Project Management MSc (Distance Learning)
Subject and course type
- Business and management
- Postgraduate
- Online/distance learning
If you want to lead projects that deliver real impact, our Distance Learning Project Management MSc offers a flexible route to advance your career. You’ll gain the skills to plan, manage, and innovate across complex projects using modern tools, data-driven approaches, and sustainability-focused practices – wherever you are.
Delivered fully online, this course enables you to balance your studies with work and personal commitments, while developing the expertise needed to become a project leader capable of driving meaningful change across industries.
There is also an on-campus version of this course.
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Gain the skills to manage projects that drive innovation and sustainable change.
Delivered by distance learning with interactive virtual classrooms and forums, you can tailor your studies to suit your schedule.
This exciting course equips future-focused project leaders with the mindset and skills to deliver lasting impact, without the need to relocate or pause your career.
Delivered through interactive virtual classrooms and collaborative online forums, you’ll gain practical experience in project management practices that prioritise sustainability, innovation, and strategic thinking. You’ll also have the opportunity to earn professional certifications such as PRINCE2 and AGILE during your degree.
With a strong focus on real-world application, the programme empowers you to deliver successful outcomes across diverse sectors and progress your career in project management - flexibly and remotely.
Our MSc in Project Management offers exceptional flexibility and academic vigour. Designed for working professionals, it combines practical project leadership skills with strategic thinking, all delivered through an engaging online platform. Students benefit from expert faculty, real-world case studies, and a global learning community. With strong industry relevance and career-focused support, this programme empowers learners to advance their careers while balancing personal and professional commitments.
Why choose this course
The MSc Project Management (Distance Learning) is designed for professionals who want to progress their career while balancing work, life, and study. You’ll engage with advanced project management theory, applied research, and practical case studies, supported by experienced academics and industry practitioners.
The programme develops key skills in strategic planning, sustainable project design, and data-driven decision-making, enabling you to drive innovation while addressing social and environmental challenges within your professional context.
You’ll also have the opportunity to work towards professional certifications such as PRINCE2 and AGILE, alongside micro-credentials that strengthen your professional profile. Online guest lectures, virtual networking opportunities, and tailored careers support help you build connections and advance your career from anywhere in the world.
Why distance learning?
- Flexible study: Fit your learning around work and personal commitments through structured online teaching and forums.
- Global collaboration: Learn alongside professionals from around the world, gaining diverse perspectives and insights.
- Immediate application: Apply learning directly to your current role through practical projects and case studies.
- Dedicated online support: Benefit from virtual mentoring, academic guidance and digital learning resources throughout your studies.
Course content
Throughout the core modules, you’ll explore the full spectrum of project management, from strategic planning and risk management to innovation, sustainability, and leadership. You’ll gain hands-on experience with AGILE and traditional project frameworks, financial and benefits management, and practical tools for delivering real-world projects.
All modules combine theory with applied learning, including workshops, case studies, and a practical project, allowing you to develop the knowledge, skills, and professional confidence needed to succeed in complex, dynamic project environments.
Modules
Core modules
30 credits
In this module, you’ll explore how projects, programmes, and portfolios (P3M) are managed strategically to deliver real value and achieve organisational goals.
You’ll learn how to align projects with business strategy, assess performance, and make informed decisions that improve outcomes across multiple initiatives. Through practical examples and critical evaluation, you’ll develop the confidence and skills to manage complexity, lead effectively, and ensure that projects contribute to wider organisational success.
You’ll also gain the tools to identify and manage risks and uncertainties, helping you become a proactive and strategic project professional ready to guide change at scale.
15 credits
In this module, you’ll transform your understanding of AGILE tools and techniques into the practical skills businesses need to drive strategic change. You’ll explore how AGILE approaches thrive in specific organisational and cultural environments, and critically examine the different ‘flavours’ of AGILE before focusing on the method best suited for delivering strategic projects in any context.
You’ll develop a clear understanding of the roles and collaborative dynamics between Scrum Masters, Product Managers, AGILE Delivery Leads, and cross-functional teams, and learn to apply product-led growth principles to guide prioritisation, experimentation, and scalable solution design.
You’ll gain hands-on experience in iterative delivery, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, continuous improvement, and creating actionable product roadmaps that align with strategy and stakeholder needs, using the latest AGILEPM framework to ensure industry relevance.
15 credits
This module teaches you how to manage multiple complex projects in alignment with an organisation’s strategy, driving both operational and strategic success while maintaining a competitive edge in international markets.
Traditional (waterfall) project and programme management processes will be explored, along with the key controls used to plan, monitor, and track success. You’ll develop essential management skills, understand how projects are structured, and gain hands-on experience planning a project from start to finish using product breakdown techniques and tools like MS Project.
Practical risk and ethics workshops will equip you with the skills to identify, assess, and mitigate the key risks and ethical challenges faced by project and programme managers in today’s complex business environment.
30 credits
You’ll explore the principles and practices of risk management in project settings, with a strong focus on ethical responsibility.
You’ll also develop the skills to identify, assess, and manage project risks while making responsible, ethical decisions.
Risk and accountability don’t exist in isolation - they operate within a governance framework that ensures clear ownership for identifying, addressing, and escalating risks and conflicts. By understanding how risks intersect with responsibility, you’ll see how transparency and accountability reinforce ethical decision-making and build stakeholder trust, preparing you to manage projects with integrity and confidence in complex, real-world environments.
