Advanced Diploma in Strategic Studies
Course Overview
The Advanced Diploma in Strategic Studies at LSLPE is a UK Level 5 senior-track qualification running 12 to 15 months across on-campus, online and distance routes. The syllabus reads defence, security and grand strategy from a UK vantage point: doctrine from the MOD Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre, NATO strategic concepts, IISS strategic surveys, and the classical strategic literature from Clausewitz to Beaufre and beyond.
By closing terms you will be writing structured threat assessments, drafting a NATO-standard scenario paper, running an IISS-style horizon scan, and completing a supervised applied research report on a chosen strategic question.
Key Features
- UK Level 5 Advanced Diploma with confirmed credit transfer into UK Bachelor top-up routes in politics, international relations or security studies.
- Reading list aligned with British International Studies Association (BISA), IISS strategic surveys and Chatham House-adjacent think-tank outputs.
- Case-room seminars run in the select-committee tradition.
- Applied assignments in threat-assessment, scenario and horizon-scan format.
- Optional strands in defence policy, cyber security, and grand strategy.
- Applied research report supervised by tutors with defence or foreign-policy backgrounds.
What You Will Learn
- Read UK Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper materials.
- Interpret NATO strategic concepts and alliance politics.
- Apply classical strategic theory to contemporary conflict.
- Draft a threat assessment in an intelligence-brief format.
- Design and run an IISS-style scenario workshop.
- Analyse cyber and hybrid threats in policy terms.
- Complete an applied research report at Level 5 standard.
- Present orally to a defence-audience seminar setting.
Who This Course Is For
- Working defence staff and intelligence analysts.
- Diploma progressors preparing for a UK Bachelor's in strategic studies.
- Foreign-affairs journalists and NGO staff moving into policy analysis.
- Career-changers from law, economics or teaching into defence research.
- International applicants preparing for senior defence or diplomatic roles.
Career Pathways
- Strategic Intelligence Analyst
- Defence Policy Analyst
- Foreign Policy Adviser
- Political Analyst
- International Affairs Officer
- Global Affairs Analyst
The LSLPE careers service links Advanced Diploma in Strategic Studies finalists with defence-adjacent think tanks, IISS-aligned research houses, Whitehall analytical services and NATO-facing NGO programmes.
Entry Requirements
- A relevant Diploma (Level 4), Foundation Year, or at least two years of relevant professional experience in defence, security, foreign affairs or public policy.
- GCSE English at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C or equivalent.
- IELTS 6.0 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers.
- One academic or professional reference.
- Applicants with policy-brief, threat-assessment or research portfolios are encouraged to include them.
Why Study at LSLPE
LSLPE reads strategic studies inside a school where the legal, political and economic constraints on defence choices are examined together. The Advanced Diploma sits in small tutor-visible cohorts drawn from defence, think-tank and academic backgrounds.
Central London puts IISS, Chatham House, the MOD-adjacent research houses and NATO-focused NGO offices within a short tube ride of every classroom. Three parallel study modes let working defence staff continue in employment while they complete the programme, and the careers service refreshes curriculum alignment annually against BISA guidance.
Apply for Advanced Diploma in Strategic Studies
Places are offered across three intake windows. Enrol on a UK Level 5 Advanced Diploma at LSLPE, credit transfer into Bachelor top-ups confirmed in writing at enrolment. Enrol Now.
