Top Universities to Study an EMBA in London

Imperial College London ranked 22nd in the QS Global Executive MBA Rankings 2021, and 11th in the QS Executive MBA Rankings by Region 2021: Europe (and fifth in the UK). 

It is, therefore, one of the most prestigious schools to study an EMBA in London. 

The school offers a 23-month executive MBA programme that unites theory learning and hands-on practice. Lectures are conducted in South Kensington, a royal borough of London, awash with quality restaurants, designer boutiques and cultural attractions. Students have three sessions on campus every four weeks, taking place on Friday and Saturday in their first year to engage with core modules. In the second year, attention is focused on electives and a Global Immersion Week. 

The Global Immersion Week is an international study abroad programme that allows students to explore a country’s business culture and practices, paid for through course tuition fees. 

The school also offers a unique option for students to take part in an Entrepreneurial Journey instead of an elective in their second year of study. This is a live experience that challenges students to investigate the commercial potential of their own individual ideas or work on a project being developed by one of the university’s partners. Emphasis is very much placed on students forming strong client-consultant relationships. 

The school requires applicants to have at least 10 years’ work experience. Total fees for 2021 intakes are £61,500 (US$87,256) – however this doesn’t cover accommodation for the time spent studying in London. 

Bayes Business School – formerly known as Cass Business School – offers another solid EMBA programme in London.

Bayes’ Executive MBA programme is delivered twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) over 24 months, where the Modular Executive MBA programme is delivered over one long weekend (Friday to Monday) a month over 24 months. Programmes are delivered on evenings and weekends so that students have the flexibility to work full-time while acquiring new business skills and expertise. 

The school seeks to prepare students for global management roles and offers International Consultancy Weeks with small and medium sized enterprises across the globe. The international study abroad consultancy week was first offered in 2003 and has since become a core element to EMBA study at Bayes. Students can choose to take several electives at the school’s Dubai campus during their elective period.  

Teams aim to investigate and solve challenges facing their case companies throughout the travel week and have a further four weeks after departure to provide a concise list of recommendations to the company for analysis and assessment. 

The Bayes EMBA is also assessed through the Business Mastery Project in second year. This is a self-managed business consultancy exercise that involves designing, conducting and managing every aspect of a project, addressing real business problems at chosen companies or industry areas. Many of these projects are conducted on summer internships in conjunction with the Bayes careers service. Past projects have included problem-solving in diverse areas such as travel and tourism, advertising and marketing, law, and stock exchanges. 

The weekend EMBA programme costs £51,000 (US$72,302). Fees cover all textbooks, flights and accommodation for international consultancy project, and professional development coaching sessions. 

LSE offers the TRIUM Global Executive MBA programme jointly with the NYU Stern School of Business and HEC Paris. This course provides a global curriculum for senior level executives across six international business locations (London, California, Paris, New York, Shanghai, Paris) over 18 months. 

The joint programme is ranked number one in the QS Global Executive MBA 2021, showcasing just how strong its reputation is among EMBA recruiters. 

Modules are designed and delivered by all three schools, allowing students to complement their strengths, on learning retreats of one or two weeks over the 18 months, drastically reducing the amount of time students are required to take away from their professional work – no student will be away from work for longer than 10 weeks in total. 

Students on the TRIUM EMBA enjoy the unique advantage of being offered a degree in by all three schools, also benefitting from accessing each school’s extensive network of alumni students. 

The curriculum covers traditional areas such as finance, accounting, marketing and executive leadership but also offers a variety of contemporary topics such as social media, negotiation, global political economy and the TRIUM Capstone Project. 

The Capstone Project allows students to bring their coursework to life by transforming business ideas into potential life changing start-ups. Students work in teams to develop a business idea from beginning to launch by taking advantage the various skills acquired over the EMBA course and the alumni connections available at HSE Paris, NYU Stern and LSE. 

The programme requires students to have possess a minimum of 10 years’ work experience and costs a total of US$185,150 – which includes tuition, lodging for the Silicon Valley and Shanghai modules, lunch and group dinners and required materials. 

This article was originally published in November 2019. It was last updated in June 2021 to include recent rankings data.