Education, training and coaching for communication professionals

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Public Affairs and Political Communication Diploma

The CIPR Public Affairs and Political Communication Diploma is a specialist qualification of approximately six months taught at Masters Level. It can fast track you to CIPR Accredited Practitioner status.

The qualification is aimed at practitioners who want to develop their strategic public affairs and management skills with the aim of taking on more senior roles.

It is the only diploma level qualification for public affairs awarded by a Chartered Institute.   A valuable qualification in its own right, it also can be used to substitute part of the CIPR Diploma in public relations.

What sets this qualification apart from other courses on the market is that it focuses less on the mechanics of how various institutions work, but more on the process of policy formation and the wider corporate communications and reputational context in which public affairs operates.

The diploma is firmly rooted in practice – with senior PA practitioners involved in its development – and is also grounded in the latest academic thinking.

If you would like to learn more, you can check out the recording of a webinar we ran about the course here.

Syllabus

You will focus on topics including:

  • Module 1 – The political landscape, trends and challenges
  • Module 2 – The art and science of lobbying and campaigning
  • Module 3 – Public Affairs in the context of reputation management
  • Module 4 – Research project

The Public Affairs Diploma is right for you if …

  • You are an experienced public affairs, communication or PR professional looking to gain a specialist qualification to underpin your skills with theory and analysis
  • You want to gain new skills or improve existing skills by learning about the strategic role of public affairs
  • You wish to establish yourself as a public affairs practitioner

What it costs and what you get

If you are already a CIPR member, you will pay £995 (plus VAT) for the course to the PR Academy and £320 (VAT zero rated) to the CIPR.

Alumni offer: PR Academy Alumni members who book before the 6th January with receive a 5% discount off their tuition fees.

You can also pay in instalments for a small admin fee, contact us for details.

What’s included in the tuition fees?

20 hours face to face teaching time. Experienced tutors will guide you through each of the modules with practical exercises and group discussion.
There are the following  essential readers provided for this course (though this may be subject to slight change as new titles are due onto the market):

  • Zetter, L (2008) Lobbying, The Art of Political Persuasion, Petersfield, Harriman House
  • Stanyer, J (2008), Modern Political Communication, Polity Press
  • Saunders, M, Thornhill, A and Lewis, P, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd
    And Exploring Public Relations by Tench and Yeoman

Other things to know

In addition to taught sessions, you should expect to spend approximately eight hours per week on independent study, including reading, time required to complete activities for lectures and time for completion of the project report.

Assessment is through completion of a 6000 word research project report, based on an investigation into public affairs at a specific organization.

Course dates

Winter 2012

Venue: The Hatton, Etc Venues, 51-53 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8HN

Dates: 4 February 2012, 25 February 2012, 24 March 2012, 21 April 2012 and tutorial on 12 May 2012

Assignment deadline: 3 August 2012

How do I enrol?

Firstly, check you meet the enrolment criteria, you should hold one of the folllowing:

  • The CIPR Advanced Certificate
  • The CIPR Diploma
  • A post-graduate professional qualification in a related discipline (e.g. CIM Diploma), plus one year’s relevant full-time employment (or equivalent part-time employment) in public relations/public affairs
  • Degree in business/marketing/management/communication studies, plus one year’s relevant full-time employment in PR/public affairs
  • Any other UK degree plus two years’ relevant full-time employment in PR/public affairs
  • Two years’ relevant full-time employment in public relations/public affairs, and the CAM Advanced Diploma in Marketing Communication

Plus: those whose first language is not English must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the language – spoken and written – to an International Language Testing System (IELTS) band score of 7.0 or above, or equivalent.

To apply, complete the application form on the CIPR website www.cipr.co.uk