European Business Schools Ranking 2024: methodology and key

This is the 21st annual Financial Times ranking of European business schools. It is a composite ranking based on the combined performance of Europe’s leading schools across the five main rankings of programmes published by the FT in 2024: Masters in Management (MiM); MBA; Executive MBA (EMBA); and the two rankings of non-degree executive education courses. The Online MBA and Masters in Finance rankings are not included.

The European business school rank is calculated after removing non-European schools from each of these individual rankings. MiM, MBA and EMBA account for 25 per cent of each school’s total performance. For Executive Education, the scores obtained for custom and open courses each account for 12.5 per cent. Schools must have a minimum total weight of 25 out of the possible 100 (from all five rankings) to be eligible, so need at least one masters programme or two executive courses to qualify.

Schools ranked with a joint programme receive a proportional share of the programme’s indexed score. For example, Essec gets 50 per cent of the score achieved by its joint EMBA programme with Mannheim — worth 12.5 per cent of the possible 100 total weight.

European Business Schools Ranking 2024

Read the ranking and report

The ranking measures the schools’ quality and breadth of programmes. Quality is given a greater emphasis so that schools offering high-quality training but not providing all of the different courses considered can still perform strongly overall.

An indexed score is created for each ranking. These scores are then added together, according to the weighting above, creating a combined total for each school, which comprises one third of the final score, measuring the breadth of courses. The remaining two-thirds is an average score, measuring programme quality, derived by dividing the total score for each school by the number of rankings in which it features.

Scores are not simply based on an aggregation of published ranking positions. They are calculated using Z-scores — formulas that reflect the range between the top and bottom school — for the individual criteria that make up each component ranking.

The following rules are specific to the FT composite European ranking:

Programmes ranked outside the published tables for MBA, Executive Education, Masters in Management and EMBA are taken into consideration. They are shown with an asterisk.

If a school has more than one programme in the same ranking, a combined weighted score is awarded. HEC Paris receives 33 per cent of the score achieved by the Trium Global EMBA and the remaining 67 per cent from its own single programme.

Key (weights for ranking criteria in the overall European Business School Ranking are shown in brackets as a percentage)

The European Business Schools Ranking is based on the overall scores each school has achieved for every ranking in which it features, from MiM, MBA, EMBA and Custom and Open Executive Education. The composite ranking is not solely based on the data displayed in the European schools table.

MBA

European rank (25): position among European schools that took part in the 2024 FT Global MBA ranking.
Salary today $: average alumni salary three years after completion, US$ by purchasing power parity (PPP). Includes weighted data from the current and two previous years, where available.
Salary increase (%): average difference between pre-MBA salary and salary three years after completion.

Executive MBA

European rank (25): position among European schools that took part in the 2024 EMBA ranking.
Salary today $: average alumni salary three years after completion, US$ PPP. Includes weighted data from the current and two previous years, where available.
Salary increase (%): average difference between pre-EMBA salary and salary three years after completion.

Masters in Management

European rank (25): position among European schools that took part in the 2024 MiM ranking.
Salary today $: average alumni salary three years after completion, US$ PPP. Includes weighted data from the current and two previous years, where available.
Salary increase (%): average difference between salary after completing course and salary three years later.

Executive Education

Open programmes (12.5): position among European schools that participated in the FT ranking of open-enrolment programmes in 2024.
Custom programmes (12.5): position among European schools that participated in the FT ranking of customised programmes in 2024.

Faculty

Female faculty: female full-time faculty (%).
International faculty: full-time faculty whose citizenship differs from country of employment (%).
Faculty with doctorate: full-time faculty with a doctoral degree (%).

FT European Business Schools composite ranking: table notes and tiers

This composite ranking is based on the performance of Europe’s leading business schools across the five main programme rankings published by the FT in 2024: MBA; Executive MBA (EMBA); Masters in Management; and open-enrolment and custom Executive Education courses. All the ranked schools are of high quality. Some 148 points separate the top business school, Insead, from ISC Paris, ranked 100. Schools are divided into four tiers. Those in tiers l and ll score above the average for the cohort, and tiers lll and lV are below it. The difference in scores between schools ranked consecutively is greater within tiers l and lV than in tiers ll and lll. Tier l includes six schools from Insead to SDA Bocconi. Tier ll spans Edhec, ranked seventh, to BI Norwegian, in 42nd place. Tier lll includes Iscte, in 43rd place, to the University of Bath Management School, ranked 90. Tier lV includes schools from Esdes, in 91st place, to ISC Paris at 100.

# Figure in brackets refers to data from a separate joint programme for schools with more than one degree that was either ranked or met the criteria but is not in the final top 100 ranked schools.

† For Masters in Management, salary increase in the three years from completion to now. For MBA/EMBA, the average difference in alumni salary is between before the degree and now, three years after completion.

‡ Faculty data is provided for information — taken from the most recent survey for a published ranking in which the school took part, which can be the MBA, EMBA or Masters in Management 2024.

* School was ranked outside the final table in 2024 for MBA, Executive Education, EMBA or Masters in Management.

** School participated in this ranking on the basis of a joint programme only. Underlying score based on proportion of total score.

Judith Pizer of Pizer-MacMillan and Avner Cohen of AC Data Science acted as the FT’s database consultants

European Business Schools ranking: profiles

Top European School: Insead

Insead heads this ranking for the first time, thanks to strong positions in the Masters in Management and EMBA rankings, in third and fifth places respectively among European schools. Insead also heads the custom executive education ranking and is top in Europe for MBAs. It was the first time Insead was ranked for all these courses. One EMBA alumnus wrote: “Meeting with like-minded people from all over the world was a priceless experience, beyond what I learnt.”

Highest riser: Skema

Skema Business School is the highest riser in the European table, up 45 places to 26th. Its success can be attributed in part to its 13th place in its first appearance in the global EMBA ranking, and improved positions in the custom and open executive courses tables. The French school also topped the Masters in Management table’s ESG category, based on core course hours dedicated to environmental, social and governance issues, plus alumni evaluations of ESG teaching.

Highest new entry: IQS — Universitat Ramon Llull

Barcelona-based IQS — Universitat Ramon Llull is the highest new entrant in this year’s European Business Schools Ranking, debuting in 84th place. The school entered the Masters in Management (MiM) table for the first time, ranked 62nd among European institutions and 77th globally. IQS graduates experienced the third-largest increase in salaries in the MiM category, at 78 per cent. In addition, the school also ranked fourth for alumni career progression in that table, highlighting the institution’s good performance.

Biggest salary increase: Esade

Spain’s Esade has the biggest alumni salary increase in the European table: 151 per cent, which was reported by the school’s MBA graduates who completed their course in 2020. The change in salary is measured over a period from before the degree to three years after completing it. Esade remains in 12th place overall, with top 10 ranks in the MBA, custom and open executive education categories. Esade also moved up 13 places in the global MBA 2024 ranking.

Compiled by Leo Cremonezi, Sam Stephens and Wai Kwen Chan