Weekly online
Each four-month module includes 14 interactive two-hour classes and one reading week, following an optional full-day London masterclass. Read selected material, practise between sessions and bring your questions back to the group.
Professional learning · Project Controls & Management
Managing Successful Programmes.
Lead the change that makes project outputs worthwhile.
A programme succeeds when new capabilities are adopted and their intended benefits become real. Managing Successful Programmes develops the perspective needed to coordinate that change across projects, operations and stakeholders. Grounded in the official MSP 5th Edition manual, the course connects principles, governance themes and the programme lifecycle. You examine vision, the target operating model, business justification, progressive delivery, benefits, knowledge, assurance and decisions. Cases ask you to keep direction clear while responding to new information, helping you move beyond coordinating project milestones towards managing the organisational conditions that make change sustainable.
Weekly route4 months
Live online2 hours a week
Module startsOctober · February · June
Learning structure1 module
The professional challenge
Make the next decision with more confidence.
Several projects are delivering on time, but operational teams are not ready and the promised benefit is slipping. The course helps you connect capability delivery with adoption, ownership and measures of success, while maintaining a justified programme that can respond to changing priorities and evidence.
Who will benefit
For programme managers, senior project managers, business change managers, benefits managers, PMO professionals and sponsors who work across several interdependent initiatives. It suits professionals moving from individual project delivery into wider responsibility for outcomes, transition and organisational change.
What you take back to work
Practical capability, built through learning.
- Connect a programme’s vision, target operating model and benefits with strategic priorities.
- Design proportionate governance, stakeholder and assurance arrangements across projects and operational change.
- Plan progressive delivery and transition so new capabilities can be adopted and benefits reviewed.
- Apply MSP 5 principles, themes and processes to cases and prepare for the agreed Foundation or Practitioner route.
Inside the course
A connected learning journey.
A 14-session module can combine an introduction and principles with the seven themes, the lifecycle, application workshops and examination preparation. The grouped blocks above follow verified MSP 5 content, with benefits and transition revisited across the case. Foundation knowledge and Practitioner application should be distinguished in activities and the confirmed course offer.
01Programme purpose and guiding principles
Examine why a programme is needed and how it differs from a collection of related projects. Use MSP’s principles to consider purpose, collaboration, ambiguity, priorities, skills, measurable benefits and delivery pace. Discuss the organisational environment and the need to preserve direction while adapting. Apply these considerations to a change initiative with competing interests and uncertain information.
Apply it at work: Write a programme purpose and vision brief that connects investment with a desired organisational outcome.
02Organisation, stakeholders and governance
Explore the Organisation theme and the relationships between sponsorship, programme management, business change and constituent projects. Consider authority, risk appetite and governance support, then examine stakeholder networks and engagement needs. Tailor responsibilities and communication to the programme’s context, recognising that business adoption requires the involvement of people whose work will change, not only those building the new capability.
Apply it at work: Develop a programme organisation and stakeholder engagement model with clear decision and transition responsibilities.
03Designing outcomes and justifying investment
Connect the Design and Justification themes through vision, benefits, a target operating model and the business case. Examine the differences between outputs, capabilities, outcomes and benefits, including the dependencies needed for value to emerge. Consider funding, costs, uncertainty and continuing viability. Revisit the programme’s case when assumptions change instead of treating approval as a permanent endorsement.
Apply it at work: Create a benefits map and challenge the assumptions linking a proposed capability to measurable benefit.
04Structure and progressive delivery
Use the Structure theme to plan delivery in manageable steps. Consider tranches, landing points, dependencies, resources and different delivery approaches within the same programme. Align the delivery plan with the benefits-realisation plan so operational readiness and adoption receive attention alongside project outputs. Explore the pace at which the organisation can absorb change without undermining the intended outcome.
Apply it at work: Prepare a high-level progressive delivery plan with dependencies, transition points and benefit reviews.
