Course Overview
This is internal communication at its most strategic. The MA is built for experienced practitioners who want to deepen their thinking, sharpen their influence and operate with genuine authority in complex organisations.
You will explore organisational culture, the psychology of communication and the challenges of communicating across global organisations — developing the analytical and research skills to make evidence-based decisions, create impactful strategies and build the self-awareness to make a lasting contribution to the organisations and people you work with.
Delivered part-time to fit around full-time working life, the programme combines highly interactive workshops with online study. You will graduate with a long-term network of senior practitioners and a master's degree that reflects the depth of your expertise.
What the programme gives you
Strategic depth
Explore organisational culture, communication psychology and the complexity of global organisations.
Theory into practice
Apply learning directly to your current business challenges, adding value from the outset.
A senior peer network
Build lasting connections with fellow senior practitioners through workshops and online study.
Continuously updated
Course content refreshed regularly in line with emerging developments in the profession.
Who it's for
Designed for communication practitioners with significant experience in the management of internal communication. Students will typically already be working at a strategic level, or be looking to move into a strategic role.
What you'll study
The Masters in Internal Communication Management is a part-time course designed to fit around busy working lives. It is a thirteen-month programme starting in November and ending the following December.
The course includes four highly interactive two-day workshops, virtual follow-up sessions, guest speakers, online discussion with the course team and fellow students, and ongoing engagement and collaborative learning opportunities.
You will need to devote a considerable amount of time to reading, critical analysis of issues, research, preparation of assignments and participation in on-line discussion boards. The theory into practice approach and focus on your current workplace in assessments means that that you can achieve a level of integration between work and study.
The Programme
The programme is made up of four modules:
Culture, communication and sensemaking (30 Credits)
This module sets the context for the strategic management of internal communication, exploring the relationship between communication and the organisational environment in a fast changing world, and equipping you to assess and identify the implications for successful communication practice. Overall, the module is aimed at providing you with a broad perspective on your working life and the varied environments in which you are likely to be working in during your career, as well as giving you new ways of thinking about the process of communication at an individual level.
Strategy and impact (30 Credits)
This module is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills required to develop, implement and evaluate effective communication strategies to deal with the range of business challenges you are likely to encounter in your career. It also explores the evolution of the employer-employee relationship, and the effect of this on the work of the internal communication practitioner.
Influencing, partnering and the future (30 Credits)
This module equips you with the underpinning knowledge to act as a key influencer and internal consultant at the most senior level. You will explore the ways you might tailor your approach to different individuals, and the psychology of decision-making in order to support you in assessing optimum approaches with senior leaders. You will also consider how to effectively apply consulting, business partnering and coaching models to your work. The module also looks at current and future challenges at the leading edge of communication, equipping you for changes in the role.
Robust communication research to drive decision making (30 Credits)
This module aims to develop your skills in working with a client to identify, diagnose, and make practical recommendations towards solving a workplace management issue through internal communication interventions. As a result of the module, you will be equipped to define a research problem, select an appropriate methodological approach and investigate the problem using a combination of secondary and primary research.
Why choose this course?
The Masters is designed to prepare professionals for increasingly strategic roles in internal communication and add business value in a rapidly changing global organisational environment.
The benefits of studying for the MA in Internal Communication Management include:
- being taught by a highly experienced and passionate teaching team with a background in strategic communication management
- adding immediate value by putting theory into practice in your – or your client’s - organisation
- developing your interpersonal and leadership skills and having impact at the highest level of the organisation
- developing your strategic thinking and evidence-based decision making
- gaining essential research and analytical skills to understand and adapt to rapidly changing business needs
- producing a valuable piece of tailored research for your organisation
- building a strong network of fellow strategic practitioners
- hearing from expert guest speakers who are leaders in current thinking.
By the end of the course, you will be equipped to:
- understand the complexities of workplace culture, the psychology of communication, and the implications for your communication practice
- develop, implement and evaluate internal communication strategies to meet rapidly changing organisational needs and build engagement
- forge leading edge approaches to communication to address the growth of technology and the radical breakdown of organisational boundaries
- influence and coach senior managers to ensure optimum communication that meets the needs of the future, and ensure effective leadership communication at all levels
- undertake in-depth organisational research to ensure a robust, evidence-based approach to communication interventions.
Further benefits include:
- access to Solent’s library and other support services, including health and wellbeing
- free IoIC membership for the duration of your studies, including all usual members benefits.
Entry Criteria
Who is the course for?
