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Management for Business Excellence (MSc) (2025 Entry)

Programme and Project Management students at the University of Warwick

Postgraduate Taught

Find out more about our Management for Business Excellence taught Master's degree at Warwick

Management for Business Excellence MSc is an innovative Master's degree with a focus on Quality Management, Continuous Improvement, and leadership. With an emphasis on challenge-based learning, this course will prepare you to become an effective leader, decision maker, and manager of excellence within any industry.


Course overview

The framework for the Management for Business Excellence degree is the EFQM Excellence Model, a globally recognised model created to help organisations develop towards the achievement of sustainable excellence. The model was originally developed to increase the competitiveness of European businesses in response to global competition. It has now been adopted globally, and is instrumental in supporting thousands of businesses world-wide in their ‘journey to excellence’, helping them to manage change, improve performance, and develop a culture of innovation.

This course is applicable to any field of industry. It is suitable for people who want to be challenged in the way they think about effective management and the improvement of processes to optimise output quality. In WMG we achieve this through structured problem-solving and a dynamic learning environment through using case-studies to explore employer motivation and business culture.

Management for Business Excellence all about understanding how organisations can effectively work towards stakeholder-based goals; it takes a holistic look at organisations, the inter-relationships between departments within them, and how to optimise the use of available assets and resources. Typically students will have a background in engineering, business, management, finance, or economics, but MBE is open and beneficial to graduates from any academic discipline.

Designed to deliver a detailed understanding of the philosophies, strategies, processes and techniques that enable change and deliver business excellence, this course will provide you with a distinctly different learning experience. With a focus on critical autonomy, you will make active choices about what you wish to learn and how best to achieve your learning objectives; all this will be facilitated by our expert MBE course tutors.

Teamwork plays a central role throughout the course. By working collaboratively with your international colleagues, you’ll develop a rich, global perspective. Through classroom simulations, you’ll generate credible and practical solutions to real-business problems. Most importantly, you’ll learn to think critically about topics and issues that come to the fore; challenging views and growing both as an individual and as a leader of business.


General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a range of subjects including IT, business, engineering or a science related discipline.

Candidates with a UK 2:2 (or equivalent) may be accepted upon demonstration of relevant professional experience.


English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:

  • Band A
  • IELTS overall score of 6.5, minimum component scores not below 6.0

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.


Additional requirements

Candidates with professional experience should include their CV with their application.

Core modules

Core modules are required modules that all students will complete whilst on this programme. For Management for Business Excellence MBE), your core modules are:

  • Creating Business Excellence
  • Leadership and Excellence
  • Knowledge-based Asset Management
  • Robust Decision Making
  • Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement
  • Design for Excellence
  • Performance Measurement and Financial Decision Making
  • Study, Professional and Analytical Skills

Find out more about this course on WMG’s website.



Teaching

This course has two components – a taught component accounting for two-thirds of your time and effort, and a research component accounting for one-third.

For the taught component, we blend synchronous and asynchronous lectures and seminars, with syndicate exercises, simulations, personal reflective practices, and case studies. The majority of modules are taught in small classes to facilitate and encourage interaction. Others occasionally practice large-scale lectures, which are then supported by small class seminar and group activities.

Through classroom simulations, you’ll generate credible and practical solutions to real-business problems. Most importantly you’ll learn to think critically about topics and issues that come to the fore, challenging views and growing both as an individual and as a practitioner of effective solutions to quality improvement opportunities.

Our module leaders have extensive industry experience. Guest speakers from industry also contribute regularly, bringing real-world insight into your learning experience.

In addition to your taught modules, you will undertake a major project as part of your Master's degree. This is nominally 600 hours (60 CATS points) of learning, mainly taking place during the Spring and Summer terms. You will be expected to engage regularly with your Project Supervisor and to provide progress updates and drafts of your work to an agreed schedule.


Class sizes

The typical intake for this course is around 55-60 students, divided into smaller teaching groups for most modules.


Typical contact hours

Module delivery patterns vary, but most will be delivered in a short learning block of up to 4 weeks, allowing your focus to be on one module at a time. Each module nominally accounts for 150 hours, which includes scheduled classroom time and online sessions as well as your independent study and assessments.

The Study, Professional and Analytical Skills (SPA) Module also consists of 150 hours of learning and is purposefully designed to meet the complex learning and professional needs of postgraduate students. The module is taught across the year, and is composed of three interlinked yet distinctive learning strands: Study Skills, Professional Skills, and Analytical Skills. SPA is a blended module, which runs asynchronously and synchronously with the student learning journey, providing a programme of carefully designed learning activities, materials, and resources.


Assessment

This course uses a variety of assessment methods across modules. These may include reports (both topic based and reflective), essays, individual and group presentations, critical evaluation or commentary pieces, case study exercises, simulation reports, business or consultancy reports, online tests, and video presentations.

Assessments have been designed not only to assess your achievement in meeting the course learning outcomes in an academically sound manner, but also contribute to preparing you with the requisite competencies required for employment.

For the research component, you will undertake a major project. Project submission is likely to include both a written and a presentation element, accounting for 33% of your overall academic grade.


Reading lists

If you would like to view reading lists for current or previous cohorts of students, most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library on the Talis Aspire platform.

You can search for reading lists by module title, code or convenor. Please see the modules tab of this page or the module catalogue.

Please note that some reading lists may have restricted access or be unavailable at certain times of year due to not yet being published. If you cannot access the reading list for a particular module, please check again later or contact the module’s host department.


Your timetable

Modules will be allocated to students at the end of the first week of term - you will then be able to view your individual module schedule for the rest of the year via the WMG module selection system.

