Level 4 ILM Diploma for School Business Managers (DSBM)

What is the ILM L4 Diploma?

This qualification’s aim is to provide learners who are new or aspiring school business professionals (SBP) with the knowledge and skills required progress in their career.

This ILM Diploma qualification is mapped to the ISBL Professional Standards for school business managers (Associate level) and reflects the changing roles performed by school business professionals across schools and trusts.

Formerly known as the CSBM (L4 Certificate in School Business Management), this qualification was redeveloped by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) in 2018. As they were developed, these qualifications were mapped to the ISBL Professional Standards.

About the qualification

  • This qualification will enable you to:

    • Manage school resources more efficiently and effectively

    • Evaluate the nature of school business operations within your school

    • Gain knowledge and skills in all aspects of the ISBL Professional Standards


    There are three mandatory units:

    • Leading Support Services in a School

    • Finance in a School

    • Procurement in a School


    You also choose one optional unit from:

    • Supporting Human Resource Management in a School

    • Supporting School Infrastructure Management

    • Marketing in a School

  • The Level 4 Diploma is suitable for new or aspiring school business professionals, as well as those already in post as an school business manager or similar role (such as Finance Manager, Office Manager, School Administrator, Business Support Officer, Bursar, HR Manager, etc).

    This qualification is often seen as a minimum requirement on job descriptions and is suitable for new entrants to the profession. It can also be suitable for people who are looking to move into the profession from a different sector and want to contextualise their existing knowledge, skills and experience.

  • This qualification typically takes 18 months to complete.

    The Total Qualification Time (TQT) is: 385 hours

  • Yes, rather than doing the full 4 unit qualification you can study individual modules from the course. You will need to contact the training providers directly should you wish to undertake one module.

  • This qualification is offered nationally by various training providers. It is available as a full programme and as individual modules. It is offered as fully online (with live tutorials).

    Training providers offering this qualification include:

Testimonials

  • "The course is accessible to all, whether you work as a School Business Manager or not as evidence can be brought in to meet assessment criteria from various sources. The course is really well-structured - there are no exams, each module is supported with wider reading resources and there are clear links to the learning objectives that need to be achieved"

For any enquiries, please contact: training@isbl.org.uk