Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the literature with regard to the course leader in small and specialist higher education in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: First, the role of the course leader is explored, followed by an evaluation of the barriers to effective course management. This is then followed by a discussion of mitigating solutions to the barriers identified. Course leadership is then reviewed in the context of small and specialist higher education. Finally, areas for future research are suggested. Findings: Course leadership in the UK is a role with wide ranging responsibilities, but is under-appreciated by the higher education sector. Various barriers have been identified, and some solutions proposed, in the literature, but problems remain. Originality/value: Course leadership is an underappreciated area with little academic literature available, even though issues have been reported since the 1990s. This paper critically evaluates and summarises the issues, and shows that they are still current. It also proposes solutions and areas of further research so that issues can be resolved for betterment of the higher education sector.