How is the MA Strategic Communication different from a CIPR Diploma?

CIPR Diplomas are professional-body credentials focused on practice. The MA Strategic Communication is a UK postgraduate degree with broader strategic depth, current scholarship engagement and an original research dissertation. The two complement each other well; many senior communicators hold both.

Can I take the MA Strategic Communication part-time alongside a full-time comms job?

Yes — most students do. The MA can be taken over 24 months part-time, with online and distance routes designed around working professionals. Evening tutorials and weekend masterclasses are scheduled to support working students, and the major campaign module can be built around a live brief from your own organisation.

What is the crisis simulation on the MA Strategic Communication?

A 72-hour live exercise responding to a developing scenario — a data breach, a recall, a major public dispute — escalating over the week. You lead holding-line drafting, brief executives, manage social channels and respond to (simulated) media enquiries with senior industry observers feeding back in real time.

Will the MA Strategic Communication prepare me for a PhD?

Yes. The research-methods content and dissertation are calibrated to the entry expectations of UK doctoral programmes in strategic communication, reputation studies, public-affairs research and adjacent fields. Several graduates each year move into PhD-track research.

What is the dissertation on the MA Strategic Communication?

An independent 12,000–15,000 word piece of original research. Recent topics have included trust dynamics in UK regulator communications, employee voice during major organisational change, comparative analysis of UK political-party campaign architectures, and the strategic use of platform owned-media by FTSE corporates.

MA Strategic Communication in London | LSJHML | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The MA Strategic Communication at the London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages (LSJHML) is a one-year UK postgraduate degree for working communicators moving into director-level roles and for senior practitioners formalising their leadership-track expertise. You will design and defend a major campaign across the academic year, lead a 72-hour crisis simulation, work with current research on reputation, trust and influence, and graduate with a 12,000-to-15,000-word dissertation grounded in original research.

The MA Strategic Communication is taught in dialogue with the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations), the PRCA and the Media Society. By the end, you can sit across a boardroom table from a chief executive, set out the position the organisation should take, and explain why — with evidence, with foresight and with the strategic discipline a serious communications director carries.

Key Features

UK postgraduate degree — one year full-time or two years part-time, with online and distance routes.
Major campaign module — design and defend a full-year campaign for a real or simulated UK client.
72-hour crisis simulation — lead the response to a developing scenario with industry observers feeding back in real time.
Reputation and trust research strand grounded in Edelman Trust Barometer, Reuters Institute, IPA Effectiveness archive.
Public-affairs intensive — Westminster, Whitehall, devolved governments, regulator landscape at senior level.
Dissertation — an independent 12,000–15,000 word piece of original strategic-communication research.

What You Will Learn

The MA Strategic Communication is structured around the advanced competences of a senior strategic communications director — campaign architecture, reputation management, public-affairs literacy, crisis leadership and research-informed decision-making. You graduate able to lead a strategic communications function, advise senior leadership credibly, and conduct original research the field recognises.

Advanced strategic communications planning — OASIS, GCS, IPA Effectiveness frameworks at senior level.
Reputation and trust — current scholarship on institutional trust, reputation dynamics, attention economy.
Audience research at advanced level — segmentation, behavioural insight, qualitative and quantitative methods.
Crisis leadership — escalation, holding lines, recovery, organisational-learning frameworks.
Public affairs at senior level — Westminster, Whitehall, devolved administrations, regulator engagement.
Internal communications and change comms at senior level — employee voice, executive visibility.
Measurement — AMEC framework, attribution, behaviour-change metrics, longitudinal evaluation.
Research methods for strategic-communication dissertation work — content analysis, survey design, interview studies.

Who This MA Is For

Working senior communications managers moving toward director-level roles.
In-house heads of communications and agency account directors formalising their strategic practice.
Public-sector and civil-service communicators working under Government Communication Service senior standards.
Aspiring doctoral researchers and academic-track strategic-communication scholars preparing for PhD-track work.

Career Pathways

The MA Strategic Communication opens onto director-level and strategic-leadership roles across in-house, agency, public-sector and third-sector communications, as well as academic-track careers. Typical post-MA destinations include:

Director of Communications (FTSE, national NHS body, central government, regulator)
Senior Strategic Communications Adviser (charity, NGO, professional services)
Senior Public Affairs Manager (consultancy, in-house government-relations team)
Senior Press & Comms Officer (national NHS body, central government, regulator)
Senior Media Analyst (broadcaster, agency, research consultancy)
Doctoral Researcher (strategic communication, reputation studies, public-affairs research)

The MA serves as preparation for doctoral research, senior in-house communications leadership and strategic-communication consultancy practice.

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.