Full-time MBA FAQs

We welcome candidates from many different backgrounds including engineering, medicine, creative industries, and more. We tend to look for a minimum of three years' post-graduate work experience, but the typical candidate has five or more. This is all to ensure that every student can contribute meaningfully to classroom discussions and share interesting insights and diverse ideas from their own professional experience. Cranfield University is known for its seniority in the cohorts and we attract candidates from all over with vast experience. However, we always value quality of experience over quantity.

There’s no single fit, we’re looking for anyone who is eager to bring something new to the table, both during their time at Cranfield and after they graduate.

Once you have submitted your application, it will be reviewed by the Selection Committee. Generally, you will receive a decision within six weeks of submitting. If you are shortlisted for an interview, we will send you more details about how to apply for the admission test.

All interviews start with an informal three-minute presentation - the topic of which will be sent to you a week before. We’ll ask you about your career plans and how you think the Cranfield MBA will help you to achieve them. You may also be asked questions you haven’t prepared for, but don’t worry! They’re designed to give you a chance to see how you respond.

The Cranfield MBA programme is delivered entirely face-to-face on our unique campus. There are opportunities to participate remotely for some activities, but we encourage students to join us on campus to get the most out of the immersive Cranfield experience.

The MBA is transformative because of this immersive learning. The focused campus atmosphere is a safe space to truly explore your future career potential and explore your own development. An MBA is a big investment in time and money; being on campus helps you make the most of it!

We offer a range of scholarships, many of which are funded by our generous MBA alumni. We also offer awards that support diversity, recognise leadership potential, and strive to improve the practice of management across various sectors and regions worldwide.

If you wish to be considered for a scholarship, please indicate this in your application form. The MBA Admissions Team will decide on scholarship awards on an ongoing basis throughout the year, but applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early.

The advantage of a countryside campus is that cost of living is much more affordable than city life! However costs can vary depending on whether you plan to live alone or with a partner/family. Many options are available and can be discussed with our admissions team, but you can find a summary of indicative costs here.

You’ll typically be in an intimate cohort of around 50 students, allowing for more personal tutoring. Students tend to come from around 18 different nationalities, so you can be sure you’ll experience diverse conversation and debate.

We’re not an “MBA factory”; everyone’s transformation is different and unique to them. The diversity and intimacy of our cohorts is an integral part of this journey. By limiting class sizes to an exclusive group we are able to provide a more tailored approach and more 1-2-1 coaching to unlock your own personal leadership brand.

Modules are assessed either by examinations, individual assignments, group projects or group presentations, depending on the nature of the module.

Career development starts at Cranfield the moment you accept your place. You’ll be encouraged to upload your CV to our portal and engage as early as possible with our careers team – especially if you are considering an MBA internship, as applications deadlines are typically early in the academic year.

The Careers and Employability Service has many different functions, from delivering 1:1 coaching, supporting internship placements, to establishing links with employers. The team work closely with businesses to support internships so that MBA candidates can explore new industries and opportunities.

Importantly, our careers support continues long after you leave Cranfield; our MBA graduates benefit from a lifelong service.

The Cranfield network is one of the BIG reasons people come to Cranfield. Cranfield has amongst the highest number of CEOs on Fortune Global 500 boards, with Cranfield CEOs running companies with combined total revenues exceeding $100 billion.

We host many formal and informal networking events, during the MBA and after. In addition to the Careers services provided, we host a regular speaker series where alumni come back to share their career experiences, networking events hosted at Cranfield’s Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship, and MBAs also have access to an Executive in Residence. We ranked No. 1 in the world for the breadth of our alumni network in The Economist’s ‘Which MBA?’ in 2021, and No. 1 in the world for our ratio of alumni to current students (part of the “potential to network” criteria) in The Economist’s 2022 rankings.

You’ll also have plenty of opportunities to network with students at other schools. We participate in a number of exclusive inter-business school events and competitions, such as the MBAT tournament (the largest gathering of MBA students in Europe), and the Venture Capital Investment Competition (we’ve won the South European Finals two years’ running, and in 2022 were the only team based outside the US to reach the global final six!)