Good afternoon Duncan and thanks for this great forum which has answered so many of my questions! I decided to change from and MSC Management with Liverpool to an MBA and got admissions for online MBAs in Roehampton, Leicester and Birmingham (applied and got positive answers in that order) …. I was really interested in Roehampton’s programme and fees, Leicester’s programme with possibility of specializing in HR, Birmingham’s triple accreditation, membership of the Russell group and world ranking in the top 100 …

This great forum helped me make my decision to change from the MSC to an MBA, and also to eliminate Roehampton and Leicester (I didn’t apply for the MBA in Liverpool: too expensive and not accredited because if I’m not mistaken, it’s the school that’s accredited AACSB and not the programme).

My question now is knowing that Birmingham’s online MBA is recent would you advise me to stick with this university or should I try Bradford? I noticed that Bradford works with RDI or am I mistaken? I would like a programme that 100 % online and starts January 2016 ….
I’m currently in West Africa … I’d like to have a boost in my career knowing even though I’ve been working here since 2013 I’m not sure till when I will remain in Africa …

Thanks so much in advance for your responses …

These are both great schools but since the Bradford programme is more rooted, organisationally, I think it is the safer choice.

i believe the difference is marginal if at all. go to the one that you feel more inclined to

Thanks so much for your much appreciated responses!!!!
I just have a few more questions please:
• Is there an advantage to study in a Russel Group University?
• Seeing the views on RDI are there any issues with Bradford’s partnership with RDI (now known as Arden University ltd), which is responsible for the initial stages of student application and admission onto the Bradford Distance Learning MBA programmes in specific territories (such as the country where I am currently)?
• Lastly, sorry Duncan but what do you mean by “Bradford programme is more rooted, organizationally”?

Thanks again

Cheers

Certainly the Russell Group schools are better known, but in terms of business schools Bradford is better on most counts.

I have no insight into the relationship between Bradford and RDI, other than the obvious fact that it's one of the most longstanding partnerships of its type. The fact that Arden has an undergrad LLB doesn't seem to affect it.

I mean that Bradford has a large and long-established programme, with around 400 students. Schools with that scale, like Royal Holloway and Oxford Brookes, are able to develop higher quality materials and better support than smaller programmes, like Aston which around 30. The resources built into these large MBAs produce an impressive base of resources and a lot of experience in helping students learn at a distance. The first year of any course can be tricky, even without the distance factor.