Sean Sapsford

Both the qualification and the student journey have significantly benefited my personal and professional development.

Personally, the course allowed me to meet other students from across the private and public sector; expand my understanding of business administration; and develop my own approach to problems and how to resolve them. 

Professionally, the research I conducted directly related to how I manage my staff, understand their motivations, and how the needs of the task at hand and objectives of the organisation impact them. Alongside this, the award of the MBA is professional recognition of my experience, the work I have put into the course and my career, and the value I can bring to both the military and any future employer.

I feel I have an academic qualification that I didn’t think was attainable because of my workload and family commitments.  Personally, I am extremely grateful to have met fellow students (virtually) and learnt from their different views and approaches.

Originally, I thought that the biggest challenge would either be later entry to the qualification or the ability to meet the demands of the course around my current job. 

Whilst ARU recognised my professional experience and accredited previous military courses towards the first part of the MBA, the later entry to the qualification was seen as a potential challenge as I assumed that military experience couldn’t substitute academic study; and more so that I would have a steep learning curve early on. 

This was quickly proven a wrong assumption by clear course content, supportive staff and regular engagement with my student peers; weekly notifications and student guidance provided easy to digest signposting ahead of any course deadline.  The concern around my ability to commit to the course was also soon dispelled, with a clear study plan, buy-in from my line management and flexibility from the course staff on internal deadlines. 

I actually found determining what I wanted to focus my research on the greatest challenge; that said, it wasn’t a huge challenge, my tutor helped me work through my ideas, identify something that met both my personal and professional objectives, and approach the research in a way that was both manageable and achievable.

The approach I took, support I received and research I conducted through the MBA (Armed Forces) is both directly and indirectly used in my daily life. Whether it’s a different perspective from a fellow student; course content that relates to a problem I’m facing at work; or simply the understanding of employee motivation and the organisational benefits that come from non-financial reward (my project focus) when managing my staff, I see huge benefit from the course in my routine work.

Speak to the Distance Learning Consultants as soon as possible and let them help you reach out to former students. It wasn’t until I enrolled that I saw how many current service personnel have studied the MBA with ARU and their experience was very similar to mine.

The tutors and support staff provide you with manageable bursts of course content and access to wider reading which is more than achievable around current workload and family life. 

I was deployed for 6 months during my MBA and have a young family, but it was manageable as I kept in touch with my tutor and peers weekly; communicated significant submission deadlines with my line manager; and where I missed some of the course learning, I got help from my fellow students, collecting key takeaways from them and working back to gain the understanding and context I had missed.

ARU have been excellent, accommodating and understanding.  Everyone from the initial distance learning consultant, through to the academic tutors and support staff have been fantastic and made the experience worthwhile.

One of my concerns was my lack of experience with academic apps and the online learning system, however they proved easy to use.  The course content was broken down clearly and access to online content through the university library was outstanding. 

I spent the majority of my MBA deployed to Eastern Europe with NATO and the resources remained easy to use and my studies were unaffected.

The MBA has been a brilliant experience that has allowed me to gain a widely recognised qualification, whilst developing myself both personally and professionally. Supportive staff, engaging course content, ELCAS part-funded and an experience that has added considerable value to my role as a manager.

The MBA stands out as something a bit different, and my experience has been tailored to my personal interests and my trade.