Overview
From international sporting events and concerts to world-class retail and transport hubs, mass gatherings are increasing in scale and complexity. In the current global environment the challenges of keeping people safe are greater than ever.
Why Coventry University?
An award-winning university, we are committed to providing our students with the best possible experience. We continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach to education. Our students benefit from industry-relevant teaching, and resources and support designed to help them succeed. These range from our modern library and computing facilities to dedicated careers advice and our impressive Students’ Union activities.
To ensure an optimised and continual student experience, the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via emerging online technologies and methods across all courses. For courses due to start in September 2020, in light of Covid-19, we are currently preparing for courses to be delivered in a variety of forms, subject to Government and Public Health guidance. Whether on campus or online, our key priority will be staff and student safety.
Global ready
An international outlook, with global opportunitiesEmployability
Career-ready graduates, with the skills to succeedStudent experience
All the support you need, in a top student cityCourse information
This course aims to provide you with the academic underpinning to analyse the features that make for best-practice planning, policy and process, so that you can go on to devise effective crowded places arrangements of your own.
The programme covers important legal and socio-political frameworks within crowd safety and emergency management, as well as investigating emerging technological solutions, and the contemporary safety and threat environments that impact on the sector.
The course also aims to provide an understanding of the issues that underlie many of the concerns faced by crowd safety management practitioners, such as multi-agency cooperation and coordination and business continuity. In particular, you will examine how these issues may be addressed in practice, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of integrated emergency management and organisational resilience.
You will also be required to carry out an independent piece of research which seeks to develop skills in personal organisation, research and critical thinking, as well as advancing your knowledge in the subject area.
Course Specification
Download PDF
Modules
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.
In more detail...
- Crowds and crowded places are an increasing fact of everyday life: from special events such as international sports and music festivals, to routine retail environments and transport hubs. Such is the complexity of these crowded places that to plan for them effectively requires specific understanding of the related internal and external threats that have the potential for catastrophic impact.
- Designed with this need in mind, this specialist master’s course aims to support the development of the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to deliver more effective crowd safety management planning for risks and threats, all based on evolving best practice. It will provide you with a chance to develop a deeper understanding of the underlying issues and problems faced in the crowd safety, public safety and security management environment beyond simple crowd dynamics approaches.
- Designed for practitioners and those in associated roles in the crowd safety field, this course aims to enable crowd managers to develop the skills and expertise to work in a range of organisations with crowded places planning and response duties, such as security management, event management, the uniformed services, local authorities, public sector agencies, transport hubs and retail management, as well as private sector companies.
- Course content is broad-based to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the subject. For example, as well as being taught current and evolving techniques and tactics used to prevent, plan, prepare or respond to crowded places emergencies, we will also cover and critically appraise relevant technical data and information, best practice in emergency planning and crisis management.
- Students will have the chance to learn about behavioural theory and leadership at an organisational and individual level, providing an opportunity to develop a wide range of interpersonal skills to help develop and execute appropriate training initiatives and coordinate the work of broad-ranging teams.
- Over 20 years ago, Coventry was one of the first UK universities to offer courses in the areas of emergency planning – once again the institution is leading the sector through courses such as this which fulfil the needs of those with responsibility for crowded places. Our goal is to work with current and future practitioners to improve the effectiveness of crowd safety management globally.
- Members of our teaching team have practical experience and have carried out employment, consultancy and research in crowd safety management and allied professions. This includes emergency planning for managing mass gathering events, risk mapping, the preparation of response frameworks for mass evacuation, and the design and running of simulated emergency exercises.
- We aim to draw from our own experience, as well as real-life case studies, to help you link the theories of crowded places and public safety management that you learn, to their application within actual local, national and international contexts.
- Opportunity to experience Coventry University’s Crisis Simulation Centre.
- Our Simulation Centre is a beacon standard for advanced training of professionals from a wide range of emergency responders.
- With a Learning Curve, interactive screen and real-life scenarios, this training can not only help to improve skills, but can also help to develop new ways of working.
Crowded places, crowd dynamics, complexity analysis, command and control, interoperability, leadership, safety, security, risk management, emergency planning, emergency response, crisis management, organisational resilience, business continuity, research, communication, stress management.
- The programme can be studied full-time over one year or part-time over two-three years for UK/EU students. You can start in September, January or May.
- Modules are offered in the form of five-day 'intensive' blocks of teaching and learning, which is ideal if you are already working within the profession, live some distance from Coventry, or both.
- Taught sessions take the form of lectures, workshops, discussions supported by guided reading material and guest speaker events.
- Students can access all necessary learning materials and library resources remotely.
