Doctor of Educational Leadership (online) Professional Doctorate

In December 2024, the University of Bolton was granted permission by the Office for Students (OfS) to change its name to the University of Greater Manchester with immediate effect. While we work to update our systems, you may see both names used in the information we provide.

Do you wish to progress as a manager and leader in primary, secondary or tertiary education? Our online Doctor of Educational Leadership (EdDL) degree focuses on helping you gain high-standard professional, organisational and political skills and knowledge to meet the vast challenges of improving public and private educational environments.

The University of Greater Manchester’s EdD in Educational Leadership (online) is designed for working professionals who aspire to be educational leaders. If you want to strengthen your skills for leading groups in high-performing teaching and learning organisations and connect relevant research with practice, this part-taught doctoral programme can support your career development.

The Doctor of Education in Leadership differs from the traditional PhD in that it is in two parts. Stage one, the taught element, allows you to complete 'blocks' of online learning, combining rich online media-based interaction and collaborative work, seminars, online taught elements and tutorials with interactive, collaborative coursework. Our expert team will guide you to explore topics such as revisiting learning and teaching, the impact of emerging educational models, transformative learning, managing politics and policy influences, leadership and organisational transformation, and mastering the 'self'. This part of the programme is very well structured and scaffolded so that you make rapid progress and acquire a strong grounding in the field. Significant formative support with analysis and argument development is provided as you move through the programme.

Stage two involves a directed and independent study programme leading to the development and submission of your research proposal, followed by the production and defence of your own critical commentary. Our welcoming team of experienced, professionally and academically qualified staff will help you understand how to align your research topic of interest to other current research in applicable fields and apply it to your own professional practice and context.