Global Executive MBA entry requirements

The Global Executive MBA is for our most senior MBA candidates. Places are limited and entry is competitive. We aim to admit a cohort of senior leaders from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.

What you need to apply

Significant professional experience in management roles

To apply for the MBA, you should typically be in a senior leadership position where you influence a company’s strategy, decisions and goals. Usually, this means you have held a P&L responsibility for a minimum of two years or been part of a team with clear P&L accountability for four or more years.

You should be in senior leadership positions with substantial accountability. Your position might be one of the following:

President, vice president, chairman, managing director, board member, CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, other C-level position within a Corporate, NGO, or mid-market sized business and you are, or will become, an officer of the organisation.
General manager, divisional manager, or senior manager with high-level accountability for a business unit/country/region within a corporate ownership structure, large family-owned family business with formal management structures, public corporation, or NGO.
Senior management position with high-level cross-functional responsibilities - for example, you might be the director of a functional department, but as part of your organisation's senior leadership team.
Successful established entrepreneur - you might have scaled a business or businesses for growth, or you're developing strategies to enable and support growth of a business.

Overall, you should have aptitude and leadership talent to make a real difference in today's global business world. You should also have a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability values.

Significant international exposure

You should have experience:

Working in a global environment
Operating across international borders
Dealing with complexity and uncertainty, preferably across multiple sectors
Leading international teams, or managing virtual teams across geographies and time zones.

You should also have a global mindset developed through:

Exposure to new business cultures and experiences
International placements or through living and working in countries other than the UK.

Qualifications and admissions tests

You'll need to have a strong undergraduate or master's degree result or international equivalent to apply.

You'll also need to have:

A satisfactory admissions test - we accept GMAT®, GMAC Executive Assessment, GRE® or Manchester Admissions Test (MAT)
Proof of English competency - this is assessed throughout the admissions process.

All our MBA programmes are conducted in English. You're expected to have excellent communication skills and English competence - you should be able to understand, and contribute to, what can be very fast-paced discussions in class.

If you don't have a degree

You can still apply for the Global Executive MBA and might be considered based on alternative certified qualifications and experiential learning.

To be eligible, you must demonstrate your potential for success in the programme through:

Notable achievements
Strong career advancement
Substantial management experience in leadership roles or as an accomplished entrepreneur.

In lieu of a traditional degree, you're expected to provide evidence of intellectual aptitude, such as:

Strong high school results
Professional certifications
Non-degree business qualifications
Extensive training courses
Demonstration of significant learning derived from professional experience and career progression, highlighting specialised knowledge in your respective business areas.

If you're applying through the experiential route, you'll have a formal interview before a decision is made by the MBA Admissions Committee.

We strongly recommend that you discuss your individual circumstances with us before you submit an application. You should contact our Admissions team.