Imperial College Business School student sitting at a table, working on a laptop

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The Imperial Global Online MBA has moved up to second place in the Financial Times Online MBA Ranking 2022, solidifying its position as a world-leading programme. 

In the FT ranking, the programme took first place for career progress – which represents how far our alumni have progressed to senior positions three years post-graduation. This highlights the impact the programme has on mobilising students to leap into the next stage of their career.

Professor Markus Perkmann, Academic Director of the Imperial MBA celebrated the ranking result:

“We are pleased to see our Global Online MBA programme move up to 2nd in the FT rankings. Every year I continue to be impressed by the high calibre of students that join us and what they go on to achieve. It’s fantastic to see our alumni succeed and move up into senior positions after they have studied so hard for their degree.”

Our employment report shows how Global Online MBA students transform their career during or after the programme with the support of our Careers team. The benefit of the part-time study format means that these career changes, such as a promotion, salary increase or change of industry can all happen while studying.

Gemma Robertson, Director of Employer Relations at the Business School, highlights the career transformation of our most recent cohort:

Our exceptionally talented and diverse student community on the Global Online MBA programme come from varied academic and geographical backgrounds. The most recent graduating cohort for the Global Online MBA saw a significant number of students changing roles within the first four months of completing the programme (77%) and almost half the cohort successfully changed company (47%). Employers really value that our students can apply their academic learning immediately at work, that they gain experience working in global teams, and that they further develop their skills in resilience and personal effectiveness. Students work closely with their dedicated careers consultants in support of their “Personal Leadership Journey”. This enable students to develop their professional & leadership skill sets needed to be able to manage their careers in a proactive way going forward.

The programme continues to live up to its name, coming out top for international faulty and the International Mobility Rank, and also ranking highly for the percentage of international students in the cohort, the international makeup of faculty and board. Fostering diversity within the programme remains a priority to us at Imperial, as the varied cultural and work experience in each cohort is what makes the programme unique.

"The cohort is so mixed! There are people in the navy, surgeons, entrepreneurs, CEOs, senior members of large organisations, the self-employed, authors, etc. My fellow students come from all walks of life and a multitude of different industries. In many ways, this makes the programme even more edifying, as you are connected with people who are outside of the industry that you have worked in and you can see your sector from a different perspective. It’s always interesting to hear peoples’ perspectives when they ask questions or give answers in the live sessions."
Global Online MBA 2021-23
Ansumana Bai-Marrow, Global Online MBA 2021-22, student at Imperial College Business School

The QS Online MBA ranking 2022

In addition to the fantastic result from the FT, the Global Online MBA also maintained 2nd in the world and 1st in the UK for the QS Online MBA rankings 2022.

It’s the fourth year in a row that we have held this position in the world, and fifth year that we ranked first in the UK. The programme scored highly for our world-leading faculty and teaching, and employability. Demonstrating how our academics continue to pave the way in research, providing our students with an innovative MBA, and our structured approach to leadership development through the Personal Leadership Journey.

New programme updates

Last year the programme was updated with some key changes to enhance students’ learning experience. Markus explains:

“The Global Online MBA was updated following insights from our students and faculty. Our MBA candidates want the opportunity to personalise their studies, so firstly, we introduced a set of flexcore modules.  These modules give students the opportunity to tailor the programme based on their career path or personal interest.

Secondly, the programme length is now variable. Students can choose to complete their MBA in 21, 24 or 32 months.

Finally, in terms of programme content, new modules in analytics, marketing, business problem solving (consulting) and digital transformation were or are being introduced so that we continue to provide students with in-demand skills required by leaders and managers."

Applications to our September 2022 intake and January 2023 intake of the Global Online MBA are now open.

Meet this year's Global Online MBA class