start so you can study at the time that is right for you.
This programme is also available with an Internationally Incorporated Masters (IIM) specifically designed for the needs of international students.
Project Management is ever-growing and evolving as an imperative function to improve efficiency and transparency in modern businesses. Tomorrow’s project managers don’t only need expert organisational skills and the ability to manage conflicting tasks and pressures. They need to understand how to provide leadership of projects and enact organisational change in both a global, and sustainable way. Our MSc Strategic Project Management programme embeds these issues as a core part of out teaching, meaning our graduates are ready to go into the world and effect change.
Kent Business School is ‘triple crown accredited’ this puts us in the top 1% of business schools globally. There is no better place to take the next step in your career and realise your ambitions. Our MSc Strategic Project Management course at Kent Business School is delivered by academic experts and co-developed with industry leaders and experts. You will develop a detailed background of Project Management and strategic theory and the imperative tools and processes project managers use in the business environment. This accompanied with the global outlook and emphasis on an ethical and sustainable approach to project management, means you will be able to not only step into a career in project management, but be a leader in the field.
You will end your Master's with a detailed report on an independent research project with a dedicated expert supervisor. This is a fantastic example of your work, skills and knowledge to show employers after you graduate. Our graduates typically find work in consultancy and employed work both in the UK and globally. You will be well placed to either start you own business, or work in companies such as Deloitte, JP Morgan & Chase, BP and Huawei as examples of businesses many of our graduates have worked in. Whatever your goals are in business, our MSc Strategic Project Management programme is a great first step to get there.
Kent Business School is among the top 1% of ‘triple crown’ business schools worldwide following its European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).
The ‘Triple Crown’ involves awards by the three leading business school accreditation organisations – EQUIS, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and The Association of MBAs (AMBA).
This course's accreditation by the CMI means that you will also receive a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice following graduation.
January start courses are ideal if you want to take a career break and enhance your skills. Take your career further or jump lanes and break into a new field.
Our Triple Accreditation by EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA places us in the top 1% of Business Schools globally.
Employability is at our core. You'll receive dedicated support to kickstart your career through our teaching and careers support up to 3 years after graduation.
You’ll be part of a supportive, diverse community at our Medway campus, just 40 minutes from London. Expand your network and make global connections.
Our academics are industry experts who have hands on experience with everything they teach. Your course is informed by real world expertise.
In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, 80% of our research was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.
A minimum of a second-class UK degree, or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification in a variety of subject areas is accepted for entry into this course.
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.
Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, students who require a student visa to study cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
This course requires a Good level of English language, equivalent to B2 on CEFR.
Details on how to meet this requirement can be found on our English Language requirements webpage.
Examples:
IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component
PTE Academic 63 with a minimum of 59 in each sub-test
A degree from a UK university
A degree from a Majority English Speaking Country
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
In Stage 1 you will take all 10 compulsory modules. These modules are designed to give you a deeper understanding of strategic project management and make rapid progress across each topic.
What makes a great Project Manager? You'll gain an array of tools, skills and insights needed to excel in the dynamic world of modern project management. Through interactive sessions, group discussions and hands-on projects, you are encouraged to collaborate, share ideas and challenge conventional thinking. This fosters your innovation and creative problem-solving skills.
Beyond the classroom, you'll benefit from networking opportunities, guest lectures from industry experts and potential mentorship programmes. You’ll build professional networks and gain insights into your future career. You’ll not only gain a comprehensive understanding of project and programme management but also develop the critical thinking, leadership and strategic skills needed to drive successful outcomes in your future career.
Managing change is one of the key skills required in today's constantly changing business environment. So, why are some organisations easily receptive to change while others are not? And why are some organisations more successful than others despite having similar conditions?You'll take a critical perspective to comprehend managing change and leadership in the change process. We’ll cover organisational change at different levels from individuals and teams to a whole organisation, exploring change at the sectoral and societal level. You’ll gain an appreciation of managing change at different levels through designing and applying the change implementation programme for business.
Develop your consultancy skills by working on a real client project. By addressing a real-life business challenge, you'll learn how to research solutions, overcome barriers, manage expectations and foster productive working relationships. This will give you a comprehensive understanding of how to manage consultancy projects using the consultancy cycle to provide meaningful and impactful advice to clients.
You'll gain and develop consultancy skills you can use within your current employment, as well as aid the transition into the business consulting profession, internal consultancy positions within organisations, and senior management roles.
In recent years, relatively new multinational corporations have reached market capitalisation exceeding US$ trillions and yet many firms that have operated for centuries have gone bust.
