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Postgraduate Study

The intensive advanced study introduces students of this interdisciplinary programme to core concepts, techniques and debates in management. You take a total of 11 core courses and electives. The programme is aimed at students who have just finished their degree (in any discipline except business or management-related majors), who have achieved the equivalent of a first-class, and who have less than one year of professional experience at the start of the programme.

Educational aims:

  • to give students with a strong performance in other disciplines at the first-degree level an understanding of the academic discipline of management; and
  • to give students the opportunity to acquire and develop skills and expertise relevant to high-level management practice.

This is achieved by:

  • providing students with the guidance necessary to acquire a deep understanding of the theory and practice of management;
  • analysing, in lectures, discussions and written work, the key techniques, conceptual issues and debates in the academic management literatures and in the practice of management;
  • supporting students in the development of an understanding and a critical perspective of management;
  • providing teaching in a range of technical/specialist subjects central to the study of  the different branches of management; and
  • examining students formally on their knowledge of the theory and practice of management.

Learning Outcomes

The MPhil in Management is a taught master's programme, which offers new and recent graduates of any subject except business and management a thorough grounding in management. The normal expectation is that graduates of the MPhil in Management will seek a career in management. The programme is consequently conceived as a graduate conversion course which will prepare students for such a career*. It sets high academic and intellectual standards and is based upon the latest academic research in the field.

The programme is designed throughout to help participants transition from students to professional managers, by providing them with the fundamental knowledge needed in a management career and with novel opportunities to develop their collaborative leadership skills and business creativity. The philosophy behind the programme is that while effective management requires experience, a good grounding in academic knowledge is an invaluable prerequisite for a managerial career. Because management involves such a wide array of skills, from the mathematical to the interpersonal, the MPhil in Management demands excellence across a wide range of applied disciplines.

* Research and access to the graduate employment marketplace is beyond the realm of the programme, but the University of Cambridge offers a free, centralised Careers Service that can offer a degree of advice and support.

By the end of the course students should have:

1. developed a deep knowledge of the theory and practice of management;

2. a conceptual understanding of the key techniques, conceptual issues and debates in the academic management literatures and in the practice of management;

3. acquired, or consolidated, quantitative and qualitative analytical skills necessary to evaluate management inquiry and practice;

4. demonstrated independent judgement, based on their own independent study;

5. presented their own ideas in a public forum and learned to contribute constructively within an international environment.


Open Days

See further the Postgraduate Admissions Events pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

Cambridge Judge Business School also hosts Experience Days throughout the year. Please see Cambridge Judge Business School wide-events page for further information.

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Key Information


9 months full-time

Study Mode : Taught

Master of Philosophy

Judge Business School

Course - related enquiries

Application - related enquiries

Course on Department Website

Dates and deadlines:

Michaelmas 2025

Applications open
Sept. 4, 2024
Application deadline
Feb. 25, 2025
Course Starts
Oct. 1, 2025

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Course Funding Deadline
Jan. 7, 2025
Gates Cambridge US round only
Oct. 16, 2024

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2025, Lent 2026 and Easter 2026.


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