I am checking my options for a part time MBA, preferably in Dubai, I have found many options, some are very expensive and others seem just commercial with no accreditation.

Eventually, I contacted Alliance Manchester Business School and got an overview about their blended part time MBA program (online and workshops), it seems promising, the program is accredited and ft ranking is high (30th), it also has global presence.

But the strange thing is that they don't ask for GMAT and IELTS as pre-requisites?, this made me a bit worried as I know that all reputable business schools ask for high GMAT score.

So, has anyone here attended this program?, and what is your opinion about it?, also, is it normal for business schools to skip GMAT and IELTS?

Two of my friends have studied this programme. One dropped out, and the other completed it. As far as I can see, it's the closest thing you can get to a full-time MBA without doing a full-time MBA. It is, explicitly, a part-time MBA rather than an executive MBA. The participants are more uneven, and stretch from junior people who would otherwise take a full-time course through to senior executives.

MBS doesn't really allow people to 'skip' the GMAT: it allows other ways of proving the competency. It has its own GMAT-like test as an alternative, the MAT. It has the same approach with language tests: it accepts tests already taken, evaluates English from the essays, MAT and interviews, and then asks for tests if not convinced.

Thanks Duncan!, this was really helpful.

Could you advise if it would make any difference if I attend the workshops in Manchester instead of Dubai?
The closest branch is Dubai but I can also travel to Manchester to attend workshops during the first year, for the second year I am planning to attend the workshops in their far east branches (Singapore or HK) in order to get more benefit from this program.

I think that depends on goals. My friend and the other MBS PT MBA people I met found it very useful to go to other sites. Mostly, it seemed to me, is was the experience of the other location and the wider networking that seemed to motivate them. The faculty are the same, I imagine, at each location.

I know a guy on the programme, I believe the thing he likes most is the opportunities to travel quite a fair bit. And also like an MBA it is fairly general, and you would learn a few things, get to know a few people so take advantage of that.

If you perfere dubai , consider bradford and strathclyde both has good effordable EMBA programs and both has well ranked by FT.