How organisations adapt to new environments and manage their internal business processes -that either leads to competitive advantage or corporate failure - is the role of corporate strategy and performance measurement. You'll become immersed in the role of strategic management and its connections to the key functions within a successful business. These include strategy development, implementation and strategic control.
You'll learn business critical skills and carry out strategic analyses using tools for strategic decision-making in real life contexts, to deliver success and drive growth for business.
Master the Agile Project Management approach and how to tailor it to fit projects with different requirements, deliverables and contexts. You'll develop and practice a deep understanding of the agile tools and techniques using innovative teaching methods such as debates, games and competitions, all based on real project case studies. You’ll gain knowledge on the key aspects of the most desired project approaches by employers – namely, DSDM Agile, Scrum, Prince2 and Lean. You'll be able to select the most appropriate project approach in your future professional practice and deliver agile excellence throughout the project life cycle.
Our future leaders need the expertise to not only deliver projects but also to realise and maximise their benefits. We instil a deep understanding that the true measure of a project's success goes beyond timely completion within budget. It emphasises the identification, realisation and enhancement of the actual benefits that projects are designed to deliver, aligning them closely with strategic business objectives.
You'll learn how to align projects with an organisation's strategic goals, ensuring that each project contributes to the broader vision. Our focus is on creating value, not just meeting deadlines or budgets, but delivering outcomes that drive business growth and innovation. You'll complete the module equipped with the technical know-how of managing project benefits; transformed into a strategic thinker and value-driven leader.
Project Management is key for a business to manage change and drive progress. A business with a strong Project Management Office (PMO) is ready to grow and thrive. We'll teach you how you can be a part of a PMO and make a real impact. You'll take a 360 approach to PMOs, from working within one, designing and launching a new one, or improving a current PMO, you will be able to use your analytical, critical and reflective thinking skills to help businesses thrive. This will prepare, enable and empower you to play a key role in a PMO and make rapid progress in your career.
Project risk management is the process used by project managers to minimise any potential problems that may negatively impact a project's timetable. This module covers the area of risk management in the strategic, tactical, and operational project contexts. It aims to help learners developing a new project management methodology aligned with Management of Risk (MoR) framework. The module contains essential risk management theory and concepts as applicable to project environments including project risk planning, preparation and response and will combine the professional body of knowledge with the professional and academic case studies applied in the real context. The areas of risk identification, assessment, monitoring and control will also be reviewed. This module is aligned with Management of Risk (MoR) guidance.
Strategic Project Portfolio Management enables senior management and project professionals to strategically and sustainably deliver an organisation's vision, values and benefits through their portfolio of projects and programmes.
You'll develop a deep knowledge and understanding of the wide range of perspectives and principles of project portfolio management. You’ll learn a variety of approaches and methods for creating, defining, selecting, coordinating and leading project portfolios through evaluating and balancing short and long-term objectives of their project and programmes. You’ll also strengthen your analytical, critical and reflective thinking skills, as well as leadership and teamwork within diverse, multidisciplinary and international teams.
Combining your acquired knowledge, skills and independent learning practices, you'll be empowered to start a career in project portfolio management or elevate your current career as a project professional.
'Do your research' is a phrase we are all familiar with. But how can we trust the sources we draw on? In an information-rich environment, how can you ensure that the research you do stands out from other sources of knowledge and is seen as trustworthy and valuable?
You'll build understanding of who you are as a researcher and the type of research that is valued in both academic and professional settings. You’ll gain the knowledge you need to build a research project from an idea into a mature investigation that can make a novel contribution to broader research debates. Study how to craft research questions, build a sample of respondents, work with databases, design data collection tools, perform quantitative and qualitative analyses of data and communicate your results to the wider world.
Learn how to use an array of research tools to create world-leading research and become known as an innovative and dynamic researcher driving growth and positive change.
In Stage 2 you will complete your Research Project. This is a fantastic example of your skills, knowledge and insight to show employers after you graduate.
This module equips students with in-depth understanding of the different aspects of and approaches to strategic project management. Students learn to apply project management tools and techniques in a systematic and analytical manner to solve practical problems that require an application-oriented thinking. This module prepares students for their respective independent research work in an organisational or industry context to provide a systematic argument and critical analysis and evaluation; and for undertaking management interventions in the workplace to provide innovative and commercially sustainable solutions. Students will make use of theoretical frameworks, secondary data, or primary data collection, where appropriate.
We use a variety of teaching methods, including:
Classroom-based learning is supported by the latest online technologies and learning platforms.
Your progress on this course is assessed by a variety of means, including:
Our lively and active postgraduate community is brought about in part by our strong research culture and by the close community between our staff and students. Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books and embed their research in their teaching.
