For centuries, Scotland has been an international hub for trade and manufacturing. Scotland’s economy, closely tied with the economy of the United Kingdom, had an estimated GDP of £180 billion in 2018.
Today Scotland is one of the world’s largest fund management locations, with over £300 billion in assets. As of March 2019, there were an estimated 356,550 private sector businesses in operation, making Scotland an excellent location to pursue business studies. Which makes it an ideal, if often overlooked, destinations for business school candidates.
Below, we take a look at our top 5 Scotland full-time MBA programs so you can find the perfect educational program to suit your interests.
University of Edinburgh offers a 12-month MBA built around core business fundamentals, management, and leadership, with courses designed to build on analysis, innovation, and strategic leadership skills. Specializations include finance, strategy, and entrepreneurship.
University of Edinburgh’s Business School program is accredited by AMBA, AACSB, and EQUIS. Rankings include 87th overall in Financial Times‘ Global MBA Rankings 2019, 66th globally in The Economist’s ‘Which MBA’ Ranking 2019, and the Athena SWAN Bronze Award for promoting diversity and gender equality among staff and students.
The program entails nine courses in major disciplines including strategic leadership, finance and economics, strategic marketing, and operations. Students can also benefit from elective courses tailored to their area of focus and students will pursue their specialization with a Business School Certificate in finance, entrepreneurship, and innovation, or strategy.
University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School was ranked 99th in The Economist‘s ‘Which MBA’ rankings. Its program offers specializations in finance, marketing or strategy, entrepreneurship, international business, supply chain management, and business sustainability. At the end of the program, students also participate in a team-consulting project and conclude with a dissertation.
Graduates of this program have recently found employment with top companies such as Apple, Amazon, Rolls Royce, IBM, Unilever, Clydesdale Bank, Ernst & Young, Halyard Health, Goldman Sachs, and the Scotland government.
Strathclyde Business School at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow offers a highly experiential MBA program, focusing on collaborative learning. Program focuses include self-development, career development, improved corporate performance, and human resources development.
The program structure involves four learning modules: The Reflective Practitioner, Making the Business Work, Strategic Management for Sustainable Success, and Personal Development. The program additionally includes elective courses.
University of Aberdeen’s Business School offers a 12-month MBA program with a mix of lectures, tutorials, seminars, case studies, fieldwork, and business simulations. The course is designed to improve management skills, data analysis, strategy, and personal development such as communication and leadership skills. Students may tailor their MBA to areas such as HR, finance, or marketing.
The University of Aberdeen is ranked one of the top 200 universities in the world. In 2019, Times Higher Education ranked the University Impact Rankings gave Aberdeen the 31st place in the world for impact on society. Aberdeen’s Business School is also recognized for its research excellence and has been ranked a top three UK university for impact in business and management studies in the Research Excellence Framework assessment.
The University of Stirling MBA focuses on responsible leadership, sustainable strategy, creativity, and builds qualifications in accounting and finance, marketing, economics, operations management, and human resources management. The full-time MBA runs 12 months and is accredited by CMI. The University of Stirling MBA is ranked among the top 25 UK business and management school by the Research Excellence Framework.