Study Abroad @ UK MBA

UK produces about 10,000 MBAs each year, the second largest contributor to the world MBA pool after the US which heads the list at 90,000. In a survey conducted by the Association of MBAs, an international body involved in assessing and maintaining the quality of MBA education worldwide, 82% of the respondents mentioned that they took the programme to add a business qualification to their profile, while 79% did it to improve career prospects. Interestingly, 70% mentioned ‘intellectual stimulation’ as the reason and 67% voted for increased pay packages.

MBA Program Structure

An MBA programme in the UK is quite different from the structure you may be familiar with in India. While admission rules remain the same – a basic undergraduate degree in any field – UK programmes require a minimum of three years of work experience prior to being accepted to study the programme. A typical UK programme has duration of 12 months, but a few extend to even 21 months including interning at a real workplace. Studying for an MBA degree in the UK is very popular across the world, and especially in India. Working professionals find it very convenient to take a year out to study, and return with a prestigious UK MBA qualification.

The UK offers over 150 MBA programmes, and the course structure is more or less the same across institutions. The 12-month programme also includes a three-month long work-based project or consultancy. The course of study is international in nature, preparing a student to take up a management assignment anywhere in the world. Apart from general study courses, students can choose electives offered as part of the overall MBA programme that would sharpen their skills in specific areas of a business operation. MBA programmes offer full-time and part-time options for study, but both are equally demanding and require the same amount of effort and commitment.

MBA Studies: Where?

Where you choose to study is as important as what you will be studying, i.e., the course content. Your study programme should be able to add value to your existing experience. For example, if you are in a professional marketing and sales set-up, it would help to choose electives that correspond to the field. Additionally, there are options to take up extra courses in Mathematics and English if you feel challenged in these subjects, especially for the former in case you have studied a non-Science programme at the undergraduate level.

There are certain rules to keep in mind when you decide on a particular institution to pursue your MBA programme. For instance, it’s standing in the education community. MBA school rankings are put together by various media publications practically every month. Results of these studies would be variable since different standards are applied for evaluation. An accredited MBA programme has a higher level of acceptability in industry and employment circles. For example, theAssociation of MBAs offers accreditation services, so it would be wise to go through their list of institutions to select the right one. Accreditation is a benchmark of quality education, and the service offered by the Association is an independent validation of the course programmes offered by various schools of management studies.

It makes good sense to contact the institution directly and enquire about their programmes. For instance, the placement potential of each course programme based on how many students were recruited, and by which company. There are new programmes being introduced each year tailored to the changing equations of the world business environment. Such focused programmes may have a higher employability factor than the popular groups. Again, find out what kind of companies are associated with the school for the internship part of the programme when students are required to enter a real work environment. Enquire about their faculty, as well as the visiting faculty members and their profiles.

Top UK Institutions for MBA Studies

London Business School: http://www.london.edu
Manchester Business School: http://www.mbs.ac.uk
Nottingham University Business School: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/business
Ashridge Business School: http://www.ashridge.org.uk
Warwick Business School: http://www.wbs.ac.uk
Imperial College Business School: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/business
Birmingham Business School: http://www.business.bham.ac.uk
Business School - University of Strathclyde: http://www.strath.ac.uk/business
University of Leeds - Business School: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/lubs
Durham Business School: http://www.dur.ac.uk/dbs
University of Aberdeen Business School: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/business