Senior Leader Apprenticeship | Business Administration (+MBA)

As the employer, you need to formally nominate learners before they can apply to our apprenticeship programmes. You must also enter a three-way agreement with the apprentice and Henley Business School / the University of Reading. Find out more about the application process

Applicants to this apprenticeship should be in a role which allows for the learning of the Senior Leader Apprenticeship to be demonstrated.

Learners will typically have a degree and at least three years of good managerial experience. Those with no prior degree should have at least five years of good professional experience with managerial responsibilities.

In their CVs and personal statements, applicants need to demonstrate experience in a minimum of three of these areas:

• Involvement in strategic planning and decision-making. This includes its wider aims and effects.
• Responsibility for coordinating team efforts. This may be internal or external to their workplace. It can be corporate, project- or event-based.
• Responsibility for meeting financial targets and working with budgets. These outcomes may result from collective efforts. They should demonstrate how their specific input has shaped these outcomes.
• Responsibility for developing the performance of people, innovation, creative output, processes or technology. This may include internal or external applications.
• Responsibility for managing projects or teams internal or external to their organisation. Applicants must clarify the size and nature of tasks and how they have directed others.
• Achieving results by influencing others rather than with direct authority. This could include internal or external stakeholders and customers.
• Working internationally, or experience of relevant multi-cultural exposure.

If you would like us to review your CVs and personal statements before completing the online application, email our helpful Apprenticeship team.

English and maths requirements

Nominated learners MUST hold Level 2 qualifications in English and maths (i.e. GCSEs at Grades 9-4 or A*-C, or equivalent) before starting their Henley apprenticeship programme.

We ask you, the employer, to ensure applicants can provide evidence of these qualifications. You must do this before including them on your cohort form.

For more information, view our FAQ page

The Senior Leader Apprenticeship | Business Administration (+MBA) costs £14,000. You can fund this with your organisation's apprenticeship service account. All employers must have an account to access the apprenticeship service.

Dates for the next intake are yet to be confirmed. Please contact our apprenticeships team for further information.

• CMI Strategic Management and Leadership Practice certificate - £50
• Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration - £500
• Stage 3 of the Henley Flexible Executive MBA - £11,000 (early bird discount available)

The combination of on-the-job learning in the workplace and both formal and informal off-the-job training is vital for the success of an apprenticeship. As part of the Henley community, apprentices follow a learning plan that includes taught sessions, workshops, one-to-one meetings and self-study. During this time, apprentices also continue in their day job and are encouraged to apply their learning in the workplace.

Off-the-job training is a requirement of the apprenticeship and must account for a minimum of six hours per week (equivalent) of the apprentice’s working hours. Delivered through a mix of activities, by Henley and in the workplace, this training must provide new learning relevant to the apprenticeship and not be part of their normal duties. The off-the-job workplace training could include, attending meetings or conferences, stepping up and taking on new responsibilities or shadowing colleagues.

An apprentice's line manager has a key role to play in the apprentice's progress, as well as enabling them to make a difference in the workplace. Line managers are encouraged to engage with the learner’s apprenticeship tutor to explore how they can facilitate opportunities for the relevant off-the-job training and work-based projects.

Read more on how to support an apprentice with the Henley Essential Apprenticeship Guides

Clare Calderan is an experienced lecturer and consultant in financial management and banking, with over 20 years' experience in the industry. She has worked both in insolvency at Deloitte & Touche and Investment Banking at HSBC before continuing her career in further education.

Read more about Clare

Apprenticeship programmes are taught using a blended learning method that combines face-to-face workshops with online and on-the-job learning.

Personal development is integral to the programme and is embedded throughout the course.​ As such, our programme includes two workshop days for personal development.​

The personal development course enables apprentices to reflect on their own self-awareness and present a structured and critical approach to self-development. Learners can then apply this to new behaviours.

Teaching sessions may take place at our Greenlands campus or external venues, depending on the group's requirements. Most learning happens in the workplace as learners integrate their new knowledge and skills with their role, duties and objectives.

Learning sprints

Learners will work at pace with the support of an apprenticeship learning coach, who will help them apply their learning to the workplace.

Apprentices will share the action learning workshops with other learners to work through issues, share ideas and challenge perceptions.

The eight-week learning sprint

The programme is structured into eight weeks with unique purposes:

1. Identify and agree work-based project with employer and learning coach.
2. Study relevant content via Canvas, Henley’s digital learning platform.
3. Explore scope and aims of work-based project with learning coach.
4. Apply learning in the workplace.
5. Action learning workshop.
6. Development of the work-based project.
7. Progress checks with the learning coach.
8. Project submission and evaluation of learning.

Work-based projects

During their work-based projects, learners should demonstrate the following behaviours:

• working collaboratively
• taking personal accountability aligned to clear values
• being curious and innovative
• valuing difference and championing diversity
• seeking continuous professional development opportunities for themselves and their wider team.

Assessment

Apprentices submit work-based projects at the end of each module to show the breadth and impact of their learning.

Awards

On successful completion of the programme, apprentices will receive:​

• a Henley Executive Diploma in Advanced Strategic Management & Leadership
• the Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship | Business Administration.

For employers that choose the CMI as the end-point assessment organisation, their apprentices may also achieve:

• a CMI Level 7 Award in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice
• Chartered Manager status (on successful EPA)
• ​CMI student membership (programme duration plus three months, with option for individuals to pay for full membership thereafter).

Learners can gain an optional, additional academic qualification subject to further assessment of work-based projects. This requires an additional fee separate from the apprenticeship.

Assessment of work-based projects fee: £500

Upon successful completion of the Henley Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration, learners can progress on to Stage 3 of the Henley Flexible Executive MBA. This requires further study and additional fees.

Please note: an Stage 3 cohort may not be immediately available, and a learner may need to wait for 6–12 months following their Senior Leader Apprenticeship. All workshop and assignment submission dates are subject to change by Henley Business School. Henley Business School reserves the right to postpone an intake start date if the minimum number of students is not reached.

MBA Stage 3 fee: £11,000

An early bird discount of 30% is available to all learners who express an interest in progressing onto the MBA before the end of Stage 1 of the Senior Leader Apprenticeship | Business Administration.

Find out more about the Flexible Executive MBA Stage 3

For clients wishing to run a closed cohort, we have the flexibility to deliver the programme at locations nationwide. If you do not wish to use your organisation's facilities, we are happy to arrange an alternative teaching venue that may be more convenient for your staff.

Open cohorts are also delivered at venues across the country. The first and last workshops are typically taught at our Greenlands campus near Henley-on-Thames. Set in sweeping parkland on the banks of the River Thames, this beautiful campus provides an inspiring and reflective environment for focused work and study.

Through the Henley Business School Library and the virtual learning environment, learners can access a multitude of resources including books, journals, market research reports, dissertations, working papers and company information.

Find out more about our facilities and how to find us