Hi All,

I am from India. I have got some offers, but I narrowed it down to two best, but I am not able to make up my mind to which one to go for.

1. MSc in Financial Technology (University of Exeter, Exeter Business School)
2. MSc in Finance and Financial Technology (University of Reading, Henley Business School, ICMA center)

Both of the Universities are great; however, after my research, I came to know about the Russel Group and Exeter is part of it, but Reading is not.
Moreover, Henley has ranked in FT

My interests are in Finance, but I am not sure which institution is best to cater to my needs. After completing my master's, I would definitely like to work with Financial institutions or Fintech companies.

Therefore, please give some suggestions or advice or let me know more, perhaps I am missing something. Please assist me in making the right decision.

Henley is almost certainly the right choice if you want to work in the private sector. 

Thanks, Duncan 

What is your opinion on Exeter? Does being in Russel group advantageous?

I don't think that being in the Russell Group is as advantageous as the faster placement,  and the higher salary that results from Henley.  Your goals seem to be focused on finding work, so put that first. Exeter certainly has several advantages, but Henley's clearly a stronger MiF. 

[Edited by Duncan on Jul 22, 2022]

Reading business school has been very respectable for many decades, the University has been a pioneer in management education in the UK and Europe and very ambitious done a few daring M&A. It acquired Henley for example.

Locationwise Reading is much more accessible to London and the rest of the UK. You will come to appreciate it so much once you settle in.

Exeter on the other hand was respectable University, a bit older probably a bit more research-intensive just a bit and a member of Russel Group. But location-wise it is at the South West very beautiful very upper middle class but it is more difficult to access to London and the rest of the UK. 

If you want to really dig up history, Reading was a college of Oxford University and overtime grew and become a University. Exeter was a college of Cambridge University and evolved to become a University it is today. the Exeter Business School is a younger and has never gained the ground. The MBA and management scenery in the UK is too competitive and the market is small and I believe Reading has gained real foothold over Exeter. Reading is more international and outward looking offering degrees in Asia and online.

Therefore it is a logical choice to go to Reading a substantially stronger school in academic, in terms of jobs and better for lifestyle as well. The Reading business school resources is impressive, probably only a few Universities in the UK can match the scale it offers, it has excellent degrees in every area of business such as Real Estate, financial trading/markets. Things Exeter can never match  


 

So, from the above discussions should I conclude that instead of focussing on the QS ranking or the Russell Group, I should focus more on the FT ranking and the MiF Programme. Is it correct?

Yes, Yes & Yes!

The QS MiF data are interesting, but the FT survey has a much higher completion rate and is audited. Perhaps a good approach would be to do some research on LinkedIn to compare the placement of graduates? See: How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571