Earning a business degree is a tremendous way to kickstart your career.
Most business programs cover different subjects across different disciplines, as the field requires a diverse set of skills.
For example, business students may be required to take courses in mathematics in order to succeed in economics and accounting.
Writing courses help one develop oral and written communication skills that are crucial to marketing, networking, and other aspects of entrepreneurship.
Because business programs entail such a well-rounded education, people with degrees in business are very attractive to employers.
In addition, many business programs also offer extensive mentorship, internship, and externship opportunities, allowing students to gain invaluable hands-on experience before graduating.
Students seeking an excellent business degree program would be wise to search in the United Kingdom, which is home to more than 100 business schools.
Beyond the sheer number of options to choose from, the UK also offers prospective business students close proximity to London, a bustling hub for the financial industry featuring numerous business districts.
In fact, London has more overseas banks than any other city worldwide, making the city the world’s largest center for currency exchange.
For anyone interested in learning more about studying business in the UK, we have compiled this list of the 10 best business schools in the country.
This ranking was created as an “averaged” ranking – we looked at five top UK Business Schools lists, assigned a score to each school on every list based on their position in each ranking, then created this list based on which schools had the highest score with all rankings considered.
With this in mind, read on to see our picks for the best business schools in the UK and learn some interesting facts about what each school has to offer.
10. University of St. Andrews School of Management
Established in 1412, the School of Management at the University of St. Andrews is an internationally-acclaimed business school located in Scotland.
The School of Management is perhaps best-known for its excellent research programs.
In a 2021 review called the Research Excellence Framework exercise, experts determined that 88% of the school’s research activity is of world-class quality in terms of impact, output, and research environment.
The school is home to seven research centers and institutes.
Research is categorized into the following four groups: organizations and society; financial institutions and markets; knowledge and practice; and accounting, governance, and organizations.
Breaking away from conventional approaches to business education, the School of Management incorporates a multitude of varying theoretical perspectives into its curriculum, covering a diverse range of different kinds of business.
9. University of Bath School of Management
The University of Bath School of Management is an excellent business school that offers degree programs at the MBA and PhD levels, as well as a number of business courses for undergraduate students and students in MSc programs.
Bath’s School of Management is consistently ranked as one of the overall best business schools in the UK, being named among the top five in several different recent publications.
Additionally, Bath has been ranked first in the UK for marketing by the Complete University Guide every year since 2017.
The school also has a strong reputation for research, ranking seventh among all universities in the UK in terms of best business and management studies offerings, according to an analysis of the school’s research activity done by Times Higher Education.
8. University College London School of Management
Located in the heart of England’s capital city, the School of Management at University College London is an amazing school that is dedicated to the belief major changes in the field of management are driven by four key factors: technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, and analytics.
Thus, UCL emphasizes innovation in its approach to business education, from the undergraduate level all the way up to PhDs.
Through this approach, the school aspires to help students become successful, forward-thinking professionals with the flexible, dynamic entrepreneurial skills that the ever-changing world of technology demands.
The UCL School of Management is home to two different organizations that help students connect with employers and find jobs in the business industry: the Careers Consultant team and the Employer Engagement team.
The school regularly hosts career and professional development events throughout the academic year, many of which feature internationally-acclaimed business experts and industry leaders as guest speakers.
7. Alliance Manchester Business School
Part of the University of Manchester, the Alliance Manchester Business School is the largest business school in the UK.
The school claimed this designation in 2004, following a merger with the School of Accounting and Finance at Victoria University of Manchester and UM’s School of Management.
Established in 1965, Alliance Manchester is also among the oldest business schools in the UK, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015.
Students at this school immediately join an incredibly vast student body of like-minded individuals — not to mention the school’s alumni network of over 60,000 graduates across the world.
In addition to undergraduate degrees in business, the university also offers masters, MBA, and PhD degree programs, all of which are highly esteemed for their quality of education.
