I am currently studying MSc Business Analytics (online delivery, part-time) at Imperial Business School. This blog talks about the factors to consider when choosing a part-time Master’s and my experience while studying at Imperial.

Most students who pursue a part-time Master’s do it for different reasons than full-time students. From my experience, most part-time students study for a Master’s after working for some time and have family and work commitments while studying. Most people studying part-time also work full-time in similar fields to what they are studying. So if you are looking for a part-time programme, the factors that influence what programme you choose would vary, but not be entirely different.

Some common factors are as follows:

A well-connected, intelligent cohort

The importance of networking cannot be overstated. The most significant advantage of studying part-time is that the students studying with you have significant experience and are potentially working in important positions in your field of interest. The diversity of knowledge that these peers provide in class discussions, group projects and regular conversations is beneficial and unparalleled.

At Imperial, these benefits are augmented with the focus on group assignments, and on-campus connects.

Flexibility

Students studying part-time programmes often have to juggle studying, a full-time job and family obligations. Additionally, in online programmes, the time zone differences can cause problems during live classes and interactions with peers.

In my modules, every live class is taken twice at different times on the same day with the same content to accommodate students from different time-zones. Sufficient time is provided for coursework, assignments and submissions. For example, every week there is a half hour test which can be started anytime during the weekend.

A programme rooted in reality

Part-time students are experts in their field. One of the main reasons a student might pursue a part-time Master’s is to understand how concepts are applied across different domains and industries. 

For example, in data science, the same regression and classification principles are used across various fields from finance to supply chains for solving different types of problems. There is an emphasis on real-world case studies, and industry exposure on the MSc Business Analytics programme.

Relevant and useful programme content

Most part-time students pursue higher education to gain a better understanding of the basics of their profession, looking for a more fundamental understanding of the concepts. Students also look out for broadly useful topics that they are unfamiliar with.  

For example, my programme core modules starts with the basics in technology (Data Structures) and maths (Maths and Statistics Foundations for Analytics) and builds on these foundations. I have worked on machine learning, but I have never worked on deep learning or unsupervised learning which I am studying in the Machine Learning module. Even with machine learning, I know the practical aspects and implementation, and I am learning the nuts and bolts in this programme.

Is Executive Education worth it?

When you’re making an investment in anything, you need to be sure about the return. Executive Education is no exception.

Whether you are an individual looking to accelerate your career development or an organisation with strategic development goals for leaders and employees, investing in management training implies time, effort and money. And in moments of acute uncertainty and complexity, when the future feels anything but secure, it’s natural to wonder if that time, effort and money mightn’t be better spent addressing the immediate challenges of the here and now.

Why then do so many business leaders and organisations prioritise executive training precisely when times are toughest or most complex? What’s in it for them? What makes Executive Education worth it, especially when the chips are down?

We consulted our programme participants, programme directors and faculty here at Imperial to understand how they see the value of Executive Education.

Here’s what they told us.

1. Address actual, real-world dilemmas

Executive Education programmes look at the real problems that businesses and leaders face today. At Imperial, our programmes for executives are expertly calibrated to the most relevant issues, challenges and trends impacting leadership development, strategy, sustainability and innovation. They address the live issues that decision-makers need to grapple with, by integrating the very latest thinking and technological insights from Imperial faculty with action-based, focused learning experiences that build practical, applicable skills. From digital transformation to design thinking, from risk management to machine learning for decision-making, our Executive programmes equip you to tackle the things you face today, and tomorrow.

2. Address your specific challenges

Executive programmes are firmly rooted in the real-world and relevant – and that includes those specific areas of focus that you and your organisation need to address. Imperial Executive programmes look at topics as specific and diverse as strategic brand transformation or AI and machine learning in the financial services space. Organisations also have the option of a custom programme – a bespoke learning experience 100% tailored to the individual needs of the business.

3. Tap into world-class expertise

Executive Education programmes are designed and delivered by the foremost business thinkers and practitioners. At Imperial, our faculty are world-renowned, with academic expertise that spans innovation and entrepreneurship, quantitative finance and healthcare management. As advisors and researchers, Imperial faculty maintain the closest ties to industry, commerce and government – a rich and privileged network of excellence that fully informs your learning experience.

4. Rethink the big issues

Business never stops. Yet it’s important for decision-makers to take the time to pause, to reflect and to rethink their challenges, solutions and approaches. Executive Education affords leaders a safe, secure and honest space to look at the critical issues afresh; to experiment, to learn, to unlearn, and to try out new ideas. It provides a unique opportunity to innovate and to find different ways to drive growth.

