Strategic Management and Leadership

Level 7 Professional qualifications are designed to provide focused and specialist vocational short courses, linked to professional body requirements and National Occupational Standards where appropriate, with a clear work-related emphasis. The qualifications provide short vocational programmes of study that meet the individual needs of learners. There is a strong emphasis on practical skills development alongside the development of requisite knowledge and understanding in the sector.

They are particularly suitable for more mature learners who wish to follow a short programme of study that is directly related to their work experience or to an aspect of employment that they wish to move into in due course. On successful completion of these qualifications, national recognition by employers enables learners to progress into or within employment and/or continue their study in the vocational area.

Course code:	Level 7
Duration (full time):	1 year
Start dates:	Every Month*
Total Number of Subjects:	12

Progression

Learners are able to progress across the range of Level 7 qualifications, from Award to Certificate to Diploma to Extended Diploma. These qualifications also support Continuing Professional Development (CPD), as well as enabling sideways progression to Masters Degrees, such as an MBA.

Professional qualifications are designed to meet a range of different needs. The qualifications offer:

• Maximum flexibility with a range of different-sized Level 7 programmes
• The opportunity to certificate smaller blocks of learning designed to motivate
• Learners and encourage widening participation in education and training
• Courses that relate to the particular training and employment patterns in a sector
• Courses that may offer preparation for specific jobs when in employment
• The opportunity to use a range of delivery methods
• Opportunities for learners to develop skills that support career and professional development
• Underpinning knowledge, skills and understanding linked, where appropriate, to named NVQs
• Programmes that can enable progression either to higher levels of study or to other courses at the same level of study.

Guidance

The purpose of assessment is to ensure that effective learning has taken place to give learners the opportunity to:

All the assignments created by centres should be reliable and fit for purpose, and should be built on the unit assessment criteria. Assessment tasks and activities should enable learners to produce valid, sufficient and reliable evidence that relates directly to the specified criteria. Centres should enable learners to produce evidence in a variety of different forms, including performance observation, presentations and posters, along with projects, or time-constrained assessments.

Centres are encouraged to emphasise the practical application of the assessment criteria, providing a realistic scenario for learners to adopt, and making maximum use of practical activities. The creation of assignments that are fit for purpose is vital to achievement and their importance cannot be over-emphasised.

The assessment criteria must be clearly indicated in the assignments briefs. This gives learners focus and helps with internal verification and standardisation processes. It will also help to ensure that learner feedback is specific to the assessment criteria.

When designing assignments briefs, centres are encouraged to identify common topics and themes. A central feature of vocational assessment is that it allows for assessment to be:

• Current, ie to reflect the most recent developments and issues
• Local, ie to reflect the employment context of the delivering centre
• Flexible to reflect learner needs, ie at a time and in a way that matches the learner’s requirements so that they can demonstrate achievement

Careers

The Level 7 Diploma provides its learner the realistic and appropriate career related opportunities worldwide for 21st century employment markets.

Students who successfully completed Level 7 Diploma can progress onto MBA degree programme at many universities with up to 120 credits exemption from 180 credits Masters degree.

Entry Requirements

Candidates will be expected to satisfy the following requirements:

• Bachelor Degree (or equivalent) or
• Level 6 qualification (or equivalent) or centre
• Mature applicant with A level (or equivalent) and work experience and
• IELTS 6.5 (if applicable)

• Top Up MBA (6 to 8 Months)

  (Darby University, Anglia Ruskin University, Bolton University, New Bucks University UK)
• MBA (1 and half year)

  Binary University, Malaysia Asia Metropolitan University, Malaysia

The inspired student or entrepreneur will gain valuable insights into the characteristics, skills, resources and tools required to drive a growing organization or business start-up forward. Learners will be required to be proactive and engage with businesses that have growth strategies or start-ups with ambition.

Learners will be expected to create ideas and plans that support their personal business goals or those of organizations that they are involved with. The Level 5/7 units are also designed to dove-tail into a top-up undergraduate/Post Graduate final year at a UK University.