05Knowledge, assurance and decisions
Examine how learning, reliable information and proportionate assurance support governance. Explore the Knowledge, Assurance and Decisions themes as connected practices rather than separate reporting obligations. Consider the evidence needed to resolve issues, respond to risk and compare options. Practise communicating uncertainty and recommendations to a programme board, including situations where new information challenges the original direction.
Apply it at work: Design an assurance and decision approach, then present an options paper for a programme change.
06Embedding outcomes and applying the lifecycle
Bring the seven MSP processes together, from identifying the programme through designing outcomes, planning, delivering capabilities, embedding change, evaluating new information and closure. Use a case to examine the hand-offs and feedback between them. Review Foundation concepts or Practitioner application at the level agreed for the course, with emphasis on tailoring and explaining why an action fits the programme.
Apply it at work: Produce a transition and closure outline and complete an integrated MSP case review.
Learn around your working life
Time to understand. Space to apply.
Online or in a city near you
Face-to-face delivery can be arranged in London, Maidstone, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool. Your course offer confirms the venue and teaching dates.
A London masterclass to start your module
Meet your tutors and fellow professionals at an optional full-day London event. KBC covers the event, agreed transportation, refreshments and an open buffet dinner. Confirm arrangements with the team before booking travel.
Support between sessions
Return to class recordings and learning resources, bring questions to your tutor and use free one-to-one tutoring and coaching support. Your course plan sets out the guided reading and practice needed alongside live teaching.
Your route to recognition
Know what the assessment involves.
MSP Foundation is a 60-question, 60-minute closed-book examination with a 60% pass mark. Practitioner uses 58 questions with sub-questions worth 70 marks, lasts 150 minutes, is open book and also requires 60%. PeopleCert currently lists MSP 5 Foundation or MSP 4 Practitioner as the prerequisite for Practitioner. The KBC offer should identify which examination level and support are included. Class cases and practice questions develop readiness; PeopleCert awards certification following its external assessment requirements.
Your written offer records the award or course completion requirements, any examination fees included, and the relevant eligibility checks.
The professional knowledge behind the course
Explore the books and standards.
The learning themes above bring together the relevant guide, syllabus and workplace practice. KBC’s teaching sequence connects these ideas through discussion and application.
- Managing Successful Programmes ↗AXELOS / The Stationery Office; certification administered by PeopleCert · Fifth Edition,2020
Original manual read: principles; seven themes—Organisation, Design, Justification, Structure, Knowledge, Assurance, Decisions; seven lifecycle processes.
- MSP Foundation,5th Edition ↗PeopleCert · Verified 10 September 2026
Foundation scope and exam:60 questions,60 minutes, closed book,60% pass.
- MSP Practitioner,5th Edition ↗PeopleCert · Verified 10 September 2026
Application level; prerequisite; exam 58 questions with subquestions/70 marks,150 minutes, open book,60% pass.
Your investment
Get a course offer that fits your route.
Request the standalone fee for your chosen format, including the teaching, reading materials, assessment and membership arrangements relevant to this course.
Exploring the full PCP apprenticeship?
£27,000 apprenticeship funding + £7,000 additional IPC support. The IPC package covers professional examinations, memberships, graduation, Benenden Health membership, London masterclasses and agreed transport.
These figures relate to the complete Project Controls Professional apprenticeship. Standalone course fees are separate. The team confirms eligibility, any employer contribution and the contents of your written offer.
Explore the PCP pathway →Your questions, answered.
How does programme management differ from project management?
A programme coordinates projects and other work to create organisational outcomes and benefits. It therefore needs explicit attention to business change, adoption, interdependencies and continuing investment justification.
Does this include Foundation and Practitioner?
The course offer must confirm the level or combination included. The examinations assess different depths, and Practitioner has a prerequisite. The course page should not imply two exam vouchers without that confirmation.
Why might I see PRINCE2 Programme Management alongside MSP?
PeopleCert now places MSP within its PRINCE2 programme-management family. The official learning and assessment references used here remain MSP 5th Edition, as identified in the course offer.
What would this help you achieve?
Talk to KBC about your experience, your goals and the right learning route for you.