This is a part-time programme for communication practitioners with significant experience in the management of internal communication. Students will typically already be working at a strategic level, or be looking to move into a strategic role. Designed to make it as easy as possible to combine work and study, the MA requires minimal time out of the office (four workshops over the year, each of two days duration); while its ‘theory into practice’ approach that means you can immediately apply learning to current business challenges, adding value from the outset.
The Application Process
Applications for the MA Internal Communication Management will be considered if candidates can demonstrate their suitability for the course - having the experience, ability and motivation to work at this level.
As part of the application process candidates are accredited with 60 academic credits on the basis of prior learning and/or experience of internal communication. This is done via a process known as Advanced Standing.
Candidates should therefore fulfil ONE of the following:
- Possess a recognised postgraduate qualification in management and business studies equivalent to 60 level 7 credits.
- Possess a degree or equivalent Level 6 professional qualification and have significant experience in the internal communication field and other indicators of achievement (e.g. written reports etc.)
- Have substantial relevant experience of internal communication management and other indicators of achievement (e.g. evidence of acceptable training courses attended, written reports etc.). Candidates who do not possess a degree or equivalent professional qualification will also be required to complete a sample assignment to pass standard. They will be given support in assignment writing as part of the application process by a member of the teaching team.
Additional Requirements
The MA Internal Communication Management is delivered and assessed in English. Applicants for whom English is not their first language will be required to demonstrate their English language proficiency via a certificate from an undergraduate degree taught in English, an IELTS score of 6.5 or above, or a similar alternative such as Duolingo.
Course team
Liz Cochrane FIIC
Liz is Chair of the IoIC's Standards and Skills Board.
Liz is the Course Director for the Masters in Internal Communication Management and previously served on the IoIC's Board of Directors with Board level responsibility for the IoIC's Professional Development actitivies.
Liz is also a director of Facta Consult, a small employee research consultancy focused on helping organisations understand the perspective of their people. Liz's background includes managing communication in-house, consultancy and training. She is passionate about the difference internal communication can make, and privileged to be playing her part in that through IoIC.
Oli Howard
Oli’s main work is with the CIPD, the body for HR and the wider people profession, where he is Head of Membership. He has previously worked in senior communication roles for public and charity sector organisations, with a strong focus on internal communication. He is the lead author of the IoIC's guide to IC strategy and an alumni of the programme with Kingston University, having graduated with Distinction in 2012. Oli is a Module Leader for the IoIC's Masters in Internal Communication.
Domna Lazidou
Domna has a background as a practitioner and academic and is an expert in culture, communication and leadership in complex, multicultural organisations. Domna combines consultancy with leading a unit for the Masters and teaching intercultural communication for business and the professions at Warwick University.
Domna has designed and runs several executive training programmes on global leadership and diverse teams for Oxford Business School as well as a popular training course on Communicating Culture Change for the IoIC. She is the co-author of “Global Fitness for Global People: How to manage and leverage cultural diversity at work”.
Ranjit Sidhu
Ranjit is a change specialist and is responsible for the sessions on change and influencing stakeholders for the Masters programme.
As a trainer and consultant at ChangeQuest, she runs certified change management practitioner training and provides practical support and guidance to organisations, so they can effectively communicate and engage people in delivering successful projects and change initiatives.
Ranjit wrote the Communication and Engagement chapter in the ‘Effective Change Manager Handbook’ and the book ‘Titanic lessons in project leadership – effective communication and team building’. Ranjit is an alumni of the programme with Solent University.
Guest Speakers
The programme also includes expert guest speakers on topics such as influencing at the highest level, collaboration, neuroscience and social media.
Rita Men
Linjuan Rita Men, Ph.D., APR, is a Professor of Public Relations and Director of Internal Communication Research in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. She founded and directs the Internal Communication Research Hub, a virtual space dedicated to fostering innovative research, education, and best practices in internal communication. With a background in corporate communication research and consulting, Men’s research interests include internal communication, leadership communication, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurial communications.
Men has published more than 100 articles in refereed journals and as book chapters. She is the (co-) author/editor of four books, Excellence in Internal Communication Management (Business Expert Press, 2017), Strategic Communications for Startups and Entrepreneurs in China (Routledge, 2020), Current Trends and Issues in Internal Communication: Theory and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), and Internal Communication and Employee Engagement: A Case Study (Routledge, 2023). Men’s contributions to the field have been widely recognized through numerous top paper/research awards and recognitions from national and international communication associations and conferences, including the 2022 Hillier Krieghbaum Under-40 Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Men serves as an associate editor for Journal of Communication Management and is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society. Men has worked internationally with Alibaba Group, Inc., Ketchum, Inc., and provided management communication consulting for various multinational corporations, startups, and non-profit organizations.