Modules will include scheduled classroom time and online sessions as well as your independent study and assessments, and will usually be delivered within a 4 week timeframe. Occasional classes and study skills sessions may be held at weekends or in the evenings.

As a Master's student, you are expected to manage your own time appropriately. On average, you are expected to commit 38-40 hours of study each week, in order to successfully achieve your Master’s degree.

This is a full-time postgraduate course - undergraduate term dates do not apply. Whilst there are no holidays as such, there will be no teaching scheduled when the University is officially closed for staff, during the two weeks over Christmas and New Year.

Your career

As a graduate of this course, you will learn to successfully drive change within an organisation and deliver business excellence from a whole-company perspective. The broad skillset gained will allow you to become an effective leader, able to make key decisions on business improvement by optimising resources and assessing the impact of your decisions across an organisation.

Following graduation, you can expect to develop your career within consultancy, management, or business development. Many of our graduates have been employed in roles such as:

  • Management Consultant
  • Quality Manager
  • Business Development Manager
  • New Product Development Manager
  • Process Improvement Engineer
  • Quality Assurance Manager
  • HR Manager
  • Customer Service Manager
  • Senior Planner
  • Business Solutions Architect

As the set of skills learned on this course can be applied to businesses across sectors, our graduates have secured positions with a very diverse set of employers, some examples of which you can find below:

  • Banking (World Bank Group, Bank of China, Worldpay, HSBC, CitiBank Brazil)
  • Consultancy (Ernst & Young, KPMG)
  • Consumer goods (Proctor & Gamble, Unilever, L’Oréal)
  • Food and drink (Nestlé, Danone)
  • Higher Education (DePaul University, The American University in Cairo)
  • IT (Google)
  • Logistics (UPS, Kuehne & Nagel)
  • Oil and gas (Petrobras, SOCAR)
  • Pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca, Pfizer)
  • Technology and manufacturing (Siemens, Philips, Rolls-Royce)
  • Transport (Emirates, Network Rail, EasyJet)

Helping you find the right career

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

  • Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
  • WMG Future Fest
  • Options in Engineering sector event
  • Careers for Experienced Hires
  • Careers in Cyber Security
  • Careers in Healthcare
  • Careers in Project Management

WMG at Warwick

As one of the largest departments at Warwick, WMG (originally Warwick Manufacturing Group), is a multidisciplinary department delivering a unique combination of world-class education with real business and industry application.

Our industry relevant management and technical education, and highly impactful applied research, have positioned WMG as a leading international role model for successful partnership between academia and industry. Having forged strong links with local, national, and global companies through 45 years of collaborative research and development, we really understand the global market you’ll be operating in and have designed our programmes to match.

Our expansive expertise includes artificial intelligence, automation systems, cyber security, data science, engineering management, design, supply chains, healthcare systems, sustainability, energy applications, materials, manufacturing, and visualisation to name but a few.

Find out more about our full-time Master's coursesLink opens in a new window, find out more about our part-time programmesLink opens in a new window, and learn more about the WMG department.Link opens in a new window


Our courses

Our part-time courses for working professionals

Our Postgraduate Research degrees


Visiting WMG

There are a number of different ways to visit the University of Warwick throughout the year. We host bespoke PG visits, where you can talk directly with your chosen department and explore our campus through a personalised tour. WMG also organises events and information sessions for prospective students including 1-1 bookable appointments, departmental open days, and independent visits so you can connect directly with the departmentLink opens in a new window and speak with staff and students from WMG. For more about university wide open days and tours, visit our Postgraduate Visits page.

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your course fees  


Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status


Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

  • Core text books
  • Printer credits *
  • Dissertation binding *
  • Robe hire for your degree ceremony

* - Dissertations and Assignments are only submitted digitally. However students may wish to print and bind their dissertation for their own purposes. Students on some courses will have a final poster presentation as part of their project and the printing of posters will be at the students’ expense.

Scholarships and bursaries

Scholarships and financial support

Find out about the different funding routes available, including; postgraduate loans, scholarships, fee awards and academic department bursaries.

Living costs

Find out more about the cost of living as a postgraduate student at the University of Warwick.


Department specific funding and support

WMG MSc Funding Opportunities

WMG award over £1.5million in scholarships and bursaries each year to students commencing study across our portfolio of full-time MSc programmes. More information about our MSc Scholarships.

WMG Research Degree Opportunities

We have a number of research projects available which are fully or partially funded. The majority of these are for UK/EU applicants, though occasionally we advertise positions that are also open to overseas applicants. Please refer to specific project descriptions for details

Find out how to apply to us, ask your questions, and find out more.

How to apply

Applications are now open for courses that start in September and October 2025.

Applications will close on 2 August 2025 for students who require a visa to study in the UK, to allow time to receive a CAS and complete the visa application process.

How to apply for a full-time postgraduate taught course in WMG  

Please note, places are often limited, so we recommend that you submit your application as early as possible. Please check our department webpages for more specific information.

After you’ve applied

Find out how we process your application.

Applicant Portal

Track your application and update your details.

Admissions statement

See Warwick’s postgraduate admissions policy.

Join a live chat

Ask questions and engage with Warwick.

Connect directly with the WMG department

For more detailed advice on the courses offered in WMG, to book a 1-1 appointment or visit with the WMG team, or for any course specific queries, you can connect directly with the recruitment team in WMG.

Explore ways to connect with us

We understand how important it is to visit and explore your future university before you apply. That's why we have put together a range of online and in-person options to help you discover more about your course, visit campus, and get a sense of postgraduate life at Warwick. Our events offer includes:

  • Warwick hosted events
  • Postgraduate Fairs
  • Live chats
  • Talk and Tours
  • Department events