The Top 10 Budget MBA Programs in the UK

Like its competitor schools in London, Brunel takes advantage of all the city has to offer, including links to employers, cultural attractions, and collaborations with other schools. However, because it’s based on the fringes of the city center, living costs can be far, far cheaper. Plus, the tuition fees for Brunel’s MBA are also very affordable.  

Westminster Business School will give you access to all the prestige employers in London, but without the eye-popping fees charged by other schools in the city. Westminster’s AMBA-accredited MBA program runs for two years, giving you extra time for an internship and plenty of extra-curricular activities, which can look great on a CV. 

Nottingham is known by many for its global experience: MBA students can take trips around the world to locations including tech hub Silicon Valley, where they mix with startups and investors. 

Cardiff is the only business school in Wales accredited by AACSB International. Its one-year MBA is affordable, especially for those who live in the UK or the EU more broadly. The business school itself has other accolades: its ranked first in the UK for its research environment and sixth for research excellence, which informs MBA teaching. 

Strathclyde has been delivering its MBA for some 50 years. That longevity is testament to the program’s quality: it’s accredited by all three major MBA accreditation bodies, and is ranked in the top-20 of the UK by The Economist. It scored particularly highly for the breadth of its alumni network: the University of Strathclyde has some 170,000 graduates across the world. As any MBA will tell you, in business it’s often about who you know, not what you know. 

This Devonshire school is not as well-known as the top business school brands, but its education quality is on a par with many of them. Exeter’s MBA program focuses on tackling global challenges and developing an ethical perspective, as well as the nuts and bolts of business management.

Birmingham Business School’s one-year MBA is tripled-accredited and offers specializations in international business or global banking and finance. The school is relatively close to London and all the top employers and famous cultural attractions in the UK’s capital city. But without the enormous living costs.

An MBA is a major financial commitment, but it can transform your career. That’s certainly the case for graduates of the University of Edinburgh Business School in Scotland: 88 percent of the most recent graduating class were employed within three months. Although Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital is a renowned business hub, graduates worked in 16 countries, so international mobility looks excellent. 

At LUMS in the northwest of England, the MBA course is just a bit more than the Durham MBA, and is ranked by the FT as the tenth best globally on value for money, as its students earn some $104,000 three years from graduation. The program is distinctive for its focus on sustainability, responsibility and mindfulness. 

Based in the north of England, this top MBA is a relative bargain, compared to some other MBA programs in the UK. Durham is ranked by a bevy of leading publications, including the Financial Times and The Economist. It’s also one of a small minority of business schools to be accredited by the three top awarding bodies: AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB.