Executive coaching delivered alongside your programme, so students graduate with direction, not just a qualification. A specialist complement to your careers provision, not a replacement for it.
Prospective students are asking harder questions about return on investment, and those who enrol graduate into a market that has tightened sharply.
What increasingly matters is the change a student goes through, and how well that change can be evidenced and communicated. That is the part of the offer most programmes have the least control over, and it is the part we build.
Two teams feel the gap most directly. The coaching gives each of them something they can use.
Coaching does the clarity work first, so careers appointments start further on. Baseline and repeat measures give you cohort-level evidence without adding load to your team.
A structured, measured addition to the programme experience, with formats that fit your cohort size and a pilot that sits within departmental signing authority.
Every programme runs across a semester and fits around your timetable. We can deliver on site, online or a mix of both. The coaching and the outcome measures are the same whichever you choose. DISC behavioural profiling comes with our 1:1 and hybrid programmes. It can be added to group coaching, or booked on its own.
Structured one-to-one coaching for a small cohort, across a term or academic year. Each student works on their own direction, decisions and next steps, with three touchpoints in the semester.
One longer group session sets shared goals and direction. Individual follow-up sessions then turn those goals into a plan for each student.
Group sessions on goal-setting, direction and progress, built for groups of 8–12 students. This option reaches the most students for the budget, and it builds a shared focus across the cohort.
DISC is a well-established behavioural profiling tool. It shows students how they make decisions, how they communicate, how others see them and how they respond under pressure. It also gives the cohort a shared language for group work, now and in the workplace.
This programme is included in our 1:1 and hybrid coaching. It can be added to group coaching, or booked on its own without any coaching.
A lecture-style session, on campus or live online, covering what DISC measures, why it matters and how to use the results. Students then complete their profile knowing what it's for.
Each student completes the DISC assessment online and receives a personal profile report.
A 50-minute session with each student to go through their profile. We look at what it means for how they work on the MBA, how they work in teams, and the roles and environments where they're likely to do well.
Pricing depends on cohort size and format. We're happy to discuss it on a call.
Ask about DISC →For larger cohorts, any programme can be delivered with additional qualified coaches from our network. Scale does not have to mean lower quality.
The three-touchpoint cycle sits at the centre. Your programme and careers team stay exactly where they are; the coaching connects them.
We are not here to duplicate what your careers service already does well. The coaching gives students personal clarity first (what they actually want, not just what roles exist) so that when they do go to your careers team, they arrive with a direction already in mind rather than an open-ended "what should I do?".
That makes every careers conversation more focused and more productive, whether the student is heading toward a specific role or building the case for their own venture.
| For the programme | Without structured coaching | With a measured pilot |
|---|---|---|
| Student direction | Clarity left to chance, or to the final term | Direction set in the first touchpoint and revisited mid-semester |
| Careers team | Open-ended "what should I do?" appointments | Students arrive with a direction to work from |
| Outcomes evidence | Anecdote and end-of-module surveys | Baseline and repeat measures, reported at cohort level |
| Applicant story | Curriculum and rankings | A substantiated claim about what students gain beyond the curriculum |
| Decision to extend | Based on impression | Based on an anonymised end-of-pilot report |
Personal clarity first. Then every careers conversation has somewhere to go.
Written around 1:1 coaching, and adapted to whichever format is chosen. The hybrid model opens with the group vision session in place of the first touchpoint.
Three touchpoints is the proposed starting structure, with a fourth if the semester's shape calls for it. Delivery can be on campus, virtual, or a mix: the difference is logistics, not quality.
Establishing where each student actually stands: not just career interests on paper, but what sits underneath them. This sets direction for the semester and captures the baseline measures.
A mid-semester check-in against real decisions made since the first session: module choices, internship applications, conversations with employers. Direction gets adjusted here, not abandoned or restarted.
Each student leaves with a written personal plan, something concrete they take past graduation. The baseline measures are repeated here, making the shift visible and reportable.
A pilot is only worth running if it produces evidence you can use. The coaching is built around a consistent measurement design rather than a claim of impact.
Six items, five minutes. The same instrument at the start and the end, so the shift is measured.
A personal DISC report and a 50-minute one-to-one debrief, used in teams, interviews and career choices.
A written plan tied to their course and choices: something concrete they take past graduation.
Movement against each measure, recurring themes and qualitative feedback. No individual student identifiable.
Visuals show the format of each deliverable only. They are not results from a previous engagement.
Our measurement design is built by a doctoral researcher, to be defensible rather than decorative. All data is collected under UK GDPR, anonymised before reporting, and no individual student is identifiable in anything shared with the institution.