- Please note that if you are an international ‘Tier 4’ student, you will be required to take the course on a full-time basis and must, in addition to the one week of ‘face-to-face’ teaching, receive some additional events to fulfil UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requirements. For more information, visit our page on Tier 4 compliance.
- In addition, your dissertation tutor will assist you in developing your study and research skills. Our Simulation Centre is a beacon standard for advanced training of professionals from a wide range of emergency responders. With a Learning Curve, interactive screen and real-life scenarios using specially-trained actors, this training can not only improve skills, but can also help to develop new ways of working.
Assessment for all modules is by 100% coursework.
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes.
On successful completion, you will have:
- A comprehensive evaluation of risk, its components and influencing factors, approaches to assessment, prioritisation and role in planning and managing crowded places.
- An in-depth knowledge of policy and approaches for mitigating, preparing for and managing crowded places for the private sector, responding agencies and organisations and other affected stakeholders.
- A thorough comprehension of approaches to assessing complexity and interaction, and developing, monitoring and evaluating processes, systems and organisations within the sector from known and emergent threats in a sustainable way.
- A detailed analysis of multi-stakeholder engagement, communication, co-operation and governance in all aspects of policy and strategy, implementation and management at all scales.
- An ability to manage information, evaluate uncertainty, ambiguity and complexity in knowledge, method and management, and make appropriate and defensible decisions.
- A critical awareness of issues and challenges at the forefront of research and practice in crowded places and public safety.
- An ability to evaluate and use appropriate methods of enquiry and analysis, and progress good practice in the discipline over the course of their career.
- The skills demanded to research, evaluate high level material in order to produce an independent working paper that meets ethical requirements of the university, synthesises both academic and sector perspectives and presents findings and recommendations in a professional way.
Taught modules on the MSc course will be delivered in a block teaching style (meaning that all teaching for the module will be consolidated into a condensed number of weeks). A 15-credit module will typically have about 30 hours of contact time associated with it. This will include a combination of, but may not be limited to, lectures, small-group sessions, laboratory sessions and support sessions.
In addition, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study each week, depending on the demands of individual modules.
International case studies are used throughout the course.
Global ready
Did you know we help more students travel internationally than any other UK university according to data from the experts in higher education data and analysis, HESA?
In 2016/17, we were able to provide a total of 3,482 student experiences abroad that lasted at least five.
Much of this travel is made possible through our Global Leaders Programme, which enables students to prepare for the challenges of the global employment market, as well as strengthening and developing their broader personal and professional skills.
Explore our international experiences1st for
international experiences
Sending more students overseas than any other UK uni (HESA 2016/17)
3,482
Student experiences
The number of student trips abroad for at least 5 days in 2016/17
21,000
and counting
The number of students we’ve helped travel internationally so far
12
global programmes
As well as trips, we offer other opportunities like language courses
Entry Requirements
Tuition Fees
We pride ourselves on offering competitive tuition fees which we review on an annual basis and offer a wide range of scholarships to support students with their studies. Course fees are calculated on the basis of what it costs to teach each course and we aim for total financial transparency.
EU student fees
EU nationals starting in the 2020/21 academic year remain eligible for the same fees as home students and the same financial support. Financial support comes from Student Finance England, and covers undergraduate and postgraduate study for the duration of their course, providing they meet the residency requirement.
For tuition fee loans
EU nationals starting in the 2020/21 academic year must have resided in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland for the three years prior to the start of their course. The purpose of that three year residency should not have been mainly for the purpose of receiving full time education.
For maintenance loans
EU nationals starting in the 2020/21 academic year must have resided in the UK and Islands for the five years prior to the start of their course. The purpose of that five year residency should not have been mainly for the purpose of receiving full time education.
Career prospects
Graduate Immigration Route visa
Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.
The increasing recognition of the value of crowded spaces within our society, along with concerns for the threats and risks associated with such mass gatherings, is creating a demand for qualified crowded places professionals.
Our graduates could work in a range of organisations with crowded places duties, including venue and stadia management, the uniformed services, private security management, and the live events, transport and retail sectors.
The course aims to support the development of your skills in problem-solving, teamwork and leadership, project management and communication, all of which are qualities employers demand. We strive to produce graduates who can make difficult decisions whilst being culturally sensitive, ethical and compassionate.
Our faculty’s employability and placements unit the Talent Team, which won the ‘Best Placement Service in the UK’ award at the National Undergraduate Employability Awards in 2015 and 2016, will help you in finding work experience while you study and employment on graduation. Choosing to undertake a work placement should improve your chances of finding graduate employment.
Coventry University is committed to preparing you for your future career and giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market. The university's Talent Team provide a wide range of services.
Disclaimer
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2020/21 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.
The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.
For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.