Students have regular contact with their course and module conveners with staff on hand to answer any questions and to provide helpful and constructive feedback on submitted work. Also, all students on our postgraduate courses take part in our ‘Ambition in Motion’ programme – a set of supportive workshops which ensure that students are progressing through their learning journeys smoothly.
You can also get involved with extra-curricular academic and social activities with guest lectures, talks and workshops organised by our academic staff, research centres and the ASPIRE team.
Our Medway campus is full of history and offers a unique experience to our students. We have recently moved to the Pembroke site, our new Medway home. This move puts Kent Business School at the heart of the Medway Campus, a former Royal Naval base combining historic and new buildings. You can find the Drill Hall Library, the Deep End where Kent Union at Medway are based and the Oasis lounge right on campus.
Off campus, there is lots to do in the historic town of Rochester and nearby Chatham, with cinemas, theatres and good shopping. London is just 40 minutes away by fast train.
Kent Business School has close links with: Universität Innsbruck; Beijing Normal University - Bay Area International Business School; ESSEC Business School; Neoma Business School; Rennes Business School; EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht; Freie Universität Berlin; City University of Hong Kong; Hong Kong Baptist University; University of Hong Kong; Institut Teknologi Bandung (The Bandung Institute of Technology); Università Carlo Cattaneo in Castellanza; Università degli Studi di Bologna; Università degli Studi di Firenze (University of Florence); IE Madrid; Stockholm University.
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
Our world-class academics influence management strategies and practices world-wide through our outstanding research projects and direct involvements with industry. We address some of the biggest challenges of our time such as sustainability and responsible leadership to drive progress and create better business globally.
At its core, our research strategy is about delivering a sustainable tomorrow - a theme that Kent Business School embodies in all areas. We want to answer the big questions - How can innovation that enables sustainable long-term economic growth be created and supported? How can sustainable business practices improve environmental and social conditions? These are the problems we are here to solve.
We are global leaders advancing knowledge through constant collaboration and promotion of innovative research. We collaborate with local, national and international business, but we don't stop there. We have forged partnerships with other academic institutions and organisations such as the NHS. This wider focus allows us to advance towards our goal of a sustainable tomorrow.
Research Departments
Department of Accounting and Finance – The Department enjoys a significant international presence and reputation in several fields, including critical accounting, accounting history, sustainability accounting, corporate finance, banking and options pricing and performance.
Department for Analytics, Operations and Systems – The Department offers world class education and conducts internationally leading research in operational research, data analytics, operations management, information systems and sustainability.
Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and International Business – The Department brings together experts in the areas of three key management disciplines promoting interdisciplinary teaching and research as well as cross interdisciplinary knowledge exchange.
Department of Leadership and Management – The Department is a cross-disciplinary community dedicated to tackling complex business and societal challenges. Our teaching and innovative research encompasses the economic, psychological, social, political, and technological contexts in which organisations operate worldwide.
Research centres
The Centre for Logistics and Sustainability Analytics – The Centre helps companies to address a wide range of transport, logistics, and supply chain problems with sustainability considerations.
The Centre for Productivity and Workplace Performance – The Centre contributes to the evidence base for competitiveness, environmental growth, regional productivity, technology and innovation.
The Centre for Quantitative Finance – Providing quantitative analysis of issues in the financial markets for businesses and policymakers.
Dynamic Publishing
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Journal of Corporate Finance, British Journal of Management, Organizations and Society, European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Environmental Management, Financial Accountability & Management, Journal of Banking and Finance, Management Science, Transportation Science, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice, British Journal of Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Research Policy, European Journal of Operational Research, European Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Research in Marketing, International Marketing Review.
My course leader still shows such an interest in my professional growth.
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. As part of the course, you may wish to opt for an In-Company Scheme to work on a real business case study as part of your capstone Research project. Go on our Business Start-up Journey and transform your idea into a business through 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:
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 Project Management graduates find work in project management positions in varying business, in the form of consultancy, freelance and employed work both overseas and in the UK in a wide range of companies and organisations, including:
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.
The annual tuition fees for students starting this course in January 2025 can be found on the Student Finance page.
We have a range of scholarships available to help support your studies and achieve your ambitions.
KBS Early Bird Discount - 10% tuition fee discount for applicants who apply for a KBS January Start course before 10 November 2024.
Future Student Scholarships - a range of scholarships available for international applicants for select countries up to £5000
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
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.
Find out more about 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:
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
Next steps
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.
Supporting your success
Kent ranked top 40 in The Times Good University Guide 2025.
Fees and funding
Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.
Accommodation
