Executive Masters in Public Policy (EMPP)

This Direct Award is to the London School of Economics for the delivery of the 2026-28 Cohort of the Executive Masters in Public Policy, and the final month of delivery for the 25-27 cohort. Designed in conjunction with the UK Civil Service the Executive Masters in Public Policy is an expert level course designed to equip senior policy makers with the skills and knowledge required to become excellent policy makers.

This direct award aims to provide learners continuity of service and provision, ensuring that there is no break in our ability to deliver expert level accredited learning whilst we undertake a full procurement. This will cover the final month of delivery of the 25-27 cohort, which falls outside of our current contract, and the delivery of a full Cohort starting in September 2026-28. If this Direct Award were not to proceed, the full delivery of the 2025-27 cohort would be in jeopardy. Proceeding via a direct award is the favourable option in comparison to other available contracting vehicles, as it represents a significant saving on the per-student cost in comparison to the per-student cost for the 2025-27 cohort.

The Direct Award will also allow us to undertake a full procurement exercise for delivery of Accredited Learning from September 2027, allowing us to test the requirements of the policy profession against the wider higher education market.