This part-time programme meets the requirements of the revised Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship Standard. Eligible organisations are able to use £14,000 of their Apprenticeship Levy to cover Part I of the programme tuition fee. Part II can be funded by the employer or employee. Find out more about our Master’s-level Apprenticeships.

The Cranfield Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc (Executive) programme has been designed in two parts. Part I provides a distinctive and collaborative learning experience, with intense and interactive classroom sessions. Students’ develop their procurement, logistics, and supply chain management skills, knowledge and confidence, enabling them to be more effective leaders within their organisations. Our world-leading teaching team place huge emphasis on real-life challenges and industry best practices, which students can apply back to their own organisation. This programme will improve their ability to critically select the tools and techniques that are most relevant to the challenges their organisations are facing.

Students, subject to successful completion of the taught modules, are qualified to progress onto Part II, the Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc (Executive), which enables them to cement their learning and complete a significant work-based project within their organisation. Successful completion of the MSc provides graduates with a unique opportunity to gain full membership of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), and European Logistics Associations (ELA), the three world-leading professional bodies in the fields of logistics, procurement and supply chain management.

Students benefit from a diverse student cohort and our faculty’s direct involvement with global businesses. On successful completion of Part I and Part II graduates will be awarded the Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc (Executive) and will have a deep understanding of contemporary business issues and a capacity to assume active leadership roles.

This page is for employers and prospective students interested in the Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc via the Apprenticeship Levy. If you are looking for information about the self-funded part-time Executive Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc, please view here.

Overview

  • Start date14 October 2024
  • DurationPart I: 20 months (15 months taught element plus five months for the End Point Assessment). Part II: six months progression to full MSc
  • DeliveryPart I: taught modules are mapped to the revised Senior Leader Apprenticeship Standard (SLA). These are assessed through assignments that relate to a wide range of logistics, supply chain and management themes. Part II: the written thesis project, is written individually and submitted at the end of the course.
  • QualificationMSc, PgDip
  • Study typePart-time
  • CampusCranfield campus, Online

Who is it for?

  • Supply chain, logistics or procurement managers who want to enhance their skills, knowledge and confidence to take on more demanding executive roles in the future.
  • Individuals with business or organisational experience in a non-supply chain area who are intending to move into the supply chain field, or have recently had a change in career track.
  • Ambitious professionals who are keen to develop themselves and want a "real-world' education delivered by faculty who are actively engaged with business, and can bring their knowledge to the programme.

Informed by industry

This course is supported by Cranfield's world-leading faculty, research centres and strong connections with industry. Our faculty team work closely with our advisory board of senior supply chain professionals from global organisations and leading academics from the Cranfield Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Comprising leading figures from the world of supply chain management, it recommends additions and amendments to the course to reinforce its relevance to the modern logistics, procurement and supply chain decisions and practices. Our faculty is also supported by a diverse team of international visiting industry speakers and professors who bring the latest thinking and best practice into the classroom.

Key information

Benefits for businesses

  • Develop your employee’s knowledge and skills in logistics, supply chain and management, enabling them to apply best practice and be more effective within your organisation.
  • Managers gain an understanding of how best to provide effective leadership throughout the supply chain life-cycle, enabling them to meet your business challenges.
  • Managers are encouraged to think strategically about logistics, procurement and supply chain practices in a global context.
  • Huge emphasis is placed on real-world challenges and industry best practice which managers can apply back to your organisation.
  • Develops your managers’ self-awareness and confidence to lead and/or operate effectively as a member of a team.

Benefits for individuals

  • Join a programme that enhances your supply chain management skills, knowledge and confidence, enabling you to develop your career and take on more demanding projects.
  • Raise your awareness and appreciation of advanced logistics, procurement and supply chain practices and learn how to carry out independent and robust research that is relevant to your organisation.
  • Develop your ability to critically select the tools and techniques that are most relevant to the challenges your organisation is facing.
  • You will have the opportunity to experience a different economic region in the world from a logistics and supply chain perspective during an international study tour.
  • Develop a strategic mind-set to enable the achievement of business objectives.
  • Develop the self-awareness and confidence to successfully lead and operate more effectively as part of a team.
  • Apply your newly acquired knowledge, skills and abilities immediately in your workplace.
  • Study with a diverse cohort of talented professionals drawn from a range of industries and backgrounds, building your network and giving insights into international practice.
  • Not only will this MSc broaden and deepen your professional network, you'll also join Cranfield’s active alumni network of 75,000 managers and leaders across the globe.

How we teach you

How it is taught
Parts I and II are taught through a blended learning method which combines face-to-face teaching, online and on-the-job learning with independent self-study.

Off-the-job training
Students will spend 20% of their time on off-the-job training. This is a mandatory component of an apprenticeship that the employer must support. Some of this time will be spent on the taught element of the programme, but may also include practical training, attending meetings outside the normal job function, work shadowing, attending conferences and workshops, and time spent writing assignments.

Support for students
Students will engage regularly with a learning coach who will give guidance on how to implement their new knowledge in the workplace. Students will have set sessions with them, but they will also be able to assist with queries along the way.

Our dedicated apprenticeship tutors will support both the student and line manager through the apprenticeship programme. The tutor will meet regularly with the student, to provide guidance and support in the practical application and evidencing of the apprenticeship Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours that are required to be met before the End Point Assessment takes place.

The student will also receive additional support from their line manager. We will work with them to ensure they understand the details of the programme and format for learning as well as the requirements for off-the-job training and monitoring of progress.