Thrivology Executive Coaching is part of Thrivology Limited, which also operates Femmeprenista, a coaching community for women entrepreneurs, and Thrivology Digital, an AI implementation consultancy. We run businesses as well as advise on them, so when a student is weighing a career path against launching something of their own, that is not a hypothetical conversation for us.
Our doctoral research is on entrepreneurship: how founders build and sustain businesses while navigating structural constraint. That work sits directly underneath this coaching: what actually moves someone from intention to action, and what stops them.
And the timing is the point. Students are entering a graduate market that has contracted more sharply than it did in 2008–09. They need to be able to say clearly what they want and why they are credible for it. That is what this coaching is built to produce.
Our method is solution-focused: every session produces movement on something real, and the plan is built to hold after the session ends. In practice that means structured, goal-led conversation rather than advice: active listening, direct questioning, and a confidential space in which a student can think honestly about what they want.
It is strengths-based by design. The working assumption is that each student already has more capability and resource than they are currently drawing on, and that the coach's job is to surface it and put it to work, not to supply a template. That matters particularly with high-performing cohorts, where the barrier is rarely ability and is very often clarity, confidence, or permission.
Every engagement is adapted to the individual and to the programme around them. There is no standard script.
Cranfield MBA, qualified coach, DISC practitioner and doctoral researcher, with first-hand experience of executive coaching as part of a demanding academic programme, and of how much difference it makes.
My experience with coaching from Carlene has made a big impact on my life. In our sessions, I've learned a lot about myself, gained clarity on my goals, and figured out how to overcome challenges. Thanks to her, I feel more confident and better at communicating, both in my personal and professional life.
Vamsi Murtinty, MBA coaching client
Carlene is a great coach. She certainly ensures you are always pushing the boundaries of your thought process and digging deeper as a coachee for more possible avenues. She approaches each session with excellent enthusiasm and warmth that really gets the creative mindset flowing. I came away with some wonderful ideas after reflecting on our sessions and subsequently opened new doors due to speaking with Carlene.
Cory Devayya, coaching client
A full compliance pack (insurance certificate, DBS, ICO registration and privacy notice) is provided at contracting stage, or earlier on request.
No. Coaching works on personal clarity first, so students arrive at the careers team with a direction already in mind. We position it as a complement to your careers provision, never a replacement.
An introduction to the cohort, help scheduling sessions or booking a room for on-campus delivery, and time to read the end-of-pilot report. We handle delivery, measurement and reporting.
Thrivology Limited is registered with the ICO as a data controller. Session notes and assessment data are held under UK GDPR, a privacy notice is supplied before delivery, and all reporting to the institution is anonymised.
Pricing is tailored to cohort size and format. A pilot of this size sits comfortably within departmental signing authority at most institutions. We are happy to discuss on a call.
For full-time and part-time MBA cohorts, a January or spring term start is the natural fit. For Executive MBA cohorts with rolling intakes, the pilot aligns to the next cohort.
Yes. DISC is included in our 1:1 and hybrid programmes and can be added to group coaching, but it also runs on its own: a cohort session, an online assessment for each student and a 50-minute one-to-one debrief.
Yes. Delivery can be on campus, virtual or a mix across the three touchpoints. The difference is logistics, not quality.
Group formats scale, and any format can be delivered with additional qualified coaches from our network. Their insurance, DBS and data-protection compliance are verified and held by Thrivology Limited, so you contract with one supplier.
You receive an anonymised report showing cohort-level movement against each measure, recurring themes and qualitative feedback. That gives you a defensible basis for deciding whether to extend.
A semester-long pilot with a small cohort or group, across three structured touchpoints. Long enough to show a genuine before-and-after shift, measured rather than asserted, and a real basis on which to discuss a fuller rollout.
hello@thrivology.co.ukTiming. For full-time and part-time MBA cohorts, a January or spring term start is the natural fit. For Executive MBA cohorts with rolling intakes, the pilot aligns to the cohort rather than the calendar and can begin whenever the next group starts.
Investment. Pricing is tailored to cohort size and format, and scales with additional coaches for larger groups. A pilot of this size sits comfortably within departmental signing authority at most institutions.
Sources. High Fliers Research, The Graduate Market in 2026: graduate recruitment at the UK's leading employers down 24.5% against 2022, compared with 23.3% in 2008–09 and 12.3% in 2020. Chartered Association of Business Schools, Analysis of international student enrolments for courses starting in January 2026: approximately two-thirds of responding schools recorded lower international enrolments, 64% at postgraduate level.