New international partnership to benefit MBA students
Cranfield School of Management is partnering with leading European business school ESCP (École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris) to offer its MBA students an invaluable international experience.
Find out more
“The Cranfield MBA is a transformative experience through which our students explore their interests, strengths, and weaknesses, develop expertise and mindset, and express their talents to thrive and realise their full potential. This unique programme provides a range of challenges and opportunities for those with a strong desire to grow and make a real impact on businesses, individuals, and wider society. The programme offers a number of features to enable this mission including immersion into the real world of practice, exposure to a diverse range of cultures and management styles, nurturing of unique talents and an impactful and inspiring community”.
Dr Leila Alinaghian Associate Professor (Reader) of Business Relationships and Impact & Director of Full-time MBA
The programme
If you are an ambitious individual – ready to tackle global business challenges with clarity and confidence – the Cranfield full-time MBA is designed for you.
This immersive 12-month programme is consistently ranked one of the world’s best MBAs.
Why the Cranfield MBA?
We know you have a lot of choice about where to study your MBA and we’re delighted you are considering Cranfield.
The quality of our MBA programme is globally recognised:
- UK Top Five for sector diversity in the classroom (FT Global MBA Ranking 2024)
- Top 10 in Europe and global Top 20 for Value for Money (FT Global MBA Ranking 2024)
- Top 10 in Europe and #22 globally for Career Progress (FT Global MBA Ranking 2024)
- #3 in UK for the percentage of female faculty and Top 5 for the percentage of female students (FT Global MBA Ranking 2024)
- #12 in Europe and 4th in the UK (Bloomberg Businessweek Best B-Schools List 2023-24)
- #1 in Europe and in the UK for Entrepreneurship and for Learning (Bloomberg Businessweek Best B-Schools List 2023-24)
- No. 6 in the world for teaching influence (Business School Teaching Power Rankings 2021 compiled for the Financial Times)
- Top 5 in the world for innovation and entrepreneurship (América Economia Global MBA Rankings 2022)
- Top 19% globally for speed to ROI (QS 2022 Global Rankings)
- Top 5 in the UK for salary outcomes (QS Global MBA Rankings 2023)
- Top 20 worldwide for diversity of recruiters (The Economist Which MBA? 2022)
What we offer
You will join a close-knit international cohort of no more than 100 fellow professionals. That’s large enough to challenge your perspectives and introduce new ideas. But small enough to guarantee individual attention thanks to an 8:1 staff to student ratio.
Your tutors are all management and leadership experts, infusing their teaching with the latest insights from their industry experience. They will equip you with an in-depth understanding of business and finance, so you can assert your expertise confidently in any business function or sector.
You will have access to Cranfield’s Career mentoring programme, where successful professionals offer advice and guidance to support you through your studies.
You will also receive 1-2-1 career coaching to discover your unique strengths as a leader. We’ll then support you to develop a personalised progression plan to help guide, inspire and accelerate your career after Cranfield.
Videos and testimonial
"On average, the Cranfield MBA cohort has considerably more work experience than cohorts from other top-ranked business schools, yet it is also relatively small. This unique combination leads to the most extraordinary classroom discussions, as faculty bring the theory to life and straight into a business context."
Philippe Jaques, CEO – Bilfinger Industrial Services Schweiz, MBA 2019
Our community
We have over 17,000 European alumni within our global alumni network.
Below is a list of our most notable alumni from Europe.
Vatsan Govindarajan, MBA, Senior Vice President, SAP SE
Daniel Moelders, MBA, Director of Employee Relations, Zalando SE
Kim Nilsson, MBA, CEO & Co-Founder, PeripherAi
Oliver Ripplinger, MBA, Consultant, IBM Business Consulting Services
Andres Sanchez, MBA, CEO, Living Indie
Alex Carbunarea, MBA, CEO, SC ASAM SA
Alexandru Radu, MBA, Managing Partner, Kazoo
Walid Khabbaze, MBA, Managing Director, Konzept K Limited
Maria Kovacheva, MBA, Head of Strategy Development, ARCO Ltd
Hui Zhu, MBA, Co-Founder, Bridge 2088 UG
Juan Cobos Hernández, MBA, Director - Business Development, Ayesa
Admissions
Application deadlines
We run a staged admissions process.
Who we are looking for
We are looking for candidates who aspire to – or currently hold – senior leadership roles. We also want to work with entrepreneurs eager to grow their businesses and the economy. People with the integrity and vision to drive organisations forward.
You will have proved your potential through at least three years of professional experience or by running your own business. And now you are ready for more.
Whether you want to:
- Accelerate your current career or confidently change direction
- Develop business acumen to help your start-up skyrocket
- Challenge yourself to become a more effective leader
Our intensely personalised MBA programme will develop your unique strengths, to unlock the leader you’re meant to be.
Entry requirements
We welcome applications from talented candidates from all industries. Professional experience and personal qualities are equally important to us. We want students who challenge us and their classmates, people who strive for both personal and team success.
We want to know how ambitious and determined you are, what your potential is to grow and make a difference.
You should have:
- At least three years of postgraduate work experience
- A good university degree and/or professional qualification
- Applicants without a university degree are welcome as long as they can demonstrate a high level of achievement, exceptional career development or leadership potential
Additional entry requirements for the Full-time MBA can be found on the programme page.
Visas and immigration
EEA students who arrive in the UK by 11pm on 31 December 2020, don’t need a visa even if they later leave the UK and re-enter. However, they will have until 30 June 2021 to apply for leave under the EU Settlement Scheme. Student immigration and Funding at Cranfield University support all our EEA students with the application process including helping them to fill in the application form and do the identity check.
If you arrive in the UK after 11pm on 31 December 2020, you will have to apply for visa under the Student visa route in place for all international students. You can apply for your Student visa within 6 months from your course start date. To apply under the Student visa route you will need to be issued a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) by Cranfield University. You will be able to complete your application, including identity verification, using a smartphone app called (ID Check). Some applicants may need to attend a Visa Application Centre if they are unable to access the application, or if they do not have a biometric passport. The UK Government published a guide for EEA students which provides more information. EEA and Swiss passport holders are exempt from requiring an ATAS certificate for UK study.
We also offer more advice and guidance on our visas and immigration page. There you will find contact information for the Student Immigration and funding team who can offer support.
Fees and funding
Course fees for 2022 entry are £40,175.
Payment schedule
Once you have been offered a place on our programme, you will need to pay a £3,000 non-refundable deposit. You will have a period of 30 days following receipt of your offer to pay your deposit to accept your offer. Your place is not guaranteed until you have paid your deposit. The remainder of the tuition fees is payable at the start of the programme.
Accommodation and living expenses are substantially lower at Cranfield than in major cities such as London; however we suggest you budget an additional £12,000 for accommodation and living expenses, or more if you are bringing a partner and family.
Scholarships for EU Students
Prospective students from Europe can benefit from both European-specific scholarships listed below, as well as scholarships designed for talented female candidates or those who come from specific industries. Please see below for further information or view all our MBA scholarships.
British and European Leadership Scholarship
Simon Rowlands MBA 1986 Scholarship Fund
