Right at the outset, do not confuse this ranking with the Financial Times Global MBA ranking which is an annual ranking of the best MBA programmes in the world.
The Financial Times European B-school ranking, is a ranking of rankings – what that means is that it combines the ranking of different programmes offered by business schools in Europe such as an MBA (typically a one-year course for candidates with on an average of five years experience), Executive MBA (part time programme) and Masters in Management (a programme for a candiates without work experience) to arrive at the ranking of the best business schools in Europe.
In 2013, IE Business School, Spain shares the No. 1 position with French business school HEC, Paris. The two schools head the table of the best 75 business schools in Europe.
HEC Paris reclaims the top slot it lost last year thanks to a very strong performance across all the FT rankings. It came first for customised education, second for open-enrolment programmes, third for EMBAs with its joint programme Trium and fourth for its masters in management.
IE lost one or two places in some rankings but scored highly in others to retain the top spot it gained last year, in particular being ranked fourth for its MBA and fifth for its masters in management.
In fact, its a double whammy for IE Business School. This week also saw the publication of the QS Global Business Schools Report 2013/14, which ranks IE Business School as No. 1 in Europe and No. 4 in the world for entrepreneurship, after Harvard, Stanford and Wharton. The ranking, drawn up by UK consultancy firm QS, is based on the opinions of over 4,300 recruiters who hire MBA graduates.
In order to prepare its “ranking of rankings” Financial Times employs criteria that include international reach of the school and its programs, career and salary progression of business school graduates, fulfillment of expectations of students and client firms, and levels of research.
Below is the interactive ranking – click on the business school name for more details on the school and its past ranking.
Financial Times European Business School Rankings 2013
| Rank 2013 | 3 year rank | Business School | Country | MBA European Rank 2013 | EMBA European Rank 2013# | Masters in Management European Rank 2013† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | HEC Paris | France | 7 | 3** | 4 | |
| 1 | 3 | IE Business School | Spain | 4 | 7 | 5 | |
| 3 | 3 | London Business School | UK | 1 | 11 (2)*** | – | |
| 3 | 5 | Esade Business School | Spain | 8 | 7** | 9 | |
| 5 | 4 | Insead | France | 2 | 5 (1)*** | – | |
| 6 | 5 | Iese Business School | Spain | 3 | 6 | – | |
| 7 | 9 | University of St Gallen | Switzerland | 24 | 30 | 1 | |
| 8 | 9 | SDA Bocconi | Italy | 14 | 28 | 16 | |
| 9 | 7 | IMD | Switzerland | 6 | 10 | – | |
| 10 | 9 | Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University | Netherlands | 12 | 24 (15)*** | 5 |