Marc Wright
Marc Wright is a serial entrepreneur, building and leading businesses in the internal communications space.
Simply – the community and consultancy for internal communications is the market leader in the IC tech space. The biannual simplyIC and simplyEXP conferences are the biggest events of their kind in the UK. He sold Simply to Gallagher Comms in Feb 2024.
Previously he was Chairman of MCA Live, a live events agency specialising in large scale engagement programmes, which he sold to WPP in 2001.
Back in the 1990s he bought Crown, one of the largest corporate video producers in the UK and turned it into a major producer of live events.
Marc started his career in television making science documentaries and TV drama including the soap 20 Steps to Better Business for the BBC. He wrote Tevolution, The Evolution of TV Satellite and Cable and edited The Gower Handbook of Internal Communication. He is a Past President of the Internal Association of Business Communicators (IABC) for EMENA.
Hilary Scarlett
Hilary is an international speaker, consultant and author. Her work has spanned Europe, North America and Asia, and focuses on helping leaders in the private and public sectors to introduce change efficiently and effectively. In particular, she designs masterclasses and workshops based on the belief that if we can understand our brains better, we can work with that knowledge and help improve both our wellbeing and performance at work.
Hilary holds an MA from Cambridge University, has a post-graduate Certificate in the Psychology of Organisation Development and Change and is an accredited executive coach with the Institute of Leadership and Management.
Hilary works with neuroscientists in the UK and in the USA, bringing their work out of the lab and into the workplace in a very practical and accessible way.
A second edition of her book Neuroscience for Organizational Change - an evidence-based, practical guide to managing change was published in 2019 and has been widely praised. Hilary published Brainpower at Work – tips on building a brain-friendly workplace in 2022.
Hilary is a member of the British Neuroscience Association and the British Psychological Society.
Recent clients include: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Bloomberg; Office of National Statistics; NHS; Home Office; Crown Prosecution Service.
Dominic Walters FIIC
Dominic has specialised in leadership and direct manager communication and development for over 30 years. He has worked in senior ‘in-house’ roles and as a coach and consultant in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US, supporting leadership teams across a range of sectors.
He has also featured in print, TV and audio promoting effective leadership communication and is the co-host of the Future of Internal Communication podcast. Dominic has worked with line manager groups for a range of clients including recently United Biscuits, H&M, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue and Telia Group.
Dominic is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and past national Chairman, Governance Adviser and Fellow and President-Elect of the Institute of Internal Communication.
Rachel Miller FIIC
Rachel Miller is an internationally recognised authority on Internal Communication (IC) and author of Internal Communication Strategy (Kogan Page, 2024). A former journalist, she has 20 years’ internal communication experience and advises many of the world’s best-known companies through her consulting business, All Things IC. She’s a Chartered PR Practitioner and Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communication and Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Rachel’s a keynote speaker and Candid Comms podcast host. She's listed in Inspiring Workplaces' top 101 global employee engagement influencers. In 2020, Rachel was awarded the Chartered Institute of Public Relations' President's Medal for distinguished service to PR.
Russell Grossman ABC, DipPR, FCIPR, FCIM, FRSA, IABC Fellow
Russell’s been a communications practitioner for some 40 years, and a Senior Civil Servant since 2006.
He’s currently Director of Communications at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the government department responsible for regulating Britain’s railways and England’s national highways and trunk roads. He’s also head of the Government Communication Service (GCS) internal communications profession and a member of its people board; a non-exec director of the “Engage for Success” movement for the advancement of employee engagement, and senior sponsor for the Government Communications Fast Stream.
Russell was Group Director of Communications at the Department for Business for eight years and Head of Change and Internal Communications at HMRC for the two years prior to that. He was Head of Internal Communications at the BBC for seven years and before that, Director of Communications at Royal Mail.
He’s been a visiting Fellow at CASS Business School and is a Past International Chair of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) of which he is now a Fellow. He currently sits on the IABC Fellow Selection Committee.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
Russell is married to a long-suffering wife of 39 years (and counting) and is blessed with four children (one of whom also works in communications) and five grandchildren.
Open Afternoon 2025 - Session Recording
The date for our 2026 Open Afternoon is yet to be confirmed (expected May/June). Below, you’ll find information about our 2025 Open Afternoon, which took place on Thursday 22 May 2025.
