Tackle the biggest challenges facing the public sector

Maintain your exemplary performance in your current role while developing the new skills and perspective you need to take on a top leadership role.

The Rising Public Leaders Programme is a six-day intensive programme bringing together a group of upcoming public leaders from a diverse array of countries. It will broaden your skills and provide you with the conceptual frameworks and practical tools you need to lead a public sector organisation successfully in a rapidly changing and deeply challenging world.

Offering insight from the world’s leading scholars and practitioners, and peer learning from your counterparts around the globe, this programme will help you move into the top leadership of a public-sector organisation in the next three to seven years.

The programme immerses participants in a multinational, multidisciplinary experience through which you gain skills and confidence in your management of people, technology, and organisational culture; your partnerships and negotiations with business entities and non-profits; and your navigation of challenges to personal and organisational integrity.

Learn through an intensive and engaging mix of pedagogical styles, including:

  • Classroom discussions
  • Simulations
  • Practical exercises
  • Group work

Participants will establish an ongoing connection with us and will become executive alumni of the Blavatnik School.

At a glance
Applications for 2026 are now open
Programme dates19 - 24 April; and 20 - 25 September 2026
Duration6 days
LocationOxford
Cost£10,250
Inside the Rising Public Leaders Programme
Inside the Rising Public Leaders Programme
Kow Essuman

Embarking on the Rising Public Leaders Programme at the Blavatnik School of Government has been a defining chapter in my professional journey. This transformative experience not only enriched my knowledge and skills but also shaped my perspective on public leadership in profound ways. 

Read about Kow's experience

Kow Essuman, Legal Counsel to the President of Ghana, 2023 participant

What a valuable six days that changed my way of thinking. This amazing and powerful programme broadened my view, and provided me with the effective tools and frameworks for communication and for building credibility. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to learn to be an inspiring leader and take steps forward to change the world.

I will never forget what I learned and got here. All of them will be my precious lifelong memory. All of the people I met here are part of my life. This is an amazing and outstanding programme which I highly recommend.

Erik Hovsepyan, Head of International Cooperation and Investment Programmes Department, Urban Development Committee, Government of the Republic of Armenia, 2024 participant
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The Oxford experience

Our programmes immerse you in the intellectual culture of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Its excellence and international profile rivals that of any university in the world, and the University has been educating global leaders for over 800 years.

Our residential programmes, as well as our fellowships, offer opportunities to explore the city and its famous colleges. Many include walking tours of the city’s most important historical and politically relevant places, as well as formal dinners in centuries-old Oxford dining halls. And you will get the best of both the old and the new by being based from the ultramodern award-winning Blavatnik School building.

Whether in residence or online, you will be tapping into the extraordinary depth and breadth of research excellence found at Oxford University, as well as its power to convene people from all over the world. All our executive programmes are led by a member of the Blavatnik School faculty, who are leading Oxford professors and associate professors.

This was one of the best learning and development experiences I’ve ever had. The topics were highly relevant to anyone in public service and there was also a huge range of learning methods employed. By the end of it you’ll be hugely energised and ready to take the learning home and apply it immediately.

Keith Moynes, Assistant Secretary General, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Government of Ireland, 2022 participant

This was an exceptional course, superbly organised and delivered by a high calibre team. It is rare to be given the time and opportunity to step back and reflect on what being a thoughtful leader really entails; and the course was significantly enriched by the experiences and contributions from its highly diverse cohort.

Chris Hobley, Director of Strategy at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), UK Government, 2024 participant