5. Broaden perspectives

When you are navigating complexity, you’re going to want to see the biggest picture possible. You will want to see problems in all of their dimensions, and to leverage a diversity of views as you find solutions. The Executive Education classroom – whether it’s on-campus, online or virtual – exposes you a breadth of perspectives; peer insights and expertise that spans multiple sectors and geographies. You quite literally learn to see the same problem from a host of different angles.

6. Network, network, network

The Executive Education experience doesn’t end when the programme concludes. At Imperial, the ties and bonds you build in the classroom endure for years. Completing an Executive programme entitles you to membership of the prestigious Imperial Business School Alumni network; a 19,450-strong cohort of business leaders from a diversity of sectors spanning more than 140 countries. And each year, we deliver a full range of dynamic events, services and resources to keep you connected to each other and to ongoing opportunities to learn and to build new skills.

7. Strengthen alignment

For organisations, investing in Executive programmes for individuals is an investment in strategic talent. It signals to your top people that you are invested in their professional development and their capabilities as trusted decision-makers. It is a means of securing engagement, commitment and loyalty where it matters most. Similarly, custom programmes empower business organisations to build critical awareness, buy-in and alignment around strategic goals – and drive better results through cohesion and collaboration between and across your teams.

8. Accelerate performance

Executive Education is about solving concrete problems and delivering concrete results. At Imperial, learning is actionable – that means that the individuals and organisations that come to our programmes leave with knowledge, insights and frameworks that can be applied for immediate and lasting impact. Whether it’s building leadership capabilities, developing new products, ventures or even markets or improving operations for sustainable growth, our Executive programmes accelerate performance exponentially – giving you and your organisation the resilience and the competitive edge to thrive under pressure, and to navigate the uncertainty ahead with certainty and confidence.

There has arguably never been less certainty in our world than there is right now.

The Covid-19 pandemic caught countries, markets, industries and sectors of every description completely off guard at the start of 2020. Within the first three months of the new year, economy after economy had shut down; the impact of stay-at-home measures and social distancing constituting a financial shock unparalleled in modern times – far greater in scale and scope than the Great Recession of 2008. Businesses, organisations and institutions around the globe have had to adapt, and fast. Some have fared better than others, some have pivoted their business model to respond and even thrive in the so-called new normal. Others have shut up shop indefinitely.

If the global health crisis has shaken the world to its core – laying bare the vulnerabilities and weaknesses in our systems and structures and exposing geopolitical tensions that risk international trade and cohesion – it has also delivered critical lessons.

The most important lesson of all, perhaps, is the need to be prepared; to put into place the organisational resilience, the resources, the capabilities and the learning capacity to emerge safely from this crisis and to build towards a more robust, more sustainable future.

And this is the promise of Executive Education.

Building a sustainable future for you, and your organisation

So what is Executive Education? Put very simply, it is a portfolio of training and development programmes designed by business scholars and industry experts; learning experiences that empower business leaders and decision-makers to navigate the uncertainty ahead, with clarity, certainty and confidence.

Executive programmes are finely calibrated to address the most critical challenges and problems facing managers and their organisations. From developing the kinds of next-generation leadership competencies that businesses need in order to thrive in complexity, to building specific knowledge and skills to position you at the vanguard of digital transformation and beyond, executive education is intense, immersive and transformational learning experience – experience that delivers impact that is simultaneously immediate and enduring.

At Imperial, our suite of Executive Education programmes fully leverage the expertise, research and knowledge of our distinguished faculty –  world-renowned business scholars and practitioners who continuously identify and explore the emerging problems and the shifting megatrends that shape and reshape the global economy.

Our programmes give executives a unique opportunity to truly investigate the real issues they face as professionals, and those that face their organisation. And they give you an opportunity to do this within the safety of a learning environment geared to open and honest discussion and debate.

Our programmes also represent a unique opportunity to share and exchange insights with other leaders from diverse backgrounds – to broaden your perspective and mindset, and expand your professional and personal networks as you learn.

You choose the format, you choose the focus

Executive programmes are delivered a variety of formats at Imperial.

We offer on-campus programmes, online programmes via our state-of-the-art EdTech platform which integrate live, interactive sessions with faculty and peers.

The virtual format in particular has ensured that business leaders have been able to continue investing in their development despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Meanwhile, online learning delivers the advantage of anywhere, anytime: participants can mark their own pace and tempo, without the need for travel or other types of disruption. On-campus programmes are delivered at Imperial’s stunning South Kensington campus close to the heart of London.

As part of our Executive Education promise, we offer a breadth of programmes both for individuals and for companies. Programmes for companies are called custom programmes, because they are customised and tailored to the precise and unique challenges facing a specific organisation. These are bespoke learning solutions that accelerate the development of your future leaders.

Our Executive Education offering is divided into four primary disciplines or areas of focus: Management and Leadership, Technology and Innovation, Sustainability and Health, and Finance and Strategy.

