According to the latest Economist Full-time MBA Ranking, UK Business Schools had a poor year compared to schools in the US and Europe. However, the Economist MBA Ranking witnessed a new entrant, "University of Bath - School of Management" in the top five B-School (UK) list. London Business School and Cambridge Judge Business School saw the biggest dip in ranking, followed by Warwick Business School. University of Bath - School of Management, Cranfield and Henley Business School showed steady rise. In realty, the three schools have shown considerable improvement in quality as 'The Economist' MBA ranking is based on weighted average of data from 2010(50%), 2009(30%) and 2008(20%).
As the team at The Economist themselves have said - "The Results of rankings can be volatile, so they should be treated with caution", a detailed analysis of the MBA ranking methodology is required before a conclusion can be established. Some might argue that 'The Economist' ranking methodology gives higher weightage to a Strong career service (35%) compared to the quality of faculty (8.75%), as evaluated by current students. But a well distributed score - Open New Career Opportunities (35%), Personal Development/Education Experience (35%), Increase in Salary (20%) and Potential to network (10%) gives us a fair indication about the quality of the schools.
Business School Previous Rank Current Rank
1. London Business School 8 19
2. Cambridge Judge Business School 11 30
3. Cranfield School of Management 18 15
4. Henley Business School 21 17
5. Bath, University of - School of Management Not in Top 30 29
6. Warwick Business School 22 34
We feel that 'The Economist' MBA ranking doesn't represent schools that help MBA students with a non-traditional (Education Experience - 8.75%) or entrepreneurial (Potential to network - 10%) post-MBA careers. If you are looking for traditional post-MBA jobs then the Economist MBA ranking might give you hints on the best Business Schools in the world. Click here to find out more about the latest 'The Economist' full-time MBA ranking.
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About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.