On top of that, there are also a number of executive education courses intended to help current CEOs and other higher-up business professionals strengthen leadership skills.
6. Imperial College Business School
Located in the South Kensington district of London, the Imperial College Business School is consistently ranked among the top 10 universities in the UK.
In the 2022 edition of their annual Good University Guide, the Sunday Times named Imperial College university of the year in terms of the student experience.
The school has an extensive array of program offerings at all levels, from undergraduate degrees all the way up to doctoral degrees. There are also some online programs, such as the Global Online MBA.
On top of that, Imperial offers both full-time and part-time program options, giving students the ability to pursue a business degree in whatever manner best suits their needs and preferences.
Graduate degree programs include the Masters in Business Administration and the Masters of Sciences.
5. London Business School
Part of the University of London, the London Business School is an excellent business school located in England’s capital.
London Business School offers a large variety of widely-acclaimed programs, such as the two-year international MBA program, which has been deemed the best in the world by Forbes Ranking.
According to Financial Times Ranking, London Business School’s full-time masters in finance post-experience program is also the best in the world, giving students at this school multiple world-class courses of study to choose from.
In addition to their London campus, the London Business School also maintains a second campus in Dubai, located at the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Students at this campus have the opportunity to be immersed in one of the world’s most important centers for business, with plenty of major banks, commercial enterprises, and investment firms packed into the downtown area.
4. London School of Economics and Political Science
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a world-class university that is among the world’s leading universities for the study of social sciences, offering many great program options for business students.
According to the 2023 edition of the Complete University Guide, the London School of Economics and Political Science is the #1 university in the city of London — a title the school has claimed for 11 consecutive years now.
Looking at universities across all the UK, LSE is ranked third out of the 130 universities in the UK that were analyzed.
Further supporting the school’s strong reputation, LSE claims an impressive 18 Nobel Prize recipients among faculty members and alumni. Additionally, no less than 37 world leaders have taught at LSE since its founding.
3. Warwick Business School
Established in 1967, Warwick Business School is the business school of the University of Warwick. It is located in Coventry, the ninth largest city in England.
In the more than 50 years since the school was founded, Warwick has become the single largest department at its home university.
Now, the Warwick Business School has an alumni network of over 53,000 graduates living in 167 different countries across the globe.
Maintaining a commitment to the core values of curiosity, excellence, and openness, Warwick aspires to become the foremost business school in Europe, helping students develop critical thinking skills with their sights set on the future of business.
Warwick offers many different degree programs, several of which are among the best in the world. For example, Financial Times ranked WBS’s online MBA program was ranked first worldwide in 2022.
2. University of Cambridge Judge School of Business
Part of the prestigious University of Cambridge, the Cambridge Judge Business School is an excellent business school known worldwide for its strength in innovation management and entrepreneurship.
Degree programs at the Judge Business School include multiple master’s and doctoral options.
Master’s degree programs include the MBA, executive MBA, masters in social innovation, master of philosophy in technology policy, and many others.
Doctoral programs include the business doctorate, PhD, and dual degree options.
For second- and third-year undergraduate students, there is the Management Studies Tripos.
Intended to serve as the third or fourth year of a bachelor’s degree, the Management Studies Tripos allows non-business major students considering careers in management to understand the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and related concepts.
1. Oxford University Saïd Business School
The Saïd Business School is the business school of the University of Oxford.
With evidence of teaching at the college dating back to as early as 1096, Oxford is one of the world’s oldest institutions for higher education.
Over the course of its extensive history, Oxford has come to be known as one of the world’s most prestigious colleges. Thus, it is little surprising that their business school is world-class.
According to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2020, Saïd is the world’s best business school.
Some of Saïd’s most highly ranked programs include the BA in economics and management, which has been ranked first in the UK and eighth in the world. The MSc in financial economics is also among the school’s most well-revered programs, being named best in the country by Financial Times and best in the world by QS Top Universities.
This ranking was created as an aggregation of multiple ranking sources. Here are the ranking sources used for this article.