15 credits
In this module, you’ll learn how to evaluate, plan, and manage the financial and benefit dimensions of projects, ensuring they deliver real value and align with organisational goals.
This module combines financial planning – budgeting, cost control, and assessing viability – with benefits management, which tracks tangible and intangible value throughout the project lifecycle. You’ll develop skills to create benefits realisation plans, monitor return on investment, and make informed trade-offs between cost and long-term value.
By taking a holistic approach, you’ll learn to balance financial metrics like ROI with broader benefits such as service quality and social impact, helping you make decisions that justify investment and support sustainable success in complex projects.
15 credits
This module explores how leadership, processes, and creative thinking drive sustainable change within organisations and society. The module begins by asking the key question: why do we need projects?
You’ll examine long-term viability, ethical choices, and ways to minimise environmental and social impact, fostering future-focused thinking. Creativity is then introduced as the ‘how’ – fuelling innovation, design thinking, and unconventional problem-solving to develop practical, sustainable solutions.
You’ll learn how sustainability and creativity interact, using constraints to inspire ingenious approaches and design regenerative systems. By combining these perspectives, you’ll develop a mindset of ethical innovation, thinking beyond profit and functionality to deliver value that benefits people, organisations, and the planet.
30 credits
You’ll explore how to thrive in today’s fast-changing world, shaped by technology, global crises, and climate challenges.
This module will help you develop the mindset and skills needed to navigate volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, moving beyond traditional approaches to business and management. You’ll engage with new ways of thinking and practical methods that support innovation, adaptability, and transformative leadership.
By the end, you’ll be equipped to embrace emerging challenges, contribute to innovative organisational cultures, and lead confidently in a world where change is constant and complex problems demand creative, strategic solutions.
30 credits
In this module, you’ll have the opportunity to plan, manage, and deliver a real-world project, applying the knowledge and skills you’ve developed throughout your studies.
The project will challenge you to take a strategic perspective and manage complexity from initiation to closure, while incorporating principles of sustainability and innovation. You’ll develop your ability to analyse and solve project-related problems, work effectively in teams, and communicate confidently with stakeholders.
The module also encourages reflection on your own performance, helping you identify areas for improvement and plan your continued professional growth, ensuring you graduate ready to manage complex projects with competence, creativity, and confidence.
Kingston Business School accreditation
Kingston Business School holds the prestigious international accreditation by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) in recognition of the excellence of its business education. This accreditation has been earned by just 6% of the world's business schools. It recognises the high quality and standard of our business degree offerings.
Ready for business
At Kingston Business School, we believe that professional success is shaped by honing your personal capacity and skillset, supported by the academic framework of knowledge. Through vocationally rich, employer-engaged and research-informed courses, we work alongside our students to help them meet personal goals and career ambitions.
Career opportunities
You will graduate ready for project management roles across a wide range of industries.
Example job titles include:
- project manager
- programme manager
- general business manager.
You may decide to continue your studies at Kingston University through doctoral research.
Many graduates decide to use the skills they have learned to set themselves up in business.
Teaching and assessment
When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the online virtual learning platform.
As a student at Kingston University, we will make sure you have access to appropriate advice regarding your academic development. You will also be able to use the University's support services.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- 17% scheduled learning and teaching.
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Assessment typically comprises exams (e.g. test or exam), practical (e.g. presentations, performance) and coursework (e.g. essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios, dissertation). The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows, though depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose:
Project Management MSc
- Coursework: 78%
- Practical: 12%
- Exam: 10%
Professional Placement Year
- Coursework: 100%
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
Fees and funding
| Fee Category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | Part Time Distance Learning £5,950 |
| International | Part Time Distance Learning £5,950 |
Fees for future course years
Part-time distance learning option
If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years.
If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.
Additional course costs
You will need a reliable computer or laptop and internet access to participate in online classes, access learning materials, and complete assignments. Textbooks may be required for some modules and could range from £50 to £250 per year, depending on your choices. While the University provides access to many e-books and online journals, you may prefer personal copies of certain key texts.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
You might have the opportunity to take optional day trips within London or to specific organisations. These will cost around £50.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
Funding support for postgraduate students
If you are a UK student living in England and under 60, you can apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree. Find out more through the government's website.
Scholarships and bursaries
The following funding support may be available:
Get a 40% reduction in fees for taught masters or postgraduate diploma courses with September start dates. Find out more.
Receive up to £5,000 towards tuition in your first year of study. Find out more.
Get a 15% reduction in tuition fees. Find out more.
Kingston University offers a 10% discount on full- and part-time postgraduate degree course tuition fees to our alumni. Visit our postgraduate finance page to find out more.
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop-down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to our Online Student Information System (OSIS) where you will complete your application.
If you’re starting a new application, you’ll need to select ‘new user’ and set up a username and password. This will allow you to save and return to your application.
Please note: If you’re from a country outside the EU or EEA that’s classified as overseas fee-paying, you won’t be eligible to apply for a part-time course because of visa regulations in the UK. For information about exceptions, please visit the UKCISA website or email our CAS and Visa Compliance team.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
Who teaches this course
You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on this course. The team includes senior academics and professional practitioners with industry experience.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
