Gain a multi-dimensional perspective on how businesses can address the sustainability challenge
Year of entry: 2025 (September)
Join us online or in person to find out more about postgraduate study at York.
Upcoming eventsWe live in a time of intertwined social and environmental crises. Addressing these crises requires transformative change at all levels of society. What role can corporations and other businesses play in addressing these crises?
Meeting this challenge requires a fresh mindset and a toolkit of professional and research-inspired knowledge and skills. This specialist Masters will equip you with essential theoretical and evidential foundations and help you to develop relevant practical and professional skills from which you can build or accelerate a career in the field of corporate sustainability.
Our unique course draws on the academic expertise and professional experience of the Department of Environment and Geography and School for Business and Society, alongside industry-leading guest speakers working in the corporate sustainability sphere. You will have the opportunity to combine the study of sustainability-driven business models, techniques and tools with legal, ethical, financial, governance, accountability, marketing and organisational aspects.
You'll learn about the challenges of creating and putting sustainability plans into action for both small and large organizations. You'll talk to experts in the field and do various activities on your own or with a group to develop skills that will be useful in future jobs like environmental management, sustainability consulting, think tanks, government work, or research.
Our postgraduate teaching is informed by our research as well as top-level national and international experience in consultancy, industry and professional practice. Our management research includes areas as diverse as the circular economy, sustainability and resilience, ethical marketing, social enterprise, sustainability in supply chains, corporate governance, global business and risk management. Our environmental sustainability research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of environmental change and developing innovative solutions to environmental challenges, ranging from climate change to biodiversity conservation. Our researchers influence policy and advise on high-profile environmental issues.
Corporate sustainability takes its cue from the convergence of environmental management and corporate social responsibility disciplines, examining connections between businesses, society and the natural world as we move from responsibility to resilience and to regeneration.
Through core modules, you'll receive a solid grounding in corporate sustainability principles and practices, alongside an employability-skills focused corporate environmental management training. Financial, marketing and accountability option modules enable you to tailor a degree to your interests.
You'll be trained in research methods and relevant ethical issues, while practising these skills through a variety of team and individual projects. In particular, as an alternative to a University-based dissertation, you can opt for a placement-based dissertation which you can carry out with a suitable organisation of your choice (eg a consultancy, industry or business, governmental body, civil society organisation), enabling you to gain valuable workplace experience while conducting research with a practical focus.
You will study two option modules. Examples can be found below. Some option module combinations may not be possible. The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course.
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
You will complete an 8,000-word dissertation as part of this MSc. This dissertation can either be York based (in the Department of Environment and Geography), or as a placement with an external partner.
For the former, staff in the Department can suggest a range of possible subjects and titles, but you can also devise your own title. For the latter, the dissertation topic will be of relevance to the external partner.
In previous years, partner organisations have included:
For both types of dissertation, you will have a departmental supervisor who will provide guidance and who can comment on drafts of your dissertation. If you are undertaking a placement for your dissertation, you will also be allocated a project supervisor within your placement company.
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
Our staff collaborate with a broad range of private and public organisations including UNEP, DEFRA, Forestry Commission, Natural England, Overseas Development Institute and Willis Global Insurance Broker
Choosing this course was an excellent decision for my professional career. I could gain knowledge of how businesses can boost practices to connect with investors, structure their governance and reach stakeholders. The Corporate Sustainability and International Political Economy and Business modules were essential to get in-depth knowledge and experience in the field. The supervisor's class approaches were necessary to strengthen my soft skills, and they gave me much support throughout the course.
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £11,200 | £27,190 |
Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
Most of your reading will be available from the University library, though you may wish to purchase your own equipment, for example your own copy of core textbooks, your own safety shoes. You will be responsible for the costs associated with your dissertation. These can include printing, binding, telephone calls, travel and accommodation.
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2025/26 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.
We aim to provide a broad range of intellectually rigorous and practically challenging learning activities in a stimulating, supportive and enjoyable environment. Employability skills training is a key element of our programme.
This Masters combines formal lectures, practical workshops, seminars and a variety of group and individual projects. Examples include:
Examples of corporate partners that students on this programme have undertaken their dissertation projects within recent years include: Croda Europe, Lendlease, Arcadis, DS Smith, Proxima, CooperKing Distillery and the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
You will use the University's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to supplement lectures, workshops and other learning activities with additional material. Subject to annual agreement with corporate partners, the programme includes one or more industrial site visits.
As part of our teaching process we have also embedded a range of employability principles, as well as real world solutions and real-world oriented approaches, to help prepare our students for a range of careers after finishing their degree.
The learning activities are constantly under review and development to ensure they remain contemporary and appropriate to programme learning outcomes, and as such they may vary from those listed.
Our state-of-the-art building contains purpose-built labs, lecture theatre and seminar rooms.
You will be based in the Department of Environment and Geography on Campus West. As a joint programme, teaching will also be provided by School for Business and Society in their facilities on Campus West.
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
Assessments provide the opportunity for you to work on tasks with practical relevance as well as practise research skills, critical analysis and structuring an argument. Types of assessment in this course therefore include:
Formative assessment as you study will allow you to receive feedback on your progress and understanding.
This course is suitable if you are aiming for a corporate sustainability related role in the for-profit or not-for-profit sectors. This role is central to industrial and business activities of all kinds, with many employing dedicated specialists, or teams of specialists, or allocating tasks across a range of job functions. The banking, finance and insurance sectors in particular are showing growing leadership on climate-change risks and responsible investment. As such, the range of opportunities for developing a career in this area of practice is growing.
You'll develop a range of transferable skills during the course, including:
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 degree or equivalent in a relevant subject such as Management, Finance, Environmental Science or Geography, although students are drawn to this course from a broad range of academic and professional backgrounds. If you have relevant additional experience, such as work in environmental management, then we will also welcome your application. You'll need a good level of mathematical or statistical ability in order to follow the quantitative and financial modules: you can demonstrate this with, for example, an element of economics, accounting or finance in your degree. |
| International pre-masters programme | Pre-masters from our International Pathway College |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Minimum requirement | |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 459-494, with 426-458 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 61, minimum 55 in each component |
| TOEFL | 87, minimum 21 in each component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all components |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
Get in touch if you have any questions
We offer a range of campus accommodation to suit you and your budget, from economy to premium.
Explore campus and city life and hear what our current students have to say about living here.
Lively, full of culture and beautiful, York is regularly voted one of the best places to live and visit in the UK.
Find out more about York. Chat to staff and students and take the tour, on campus or online.