Awards on completion

On successful completion of Part I, including End Point Assessment, the student will be awarded:

  • The Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

On successful completion of Part I and Part II, the student will be awarded:

  • Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc (Executive)

Progression route to the Executive Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc

The MSc has been designed in two parts. The first consists of the 20-month Senior Leader Apprenticeship programme, and the second consists of a thesis (including the evidence-based management module). Part two begins after successful completion of the Apprenticeship End Point Assessment (EPA).

ELSCM Structure

The thesis project is supported by a faculty member as a supervisor, and helps MSc students to:

  • investigate an area of particular interest to them and their organisation,
  • apply their new knowledge and tools to a real-life challenge,
  • address a particular problem that their organisations are facing.

Organisations have found the MSc thesis projects very useful as they tackle strategic and operations issues, and usually build a basis for further projects and initiatives. Some of the recent thesis projects have been around, but not limited to, supply chain sustainability, procurement maturity models, omni-channel logistics networks, industry-specific supply chain best-practices, sourcing strategies and decisions, supply chain digital transformation, Industry 4.0 applications in the supply chain processes and functions (e.g. order-fulfilment, warehousing, supplier management, and category management), supply chain risk and resilience (in a wide range of industries such as food, clothing, aerospace, high-tech, and manufacturing), supply chain innovation, and new technology implementation (e.g. 3D printing and augmented reality).

A student undertaking study from start to finish without deferment or suspension, will complete the academic and apprenticeship elements in 26 months.

Fees and funding

Our Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ MSc programmes are 26-month programmes consisting of two core payments. Part I can be fully funded by the UK Apprenticeship Levy (£14,000), which will be collected monthly through the DAS system after initial registration, with the final 20% collected through DAS on completion of the End Point assessment. Part II can be funded by employer or employee and is priced at £5,000 which will be due for payment at month 16.

Fee notes

  • The fees outlined apply to all students whose initial date of registration falls on or between 1 August 2022 and 31 July 2023.
  • All students pay the tuition fee set by the University for the full duration of their registration period.
  • Additional fees for extensions to the agreed registration period may be charged.
  • Eligibility for Home fee status is determined with reference to UK Government regulations. As a guiding principle UK or Irish nationals who are ordinarily resident in either the UK or Republic of Ireland pay Home tuition fees. All other students (including those from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) pay Overseas fees.


Course details

The Cranfield Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc (Executive) is delivered in two parts:

  • Part I: 12 modules are studied over a 15-month period. During this time, students build their portfolio of work-based evidence with support from their employer and their Cranfield Apprenticeship Tutor. Students also have peer coaching alongside their studies. This concludes with an End-Point Assessment (EPA), completed over a five-month period, which includes the student’s Strategic Business Proposal, supported by their employer.
  • Part II: Progression to the Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc (Executive) over a further six-month period including research preparation and an organisation-based or relevant research project.

Course delivery

Part I: taught modules are mapped to the revised Senior Leader Apprenticeship Standard (SLA). These are assessed through assignments that relate to a wide range of logistics, supply chain and management themes. Part II: the written thesis project, is written individually and submitted at the end of the course.

More information

On application you will be enrolled onto Part I of the programme and begin your studies. Throughout the course you will have regular communication with your Course Director to discuss your progression choices on to Part II and full completion of the Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Logistics and Supply Chain Management (Executive) MSc.

Modules

  • Supply Chain Strategy and Sustainability
  • Principles of Strategic Procurement
  • Accounting and Finance for Supply Chain Management
  • Analytical Techniques for Supply Chain Management
  • Freight Transport
  • Inventory and Operations Management
  • Project Management Introduction
  • Information Systems and eBusiness
  • Physical Network Design
  • Warehousing
  • Strategic Management
  • Applied Organisational Behaviour

View more information about modules

Teaching team

Cranfield boasts one of Europe's largest specialist logistics, procurement and supply chain management faculty, and is renowned as a centre of excellence in this field. Our full-time faculty team is supported by a diverse team of international visiting industry speakers and professors. The Course Director for this course is Dr Ismail Abushaikha.



Your career

The Senior Leader Apprenticeship+ Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc (Executive) will enhance your supply chain management skills, knowledge and confidence, enabling you to develop your career and take on more demanding projects and roles in the future. The broad course content will allow you to bring the latest academic insights and industry best practice back to your own organisation, or to apply your knowledge from the course to a wide variety of roles and industries.

How to apply

Next steps 

Our students do not always fit traditional academic or career paths. We consider this to be a positive aspect of diversity, not a hurdle. We are looking for a body of professional learners who have a wide range of experiences to share. If you are unsure of your suitability for our Apprenticeship programme and/or the MSc, we are happy to review your details and give feedback before you make a formal application.

Questions?

For queries relating to…

  • general information about the course, course modules etc. please contact Dr Ismail Abushaikha, Course Director at Ismail.Abushaikha@cranfield.ac.uk
  • admission related enquiries and entry requirements, please contact our Admissions Team at studysom@cranfield.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1234 758081
  • employer related enquiries, fees and funding, and the expression of interest/application process, please contact our Apprenticeships Team at apprenticeships@cranfield.ac.uk

Employers: please complete our Expression of Interest form

Prospective students: please ask your employer to submit an Expression of Interest form to indicate their willingness to sponsor you.

Applications for apprenticeship routes have to come via the Expression of Interest form.  Apprenticeship applications received via the application button on the non-apprenticeship pages will not be processed.

Deadlines

Expression of Interest deadline: 5 August 2024
Application deadline: 19 August 2024

Expression of Interest form

Application Process guide