Essex Business School awarded AMBA accreditation

14 Jan 2020

The Association of MBAs (AMBA) has awarded accreditation to the University of Essex’s Business School.

According to a recent press release, members of AMBA’s visiting accreditation panel commended Essex Business School for its unique learning opportunities for students and their innovative Directors’ Workshops.

In addition, the business planning module and the simulation elements of the Essex MBA programme were highly praised, as they granted students real-world insight into the modern business sector.

“Securing AMBA accreditation is a fantastic achievement that reflects the strength of our MBA programme, the currency of its curriculum focused on sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship, and the world-class learning experience our MBA participants expect from a leading business school,” says Essex Business School MBA Director, Nicolas Forsans.

The AMBA accreditation panel also took note of UK’s first zero-carbon business school building, which offers programmes in five subject areas – Accounting, Finance, Management and Marketing, Organisational Studies and Human Resource Management, and Entrepreneurship – and houses 2000 students and academics.

We are very pleased to announce that Essex Business School has been awarded Accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA). Less than 2% of business schools can boast this accolade for their MBA. We would like to thank the @Assoc_of_MBAs panel for their kind support pic.twitter.com/bZ3cYCW8mM

— Essex Business School (@Essex_EBS) January 6, 2020

Only accrediting the top two percent of business schools globally, an AMBA accreditation is widely viewed as an incredible achievement. It is one of the two most prestigious accreditations for business schools – the other is by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

For the Dean of Essex Business School, Professor Neil Kellard, the AMBA accreditation process reflects a commitment to fostering innovation and demanding Business Schools to perform at the highest level continually.

“This partnership between academics and students from both the local area and all around the world is truly exciting and I look forward to welcoming more students on our full-time, part-time and degree apprenticeship MBA programmes,” says Kellard.

No Brexit blues?

With another UK university accredited by the prestigious Association of MBAs (AMBA), does this mean the country is maintaining its MBA magnetism despite the political turmoil that has gripped it since voting to leave the European Union in June 2016?

According to the 2019 Application Trends Survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), UK MBA programmes have yet to see significant negative impacts to their international applications amidst Brexit uncertainty.

Application data suggest most institutions remain attractive, particularly to international applicants, who make up 95 percent of business programmes’ applicant pools. Of those who submitted a GMAT score to a business school, survey responses from late last year revealed more than half saying Brexit does not influence their decision to study in the UK, up from 46 percent two years earlier.

The report found: “Three in four UK MBA programmes report that their international application volumes either grew (64 percent of programmes) or held steady (11 percent) compared with last year.”

“Only 25 percent of programs received fewer international applications than last year, and most of them were down slightly (18 percent).”