British business schools shine in the 2015 Financial Times ranking of European institutions

British business schools shine in the 2015 Financial Times ranking of European institutions. Not only has London Business School (LBS) kept its crown as the best business school in Europe but three other schools in Britain have achieved the biggest rises since last year

In the field of the best 85 business schools in Europe, HEC Paris remains in second place behind LBS, while Insead, the international school based in Fontainebleau, France, climbs two places to third

Meanwhile, the University of Bradford School of Management and the University of Edinburgh Business School each climb 16 places, to 42nd and 55th, respectively. Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge rises 15 places to 14th

This ranking measures the quality and breadth of the schools’ postgraduate programmes. It is based on their performance in the four main rankings published by the FT each year: MBA, Executive MBA, Masters in Management and Executive Education. Only schools that take part in all four rankings are eligible for a full score

A strong performance in all four rankings for LBS includes first place for its full-time MBA programme and third for both its joint Executive MBA programme (taught with Columbia Business School in the US) and customised executive education

The quality of its students makes LBS particularly valued. “Studying among so many talented people has instilled in me the belief that I can actually achieve something on my own,” comments one MBA graduate from the class of 2011

In 55th place, University of Edinburgh Business School regains the rank it held two years ago. The school dropped down the tables last year after failing to make it into the Masters in Management ranking. The University of Bradford School of Management recorded its best progression, aided by the school’s first appearance in the ranking of the top 100 Executive MBAs

Cambridge Judge Business School also ends the year on a high, appearing for the first time in the rankings for both open and custom executive education, and climbing three places in the MBA ranking and 12 places in the Executive MBA table

However, strong progress across the main rankings does not automatically translate into European success. Sa

Business School at the University of Oxford, for example, rose one place in the MBA ranking, five places in the ranking of open executive programmes and broke into the top 10 of the Executive MBA ranking for the first time by moving up 12 places, but its European ranking remains unchanged, at 10th

While British schools moved up two places on average, French schools, the largest group from any one country, fell one place on average. EMLyon Business School dropped outside the MBA ranking and lost 15 places overall, while Edhec Business School failed to make it into the Executive MBA ranking and lost eight places overall as a result

Among French schools, Toulouse Business School made the best progress, up 14 places, after featuring in the Executive MBA ranking for the first time

In terms of salary three years after graduation, Germany leads the way for masters in management programmes, with three schools in the top four. Graduates of WHU Beisheim have the distinction of earning the highest salary, at $98,123 on average

In the MBA ranking, LBS, Insead and Spain’s IE Business School are bunched together with only a few dollars between them. Insead has the top salary at $155,015

Finally, in the EMBA ranking, excluding joint programmes delivered with non-European schools, IMD of Switzerland, with an average salary of $261,397, is well ahead of Said Business School in second and IE Business School in third place