The BPIF’s Level 5 programme started in April 2013 and the current intake of students will graduate on 2 July.

The BPIF will help its Level 5 graduates to get a place on, and source funding for, the MSc management business course, which will be taught by private education provider Management Development Centre (MDC) and awarded by the University of South Wales.

The fast-track course can be completed in as little as one year.

BPIF programme director Ursula Daly said: “The feedback from our learners completing the graduate management programme this July has been tremendous.

“There is a real desire among them to continue learning and the MSc management allows them to build on their Level 5 achievements and achieve a Masters level qualification very quickly.”

BPIF marketing director Amy Hutchinson added: “We don’t want the journey for learners on our Level 5 programme to finish at the end of that and we hope that the programme has inspired them to continue learning.

“We see these learners as the leaders of the future so we’re trying to equip them with as much as possible.”

For graduates of the Level 5 programme, and other qualifying employees within the print industry, the MSc management course will be taught over two intensive residential weekends, when students will study a management theories and philosophies module followed by a research methods module.

They will complete an assignment after each weekend, and a dissertation. The BPIF said this intensive learning method enables students to remain in their jobs with minimal disruption.

The course costs £5,750 but the BPIF said many previous students have secured sponsorship from the company they work for because of the benefits of the degree and the course.

For example, the dissertation could be a large-scale research project, which the company would otherwise have to commission externally.

The next MSc management programme starts on 10 October. For more information, contact amy.hutchinson@bpif.org.uk.