Learn with Stephen Jenner
Study with the author behind Managing Portfolios and Managing Benefits, and co-author of Management of Portfolios.
Meet your tutorAPMG Managing Portfolios Professional
Managing Portfolios course.
Learn with the author.
Make better choices about what to start, prioritise and stop. Learn directly with Stephen Jenner and turn your organisation’s strategy into a portfolio that delivers value.
Your three-day block course includes the two-hour Managing Portfolios Professional exam. £2,000 covers expert teaching, the examination and original course materials.
Block course · exam included3 days in total
Course, exam & original materials£2,000
With 50% IPC fundingYou pay £1,000
Eligible apprenticeship routeFully funded
Managing Portfolios ProfessionalOne examination · two hours · included in your three-day course
Explore the qualification Four reasons to choose KBC
Expert teaching.
A wider learning experience.
Exam and materials included
The £2,000 fee includes your Managing Portfolios Professional examination and original course materials. One complete course package.
Explore the qualificationLondon Masterclass events
Meet expert speakers and fellow professionals, exchange ideas and build connections across the KBC community.
London Masterclass eventsRochester Cathedral graduation
Celebrate your achievement in Kent’s historic Rochester Cathedral, with ceremony arrangements confirmed for eligible graduates.
Celebrate your progressMeet your teacher
Stephen Jenner.
Insight from the source.
Learn why the guidance works, and how to use it when priorities, resources and expectations compete.
Stephen is the author of Managing Benefits and Managing Portfolios: Optimizing Strategic Contribution, and co-author of Management of Portfolios. He is Chief Examiner for APMG’s Managing Benefits and Managing Portfolios certifications.
His teaching draws on senior UK Civil Service experience, including leadership of Criminal Justice IT, alongside international training and consultancy. Bring your portfolio challenges to the discussion and connect the principles with decisions at work.
Hear Stephen’s interview with APMG
Explore Stephen Jenner’s biography and books. Also explore Managing Benefits with Stephen Jenner.
Watch Stephen in conversation
Meet the author of Managing Portfolios
A KBC discussion on strategic alignment, prioritisation and making the most of limited resources.
Watch the full conversation on YouTubeMake better portfolio decisions
What you’ll learn
in Managing Portfolios.
Every sponsor calls their initiative essential, several teams depend on the same specialists, and the annual plan assumes everything can start immediately. You need to create a defensible recommendation that recognises strategic value, delivery capacity and uncertainty, then show how the portfolio should respond when priorities or evidence change.
Who is this course for?
Portfolio managers, PMO leaders and analysts, sponsors, senior managers and strategic planners. It also supports programme and project managers who want to understand how their work contributes to wider priorities.
- Connect portfolio choices to strategic objectives.
- Compare initiatives using clear, challengeable criteria.
- Balance resources, risks and expected benefits.
- Build governance that supports timely decisions.
Your learning journey
01Clarify what the portfolio exists to achieve
Explore the relationship between organisational purpose, strategic objectives and the collection of initiatives selected to pursue them. KBC’s proposed case starts with an ambitious strategy and an inconsistent project list. You will decide which outcomes need clearer definition, identify assumptions hidden in the investment story and explain the boundary between portfolio decisions and the delivery responsibilities of individual programmes and projects.
Apply it at work: Draft a portfolio purpose statement and strategic-contribution map.
02Compare opportunities and make priorities explicit
Consider how selection criteria, evidence quality and investment drivers affect a proposal’s attractiveness. In a board simulation, a growth proposal competes with a necessary service improvement. You will test the criteria, compare financial and non-financial reasoning and challenge uncertain forecasts. The exercise develops a recommendation that makes both expected contribution and achievability visible to the decision-makers.
Apply it at work: Create a prioritisation approach and a short investment recommendation.
03Balance the portfolio against real capacity
Translate initiative demand into a conversation about people, skills, funding and timing. The proposed scenario has several individually affordable projects that cannot all use the same team simultaneously. You will explore sequencing, capability gaps and the consequences of adding another priority. The focus is on presenting choices to decision-makers, including the work that must move when a new commitment is accepted.
Apply it at work: Produce a capacity view and two alternative portfolio sequences.
04Make governance useful to delivery
Examine decision rights, governance bodies, portfolio roles and the information they need. KBC’s case asks you to redesign a meeting that gathers updates but rarely decides anything. You will distinguish investment authority from delivery oversight, specify the evidence required and clarify escalation. The proposed arrangements should reflect the organisation’s scale while making accountability understandable to those delivering the work.
Apply it at work: Design a decision calendar, escalation route and concise board pack.
05Review value, risk and the case for continuing
Consider how to respond when benefits, strategic priorities or risks change. The final simulation presents an initiative whose expected contribution has weakened. You will compare continuing, modifying and stopping it, then explain the recommendation. A closing review asks which portfolio practice should improve next and how leadership, stakeholder involvement and meaningful measures can sustain that improvement.
Apply it at work: Prepare a portfolio review and a justified continuation decision.
Guided reading and practical exercises support the live teaching. Your learning plan sets out preparation and assessment work for your chosen route.
Choose a format that fits
Three-day block course.
Or weekly online study.
