I'm a Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-Law from Sri Lanka, with substantive experience in the industry and professional practice. I intend to take a short break and get some exposure in a western country. I cannot afford a MAB, and thought of pursuing a Master's in Management. Please can someone tell me whether Birbeck's MSc in International Management will be suitable for me?

That costs £14,075. I guess you know it's an evening programme? It's a okay academic programme, but not one that will give you the academic experience of an MBA. The Essex MBA is £15,950 [not much more] and there are very strong full-time MSc programmes at top-tier business schools like Bath, Cranfield, Manchester, or Edinburgh (which cost less than Birkbeck).

For that money, I'd rather invest in Manchester or Cranfield.

As Duncan said, Birkbeck is focussed on delivering part-time, evening education. It's not especially known for management, but it benefits from the University of London brand and academic standard. (I expect the education and London University academic standard will both be good.)

But if you wanted to study in the UoL then UCL, King's, Royal Holloway or Queen Mary would give you a 'real' graduate school experience, with the ability to network seriously within the cohort and a serious alumni network and careers service.

Birkbeck does have a couple of management niches, but they are research led: sports management, careers management and organisational development are strong. The whole point about Birkbeck is that it attracts academics who want to focus on research during the day, and then they can teach in the evenings when their peak energies are dissipated. In a couple of areas, like economics or philosophy, Birkbeck is a world class research school. However, the key emphasis for reaching is evening undergraduate and non-credit courses.

If you have 1-3 years of experience then i would suggest for MSc from one of the reputed B-School, however if you have 3+ years of experiences then its better to go for an MBA over MSc as MSc studies are more theoretical and majorly focus on candidates with no or less work experience, where as MBA has more practical approach, as it focus on Experienced candidates. so doing an MBA from an accredited would be more useful for an experienced candidate, and also when it comes to cohort, MBA cohort consist of more experienced candidates hence you can expect lot of diversity and group learning, which is rare in case of MSc. For that matter as Duncan suggested that you can opt for Essex MBA alternatively you can also look for Kent MBA, which could be within your affordability provided if you can get some scholarships. if you want to go for higher range then Bradford MBA could be an option where their fees is 22.5 K and they are giving assured bursary of 2k. to your net fees would be 20.5 K on top of this they are also awarding meritorious scholarships of upto 5K.
Regards
Mamit
Regards
Mamit Agarwal

Thanks everyone for your valuable thoughts which are highly appreciated, I'm giving careful consideration in selecting the best course for me and your thoughts are of great contribution.