It was the opportunity to learn more about the Masters and meet the course team. We were delighted that we were joined by alumni - David Carr from Transport for London and Dovile Green from the University of Glasgow - who shared their first-hand experiences and tips for balancing studying with work and life.
The session covered key areas such as:
- time commitment and juggling with full time job/life
- course curriculum, learning outcomes and assessment
- entry requirements, eligibility and applying for the course without a degree
- finance, including self-finance options and putting together a business case
- programme delivery and workshops, including studying as an international student
- the theory into practice focus of the course and direct application to roles and organisations
- the final management report
- how the Masters can (and has) enhance careers
You can watch the recording of the open afternoon below.
Further Information and FAQs
How long does the course take?
The Masters is a thirteen-month programme, starting each year in November and running until the following December. It is a part-time course.
When is the course next starting?
The next course will be starting in Tuesday 3 November 2026.
How easy is it to combine the Masters with full time employment?
The Masters is a part-time course specifically designed to fit around busy working lives, with an induction day at Solent University, a total of eight days of workshops in Central London, and virtual follow-up sessions and sessions delivered by guest speakers. Where circumstances prevent in-person attendance, hybrid options will be made available.
You will need to devote a considerable amount of time to reading, critical analysis of issues, research, preparation of assignments and participation in on-line discussion boards. The theory into practice approach and focus on your current workplace in assessments means that that you can achieve a level of integration between work and study.
What is the entry criteria?
You will need either a postgraduate qualification in management and business, OR a degree or professional qualification plus significant internal communication experience, OR substantial relevant experience plus evidence of achievement. If you'd like to discuss your eligibility for the course please contact us below.
Can I apply if I haven't completed an Undergraduate Degree or Equivalent Professional Qualification?
Yes, if you have significant professional experience you are still eligible to apply for the Masters. As part of the application process you will be required to complete a sample assignment to a pass standard. A member of the teaching team will provide the details of the assignment and coach you through the writing process.
How much does the MA cost?
The fee to study for the Masters in Internal Communication Management is £7350 + VAT.
If you're not already a member of the IoIC you will receive free student membership for the duration of your studies, as well as access to the Solent University online library where they can access all required texts and resources.
The cost of the programme includes workshops, follow-up sessions, access to Solent University’s online library and virtual learning environment, ongoing support from the course team, supervision of management reports, one year of IoIC membership and graduation at Solent University (there will be some additional costs for graduation gowns and additional tickets to the graduation ceremony).
Are there payment plans available to spread the cost?
We are able to offer flexible interest-free payment plans to spread the cost across the duration of your studies.
If your employer is willing to sponsor your place on the programme, payment can be made in full or spread over two financial years. Our professional development team can support you in outlining the benefits of gaining the Masters to your organisation if required.
If you are self or part funding, we are happy to work with you and devise a payment plan (subject to agreement in writing and terms and conditions), allowing students to pay for their place on the course in regular or monthly instalments.
If you have any questions about the programme fees or would like to speak about the most suitable option for you, please contact us on [email protected].
How is the course delivered?
The course includes four highly interactive two-day workshops, virtual follow-up sessions, guest speakers, online discussion with the course team and fellow students, and ongoing engagement and collaborative learning opportunities.
The course will be hosted on Solent's online learning system where you will find materials, reading and reference lists, assessment briefs and learning support. The course strongly encourages the development of a learning community with your fellow students, including peer-review and discussion boards.
How will I be assessed?
Assessment is via coursework rather than exams, and includes assignments, a management report, and assessment of on-line discussion of key topics. All assessments focus on current workplace issues and are designed to support you in your role.
I'm an international student, can I study remotely?
Yes, although the course includes in-person workshops hybrid arrangements will be in place so students can study the course fully remotely if they are not able to travel.
I'm an international student, am I eligible for a student visa?
No, the course is part time, designed for working professionals and can be studied remotely therefore the students are not eligible for student visas.
How do I apply?
The application process includes an application form, an interview with the Course Director or a member of the course team, the submission of work examples as indicators of achievement, and an online application with Solent University.
You can request an application form here.
Course Schedule 26-27
Notes on the course schedule:
Each module on the programme begins with a highly interactive two-day, in person workshop, with additional online follow-up sessions and sessions delivered by guest speakers. Dates and timings of the online follow-up sessions will be confirmed at the start of the course.
Where students are unable to attend the workshops in-person, for example for international students, a virtual attendance option will be available. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact us on [email protected].
You can view and download the 2026 course schedule below:
Student experience.
