Hi Duncan, I am a professional QA analyst thinking of doing the MBA programme from UK in the year 2023 and I am highly considering the Lancaster MBA for its reputation and the quality of the programme. However as per the latest FT 2023 MBA Ranking the Lancaster MBA has been excluded from the top 100 whereas in 2022 the same programme was placed in the 76th position globally. Is this exclusion from the FT MBA 2023 a big concern and how will it impact the programme in the future?



Thank you in advance and I will highly appreciate your valuable input in this matter.

[Edited by overlord47 on Mar 27, 2023]

I suggest you rename this thread Lancaster, since there already is a thread about the rankings. 
The fall of Lancaster and other business schools in Europe is a long-term macroeconomic trend. The fall of the pound means that many of the UK programmes have fallen. 
No school should be chosen only because of its reputation. Pick the best available school for your career goals, and make those goals as specific as possible. 
Falling out of the FT ranking has a bigger impact on applicants than on employers. LUMS is big. old, and a well-respected part of the regional economy. However, it will have fewer applicants (and Cranfield and Birmingham more) this year. 

Open two browser windows. Put Durham's data for the two years next to each other and compare. It's going to be obvious what the big differences are. 
Lancaster is more a school for finance and manufacturing than consultancy: you probably noticed that already. Lancaster would work for the big four better than for the MBB strategy consultancies. If you are also changing country, then Alliance MBS would be a better choice. 

I am a current full-time MBA student at Lancaster University. The exclusion from the FT ranking this year is because LUMS MBA did not have a batch in 2020 because of COVID disruptions. FT has introduced a criteria that you need to have batches for 3 preceding years to be eligible for rankings.

The reason for exclusion is purely technical and is not a program quality issue.

I doubt this explanation. If that was the case then because of the 2020 batch, Lancaster would not have been ranked even in 2022 or 2021.
But Lancaster was ranked in both 2021 and 2022.
I think it is a lack of response from their cohort because of certain reasons or because they did not meet the FT criteria.