London Business School’s EMBA Program Ranked Number One in Europe

London Business School has been ranked the best in Europe in the QS EMBA Rankings by Region 2018.

Released today, the QS EMBA Rankings 2018 feature a ranking of the best EMBA programs globally and by region, with London Business School topping the Europe table. The rankings also include a separate table of the best joint programs. You can find out more about the methodology used to produce the rankings here.

The top 10 in Europe can be seen below:

As you can see, the European top 10 is dominated by UK-based institutions, with five of the 10 based in the UK (including Chicago Booth’s London campus). France has two schools in the top 10 (INSEAD and HEC Paris), as does Spain (IESE Business School and IE Business School), while there is one Italian school in the top 10 – SDA Bocconi. In total, this year’s European ranking contains 49 different business schools.

London Business School tops the European rankings and was also ranked number three globally. The university achieved a perfect score of 100 in two out of five ranking indicators: employer reputation and career outcomes. They are the only program in the European rankings to achieve a perfect score for employer reputation.

The 20-month Executive MBA at London Business School can either be carried out at their London or their Dubai campus. The cost for the London-based EMBA is £84,500 (about US$120,000), and the Dubai-based course costs US$119,500.

The current EMBA class at LBS have an average of 13 years of work experience behind them. 24 percent of the students are female, and 34 different nationalities are represented.

Arnie Longboy, Executive Director of Leadership Programs at LBS, emphasizes the impact that the school’s London location has on the degree program:

“A key differentiator of this program is what I would call our London spirit. Yes, it has a lot to do with our physical presence in one of the top business and cultural cities in the world.  But it also has to do with the creativity and energy London exudes, which our graduates take with them to all parts of the world.”

Second in the European ranking is Chicago’s Booth School of Business. While Chicago Booth has its home base in Chicago, it also offers EMBAs at its London and Hong Kong campuses, making it eligible for the European and Asia-Pacific rankings, as well as the North America ranking.

While Booth didn’t achieve a perfect score in any ranking indicator, it scored consistently well across each of them, achieving the highest score in Europe for thought leadership.

Booth’s EMBA program takes place over 21 months primarily based in their London campus. The cost for the London course is $159,000, which includes tuition, all books and course materials, some meals, and hotel accommodation for three residential weeks in Chicago and one residential week in Hong Kong.

As with LBS, its current EMBA intake has an average of 13 years of work experience. As is perhaps to be expected from a program which is taught on multiple continents, the EMBA at Booth has a higher number of nationalities represented than LBS’s, 46 in total.

Richard Johnson, Chicago Booth Associate Dean for the Executive MBA program in Asia and Europe explains what students can hope to gain by undertaking their EMBA at Booth:

“As a student in our Executive MBA program, you’ll experience what makes Chicago Booth unique: a culture of inquiry, relentless curiosity, fiercely independent thought and rigorous debate, all part of a transformative 21-month experience.”

Third in the European rankings, Oxford’s Saïd Business School achieves consistently high scores of over 90 in all indicators, with their score in thought leadership actually beating that of first-placed London Business School. The EMBA program at Saïd is made up of 16 week-long modules, taking around 21 months to complete. The Saïd EMBA costs £80,502 (US$114,361).

London Business School isn’t the only European school to crack the global Top 10, with five out of the European top 10 also featuring in the global top 10, including Booth, Saïd, Cambridge Judge Business School and IESE Business School. Click here to read more about the top EMBA programs globally.

An EMBA alumni’s perspective

Mehdi Cherif-Zahar graduated from the EMBA program at IE Business School, and now works for Microsoft as a senior account executive. He says: “I chose IE Business School because it was the best combination of ranking, flexibility (blended on site and online format) and international presence, and also because the tuition fees were somehow moderate compared to other schools in the same league.

“Having a marketing background, the most valuable skills I gained from the program were in finance and business innovation. If you’re considering applying for an EMBA, be very professional in everything you submit, and try to stand out. Show you have interesting things to bring to the EMBA class and explain why the EMBA is important to you and how it will change your life.”