Every programme within each of these disciplines integrates the latest technological thinking and research in leadership, strategy and innovation with sector-specific deep dives in topics such as entrepreneurship, healthcare, cyber security or risk management.

Each programme also delivers hands-on, applied experiences and real-world project work, so that you have the chance to translate theory into practice into impact as you absorb exciting new ideas.

The choice is yours.

You decide the format and the focus that best meets your needs and objectives.

Because there’s never been a greater need

Whatever Executive Education is, it is, in part a solution to a problem.

There has never been a moment of greater uncertainty in our world.

To navigate the path ahead and capitalise on the promise of a better future, it is now incumbent on businesses, managers, decision-makers and the next generation of leaders to seize the opportunity to learn; to reflect on those areas of strength and those of vulnerability, to determine the capabilities necessary to thrive in this new normal – and to build those capabilities from the top-down, bottom-up, and across the entirety of your leadership, and your organisation. 

There has never been a greater need to think strategically about your future.

Nor has there been a better opportunity to do so.

Imperial Business School offers significant scholarship funding to outstanding applicants to the Full-Time MBA.

A wide range of scholarships are available, and all self-funded candidates are automatically considered for all scholarship for which they meet the eligibility criteria and application deadlines.

Below, we find out more about some of last year's scholarship recipients, including the benefits of receiving a scholarship and their advice to applicants and future students.

Our scholarships recognise students for academic excellence and community engagement, as well as diversity-oriented scholarships for students from specific regions, LGBTQ+ students and those coming from disadvantaged background and/or have overcome adversity.

Advice to prospective students:

My advice would be to do your research. Know your goals and what you want to achieve after the MBA and plan for them to happen. Leverage the resources at Imperial as much as possible, which includes taking up leadership roles, expanding alumni networks, and committing to the Personal Leadership Journey to better understand yourself. Secondly, talk to people and ASK! Nothing is more valuable than listening to others sharing their own experiences. Build your connections even before the start of the programme, which includes getting familiar with incoming and previous cohorts as early as possible. Finally, trust that you are making the right decision and be ready to ‘unlearn and relearn’. As MBA students we often come to the programme with lots of industry knowledge, but you should still be open-minded enough to learn from new experiences that can potentially shape the future.

Advice to prospective students:

1. Aim high. Go for the best schools. You will often find that you have what it takes to get in.  
2. Don’t think about funding at the beginning. Somehow, these things have a way of sorting themselves out eventually. 
3. Be open-minded. You will find yourself changing your mind about a lot of things several times over and that is okay. 
4. Network even before you start. Talk to current students and alumni. They are incredible resources to leverage during the application process.

Advice to prospective students:

My top tips to anyone thinking of applying to the Full-Time MBA:

• Embrace the change! Be open-minded and accepting towards the new way of life
• Build meaningful bonds and friendships
• Get involved in activities outside the MBA and connect with the wider Imperial community - take advantage of all that it has to offer
• Be open to learning
• Time management is key!
• Participate in all the networking opportunities provided by the School
• Don’t take yourself too seriously and enjoy the experience!

Scholarships available for entry to the Full-Time MBA September 2022 intake include:

• Advisory Board Scholarship
• Africa Regional Scholarship
• Black Future Leader Award
• Dean’s Impact Scholarship
• Forté Fellowships for women
• Imperial Excellence Scholarship
• LATAM Regional Scholarship
• Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA Fellowship)
• Riley Family Scholarship
• Sainsbury Management Fellows’ Award

At the forefront of taking on the challenge of a rigorous part-time MBA programme like the Global Online MBA or the Weekend MBA is a goal. A goal to improve skills, abilities and develop personally and professionally to support long-term career progression. 

The Careers team at Imperial are the tool that every student needs to unlock their career potential, especially when juggling a busy schedule. The Global Online MBA and Weekend MBA is just part of a student’s life. Studying needs to fit alongside a busy work schedule, family commitments and downtime. So making time for the support offered by the Careers team is paramount to reaching post-MBA your career goals, even if you have a lot on your plate.

As part of your career development as a Global Online MBA or Weekend MBA student, you will embark on a Personal Leadership Journey, which provides a structured approach to growing leadership potential through a range of expertly crafted exercises, workshops and one-to-one career coaching sessions. Careers Consultants, like myself, are experts in our field and use our wealth of experience to provide personalised support to help you achieve your career goals while studying at Imperial.

As a Career Consultant for students on the part-time Global Online MBA and Weekend MBA programmes, I share my advice on how to make the most of career development at Imperial.

1. Engage with your dedicated Careers Consultant

As a Careers Consultant, our job is to help students make the most of their MBA and achieve whatever their version of success is, whether that’s a promotion, a transition to a new sector, a new function, starting a business or something else – the possibilities are endless.