3 days in total
Focused learning with Stephen Jenner, online or face to face. The three-day course includes teaching, preparation and your two-hour Managing Portfolios Professional exam.
Your exam takes place within the three-day course. Your course plan confirms the daily timetable, any advance reading and examination arrangements.
4 months
Join 14 interactive two-hour classes and one reading week, with time to practise between sessions and bring questions back to your tutor.
Module starts run in October, February and June. An optional full-day London masterclass brings the learning community together.
Learn around your work
Discuss weekend scheduling for the three-day course or face-to-face teaching in London, Maidstone, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or Liverpool.
Access class recordings, learning resources and free one-to-one tutoring and coaching support. The team confirms availability and your timetable.
Your London Masterclass experience
Meet the people.
Take the ideas further.
Step beyond the online classroom to meet tutors, expert speakers and fellow professionals at KBC’s London Masterclass events. Discuss real challenges, exchange perspectives and build your professional network.
Our October 2026 event at The Cumberland brought the community together for practical learning, discussion and recognition. Stephen explored the challenges of realising benefits and making value visible.
The team confirms your event place, dates and any travel arrangements with your course offer.
A taste of the London Masterclass
Watch this two-minute insight into value, benefits and better decisions.
Watch on YouTubeA milestone worth celebrating
Graduation at
Rochester Cathedral.
Celebrate your achievement with the KBC community in the historic surroundings of Rochester Cathedral in Kent.
KBC covers the graduation ceremony for eligible graduating learners. Your programme team will confirm eligibility, the ceremony date and attendance arrangements.
Discover the KBC graduation experienceProfessional recognition
Managing Portfolios Professional.
Exam and materials included.
The course prepares you for APMG Managing Portfolios Professional. The £2,000 fee includes your course teaching, the two-hour Professional examination and original course materials.
Apply the ideas through portfolio recommendations, governance exercises and decision scenarios. Your tutor will explain preparation and booking arrangements; the qualification is awarded on successfully passing the examination.
Explore the official APMG qualification
Original course materials included
The official guide.
Direct from its author.
Managing Portfolios: Optimizing Strategic Contribution
Steve Jenner with Craig Kilford
Connect the official guidance with practical exercises, discussion and Stephen’s experience.
Explore the official guideManaging Portfolios Professional
One professional exam. Your qualification and badge are awarded after successfully passing.
Managing Portfolios Professional is a distinct qualification from Management of Portfolios (MoP).
Your investment
Course fees and funding.
Support to make it possible.
The course costs £2,000, including the examination and original course materials. Choose the route that matches your circumstances.
£2,000
Course, exam & original materials
Book the course directly for yourself or through your employer. Choose your teaching format and build practical portfolio capability with Stephen Jenner.
Discuss your bookingYou pay £1,000
IPC contributes £1,000 of the £2,000 fee
The Institute of Project Controls (IPC) Fund covers 50% for learners who are not eligible for apprenticeship levy funding. The examination and original course materials remain included.
- Living outside England and not eligible for the English funding route.
- Unable to secure the required off-the-job study time.
- Self-employed and unable to access apprenticeship funding.
Fully funded
As part of your agreed apprenticeship
This course can be fully funded through an eligible KBC apprenticeship. It is included within the wider programme and its agreed learning plan.
KBC confirms employment and funding eligibility, employer arrangements and protected off-the-job learning time. Living outside England does not, by itself, determine eligibility.
Project Controls Professional Level 6 apprenticeshipKBC will confirm your funding route and written offer before enrolment. Apprenticeship funding applies to the eligible wider programme; it is not a standalone three-day apprenticeship. Read about KBC funding support.
Before you join
Your questions, answered.
Does the three-day block course include the exam?
Yes. The full block course lasts three days, including the two-hour Managing Portfolios Professional exam. It is one professional examination. Your timetable sets out the teaching and exam sessions, with any advance reading confirmed before the course.
What does the £2,000 course fee include?
Your course teaching, the Managing Portfolios Professional examination and original course materials are all included. With 50% IPC support, your contribution is £1,000 for the same package.
Can I use the IPC Fund if I am self-employed or outside England?
Yes. IPC provides 50% support for learners who are not eligible for apprenticeship levy funding, including self-employed learners, learners outside England who do not meet the funding requirements, and those unable to secure the required off-the-job study time. KBC will confirm the appropriate route with you.
Can this course be fully funded through an apprenticeship?
Yes, when included in your agreed learning plan within an eligible KBC apprenticeship. The wider programme’s eligibility, employment and off-the-job training requirements still apply. The team will check the funding arrangements with you and your employer.
How do the London Masterclass and graduation work?
London Masterclass events offer an opportunity to meet expert speakers and the KBC community. Eligible graduating learners can celebrate at Rochester Cathedral in Kent. KBC confirms event places, ceremony eligibility, dates and attendance arrangements with your course or programme offer.
Is this about financial investment portfolios?
The course focuses on portfolios of projects, programmes and organisational change: selecting the right initiatives, allocating capacity and delivering strategic value.
Your next step
Learn with Stephen.
Build a stronger portfolio.
Discuss your goals, choose your delivery format and find out whether full apprenticeship funding or 50% IPC support is right for you.