How is the MA Business English and Communication different from the BA?

BA Business English is a three-year undergraduate degree building working competence. The MA assumes professional or near-professional command and pushes into strategic advisory work, research-grade thinking and dissertation-level practice — a different intellectual register entirely.

Can the MA Business English and Communication be done part-time?

Yes — over 24 months part-time. Online and distance routes are designed around working senior professionals, with evening tutorials and a dissertation you can build around your current professional context. The September and January intakes accommodate both rhythms.

Does the MA Business English and Communication include practical skills development?

Yes — executive English writing, speechwriting and presentation modules are heavily practical, with video review and senior-practitioner feedback. The course is academically rigorous and professionally applied; the two reinforce each other.

What does the dissertation on the MA Business English and Communication cover?

A 12,000–15,000 word piece on a chosen business communication question — past topics have included crisis-comms language analysis at FTSE corporates, intercultural meeting practice in international consultancy, and the rise of English as a Lingua Franca in EU regulator communications.

Is the MA Business English and Communication recognised internationally?

Yes — it is a UK Master's degree taught in London, recognised by international employers and admissions panels for doctoral study. The combination of executive practice, strategic communications and research training is rare in postgraduate business-language programmes.

MA Business English and Communication | LSJHML London | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The MA Business English and Communication at the London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages (LSJHML) is a one-year UK postgraduate degree for senior communicators, account leaders and bilingual professionals who use English as the working language of international business and policy. You will study advanced corporate communication, executive English, intercultural business practice and current research on multilingual workplaces, and complete a 12,000-to-15,000-word dissertation.

This MA assumes you already work in business communication or are about to. It exists to take you from competent practitioner to strategic adviser whose written and spoken English carries authority across boardroom, regulator and international audiences.

Key Features

Executive English module — board reports, investor and regulator communications, executive speechwriting.
Strategic communications strand covering campaign planning, stakeholder mapping, crisis response.
Intercultural business practice — UK, US, European, Asian and Middle Eastern conventions compared.
Multilingual workplace research module grounded in current applied-linguistics scholarship.
Industry-led masterclasses from senior corporate communications directors, international account leaders and executive coaches.
12,000–15,000 word dissertation on a chosen business communication question, supervised by an active practitioner-academic.

What You Will Learn

The MA Business English and Communication is structured around the capabilities executive communicators actually exercise — writing under sign-off pressure, advising leadership, navigating multilingual teams, and contributing research-grade thinking to corporate and policy debate. You graduate able to lead a communications function or advise senior leadership in English at strategic level.

Executive English — board papers, investor and regulator communications, executive correspondence.
Strategic communications — campaign planning, stakeholder mapping, channel strategy, measurement.
Crisis communications — pre-mortems, escalation thresholds, holding lines, recovery.
Intercultural business practice — comparative communication conventions across regions.
Internal communications — change comms, employee voice, executive visibility.
Multilingual workplaces — current applied-linguistics research, business English as a Lingua Franca scholarship.
Speechwriting and ghostwriting — voice, register, the executive ghostwrite.
Dissertation research methods — qualitative case study, basic quantitative survey, applied research ethics.

Who This MA Is For

Working communications managers and account leads stepping up to strategic and director-track roles.
Bilingual graduates in business or communications seeking a UK postgraduate credential to support international careers.
International professionals operating in English at senior level who need formal academic underpinning.
Career-changers from journalism, teaching or policy moving into corporate or in-house communications leadership.

Career Pathways

MA Business English and Communication graduates move into senior corporate communications, international account leadership and strategic adviser roles across UK and global firms. Typical roles include:

Communications Director (FTSE corporate, professional services, regulated industry)
Senior Corporate Communications Manager (multinational, public body)
Account Director (international PR or public-affairs agency)
Head of Internal Communications (corporate, charity, NHS trust)
Strategic Communications Adviser (international NGO, professional body)
Investor Communications Lead (listed company, IR consultancy)

The MA also serves as a launchpad for doctoral research in business communication or for senior in-house international communications leadership.

Entry Requirements

A UK 2:2 honours degree (or international equivalent) in a related subject, OR a 2:2 in any subject with two years of relevant professional experience.
IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
Personal statement (max 1 page) outlining your motivation, relevant experience and intended specialism.
Two academic or professional references.
Applicants without a related undergraduate degree may be considered with significant industry experience and a written sample.

Why Study at LSJHML

The London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages is a specialist higher-education provider based in central London. Our programmes are designed in dialogue with working professionals — journalists, translators, civil servants, academics, broadcasters, editors, publishers and policy researchers — so what you learn in seminar on Monday is what your future employer is using on Tuesday. We deliberately keep cohorts small, give every student named tutor support, and treat employability as a structural part of every programme rather than an optional add-on.

London is the work — politics, courts, capital markets, theatre, broadcasting, publishing, public service, the global press. Your studies are taught in the same square mile where the stories you read about happen. Whether you join us on-campus, online or by distance learning, the city is your classroom and our industry network is your launchpad.