Each student starts the programme with their own aspirations. We work with them on whatever their challenges are to get to where they want to be. In practice, that means a dedicated Careers Consultant for each student who provides in-depth psychometric assessment feedback and supports all aspects of developing career progression from CVs, interviews, networking to ongoing development coaching.

There are also great speakers on senior leader competencies and opportunities to network with alumni and across cohorts. We encourage students to make the most of all Imperial resources so they can explore different career paths, even if they turn out not to be the right ones for them. We want students to have knowledge of as many options as possible before deciding which is the most suitable for them.

2. Work out what you want to achieve

Lots of students on the Global Online MBA and Weekend MBA want to perform more effectively in their current role and use the MBA for that.  A large proportion of students are also interested in switching some aspect of their career. Imperial’s part-time MBA programmes help with that in many ways, from having a network of peers in many top companies to using the knowledge gained in class to unlock new career opportunities.

Sometimes the career direction students go down in is not what they expect at the start of the MBA programme as they get exposed to new subjects. It is important to stay open-minded throughout the programme.

I recently worked with one Weekend MBA student who had spent most of her career working for a small London recruitment company – rising to become it’s Managing Director. She was looking to move on to a new sector for the first time and we spent a lot of time focusing on her interview technique to make her recruitment experience relevant to other sectors. She has just joined a (non-recruitment) multinational organisation to lead its operations in a new city and country which she is delighted with and is the perfect next step for her.

3. Carve out time for career research and reflection

While studying your MBA, the Careers team are a voice of reason in your ear, reminding you to think about your career progression throughout the programme.  Good planning and time management are also important of course. There are gaps in the academic calendar which many students use to research, reflect on or make career decisions.

4. Think about the long-term

We often see students use their MBAs to enter new sectors long after their studies have finished. I recently worked with an MBA alumnus who graduated three years ago and moved into a Product Manager role for a major tech firm having never worked in Product Management before and moving from a telecoms company. The Weekend MBA opens your eyes to a wealth of industries, roles and new opportunities, it’s not always the first role post-MBA that defines you.

5. Expand your horizons outside of the classroom

Join societies relevant to your interests, attend employer presentations or sector insight sessions (even those you might not be interested in) to understand career opportunities. Use all the opportunities provided to network with alumni or other guests and develop your competencies by attending webinars and workshops on areas such as leading, public speaking or developing your personal brand, amongst other things.

With five programmes to choose from our Finance Master's programmes, it’s not surprising that this is one of the most frequently asked questions we hear from prospective applicants. Unfortunately, we are unable to advise on individual eligibility without seeing a complete application. However, we can recommend some of the tools available to help you acquire a strong understanding of the entry requirements for the programme you wish to apply to.

We’ve put together this post to help you ensure your profile aligns to the entry requirements for your chosen Finance programme(s):

• MSc Finance
• MSc Finance & Accounting
• MSc Financial Technology
• MSc Investment & Wealth Management
• MSc Risk Management & Financial Engineering

Academic entry requirements

Each Finance programme has slightly different academic entry requirements and this is due to the level of quantitative knowledge required for each programme. For a more detailed comparison of these programmes please see our comparison table.

Our Finance Masters’ are not conversion programmes. Therefore, if you have any doubts about your quantitative background we recommend taking our online self-assessment maths test to determine your eligibility (this test does not apply to MSc Finance & Accounting, our least quantitative Finance programme).

The academic requirement is an integral requirement to our programmes and is in place to ensure the success of future students on our Finance Masters’. We receive a lot of international applications to these programmes and so the listed recommended academic degree titles are general – it will depend on the individual degree you have studied and number of quantitative modules you have taken as to whether you will ultimately be suitable for the programme you have applied for.

All applicants must meet the minimum academic requirements in full in order to be considered and we do not consider anyone who falls below these requirements, regardless of their GMAT scores, CFA, work experience or anything additional to their application.

Career planning questions

As part of our assessment for all Finance programmes, your career planning questions and internships/work experience will be considered.

On applications for Finance programmes we would expect to see that you are committed to a career in the finance sector. Your CV and career planning questions are where you can evidence to the Academic Selection Committee that you’ve been building relevant professional experience and knowledge throughout your undergraduate degree. The Finance programmes are highly competitive, and this is the area where you can really make yourself stand out!

Unlike some other MSc programmes, we do not have a limited internship/work experience time frame requirement and we will consider applicants with years of work experience. However, most students on Finance programmes are recent graduates (mostly under three years since graduation). If you are interested in studying at Imperial Business School and have over three years of work experience, you may like to consider our MBA programmes.

We hope you have found the above information insightful and are feeling more comfortable identifying which Finance programme is right for you. We look forward to receiving your applications!