Chartered Manager (Degree)

Explore apprenticeships

We have a great deal of experience and expertise in work-based learning, and our approach is one of creating both a supportive and challenging learning environment.

The degree element of the apprenticeship will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of business and management.

You will integrate academic learning at degree level with your full-time work experience by bringing real business problems into the classroom to help develop deeper understanding of management. You will also gain understanding of the ever-changing landscape of economic, operational, managerial, technical, social, and corporate business responsibility.

What's more, Christ Church Business School is accredited by the Small Business Chartered Award, highlighting our high-quality teaching and commitment to our student body.

What the apprenticeship covers

This apprenticeship is for professional managers who want to develop fully all aspects of their management and leadership skills, knowledge, self-awareness, and behaviours. These include strategic decision making, setting direction and achieving results, building and leading teams, clear communication, developing skills and motivating others, fostering inclusive and ethical cultures, leading change, project management, financial management, innovation, risk management, and developing stakeholder relationships.

What will I study?

The course has been designed around the integration of theory and work-based learning, gained at both university and work. It consists of six modules per academic year where you will come together with other apprentices to learn the fundamentals of business and management. You will be introduced to theory and concepts that will help you in your job and your own personal and professional development.

During Year 1, emphasis is on acquiring knowledge and skills to succeed in higher education while developing your own self-awareness. You will also gain a general understanding of management.

During Year 2, greater emphasis is placed on managing and leading others and gaining greater knowledge, skills, and behaviours to address business issues in your own organisation.

In Year 3, focus is on strategic perspectives for your organisation and its business environment. You will conduct an in-depth professional project on your own organisation.

Professional Accreditation

We partner with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) for the delivery and end point assessment of this apprenticeship. This has key benefits for your apprentice, which are as follows:

Upon successful completion, apprentices automatically become a Chartered Manager (CMgr), a status that sits alongside their other achievements and demonstrates a high level of management and leadership expertise. CMI is the only professional body that can award this as part of your apprenticeship and without a separate assessment.
Upon successful completion, apprentices also automatically gain the CMI L5 Diploma in Management and Leadership; a professional, industry recognised qualification.
For the life of their apprenticeship, apprentices are members of CMI, entitling them to be part of CMI's management and leadership community, with access to events and networking, thought leadership, mentoring, mental health support, a career development centre, and ManagementDirect, CMI's online library with over 30,000 pieces of relevant content.
Apprentices will also remain members of CMI for 3 months beyond their study, free of charge.

All about the course

Introduction to Workplace HE Learning (20 credits)

The aim of this module is to enable you to become more independent, reflective, and self-managed in your approach to study, learning, and time management.

Accounting and Finance for Business (20 credits)

The aim of this module is to provide an introduction to accounting and finance. It examines the basic principles and underlying concepts of accounting and the ways in which accounting statements and financial information can be used to improve the quality of decision making.

Marketing Principles and Practice (20 credits)

The aim of this module is to provide you with an introduction to marketing, its fundamental concepts, and an overview of marketing practice.

People Management (20 credits)

The aim of this module is to develop your understanding of individual and group dynamics in organisational settings.

Economics (20 credits)

In this module you will be introduced to the fundamental economic issues stemming from the scarcity of resources. The relationship between business and the economic problem is analysed by means of micro and macro-economic models to equip you with an understanding of decision-making at the levels of the market, the firm, and the nation.

Introduction to Management Science (20 credits)

The aim of the module is to introduce a range of quantitative methods, models, and applications that will act as an aid to management decision-making.

How you'll learn

Learning, teaching, and assessment is heavily oriented towards work-based learning where knowledge gained is applied to your role in the workplace. This will provide you with rich opportunities for reflection and evaluation to further enhance your professional practice.

The approach to learning and teaching is participative, which means that you will contribute to discussion and debate from your own experience, and you will also learn from your lecturers and your peers.

You will be supported at University by a dedicated academic tutor and at work. You will have your own workplace mentor to turn to for support and guidance. You will have regular meetings with your academic tutor and workplace mentor together to help keep you on target with your studies and job.

A blend of face-to-face and online activities will be used to meet the modules’ learning outcomes and to provide a bridge between university and work-based learning.

You will normally study two modules at a time, one day per week. In addition, you will meet with your academic personal tutor and your workplace mentor every six weeks.

Core information may be provided via narrated PowerPoint presentations, suggested readings, and learning activities, whilst learning at University will encompass classroom teaching, both independent and group work, and formative peer-feedback to align theoretical and practical knowledge.

Importantly, face-to-face facilitates active learning and enhanced engagement in work-based learning as you value and accredit the knowledge and skills which have been learnt through your work.

This allows you to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and behaviour development relevant to your work. You will be challenged with alternative approaches to problem solving so that you can consider new ways of working.

You are encouraged to reflect on the classroom teaching and carry out structured activities to reinforce, consolidate, and revise learning. Self-directed learning is less structured and encourages autonomy and independent learning and can be enhanced by the use of the University’s virtual learning environment (Blackboard) and our e-library where you will have access to online journals and books.

Apprentices will come together to study the equivalent of 6 modules at each level of the programme and you will normally study two 20 credit modules at a time, with 30 hours of academic directed study per module. There is an expected additional 20 hours per module of on-the-job learning. You are also expected to work independently on preparation for class-based activities, coursework, and exam revision.

All teaching will be undertaken by full time and associate Business School faculty. They are all experts in their field and bring industry experience and academic research into their teaching.

Throughout your studies you will be supported by both an academic (university) and a workplace mentor. Your academic tutor will help you with your learning, teaching, and assessments, whilst your workplace mentor will support you at work, where learning is also key to your success on the programme and for future employment.

Regular meetings with you will provide opportunities to discuss your progress and to identify areas where additional support or guidance may be required to help you reach your goals, both at work and with your studies.

Assessment

The assessment for the degree element of the apprenticeship aims to provide a range of opportunities for you to demonstrate and enhance your knowledge, skills, and abilities. As such the range of assessments accommodates a broad range of learning styles and includes activities which are not only useful in the classroom, but also in the workplace.

Examples of assessment include researching and writing essays and reports, which demonstrate your critical thinking skills; create and deliver presentations with supporting documents to demonstrate your command of information and your presentation of self; record reflections and give evidence of how future decisions are informed by past experience; sit examinations; your final professional project. You may be asked to lead teaching and training sessions to help develop your communication skills.

Not all of your assessment is graded. Formative (ungraded) assessment is a key and ongoing part of student-centred learning and it plays a fundamental part in academic and work-based learning activities. It supports the development of your summative (graded) assessment through a range of activities i.e. peer feedback, small group discussions, comments on a draft script, and presentations.

This approach will allow you to develop the skill of providing constructive feedback, to share knowledge, and to critique your learning. These are all important skills for managers.