A global MBA on my terms

Graham Alltoft, a current Distance Learning MBA (London) participant, explains how the flexibility of the Distance Learning MBA has helped him achieve a strong work-life balance.

Achieving an MBA was something I had wanted to do for a long time but living and working outside of the UK with a young family meant that my choices of university were limited. The Warwick MBA by distance learning looked like the perfect fit for me and, having been on the course for a year now, I have not been disappointed.

Whilst the content is largely delivered online, the Warwick Weeks keep you focused on completing the online part of the modules. Some weeks I am unable to study due to work or family commitments, so I just double up on another week when I have capacity. I can’t make every live teaching session, but the recordings allow me to catch up on the weekends. 

Sometimes I have been ahead, sometimes behind, but the knowledge that I am in a group of people who are going through exactly the same experience keeps me on track. The friends I have made on the course act as pacemakers and we are in weekly contact discussing our progress and giving encouragement to each other.

Learning my way

Another element of flexibility is being able to switch to studying a face-to-face module, where available, which is taught in a physical location over a set number of days. I have made use of this for three modules so far, in Dubai, Beijing and later in the year in Silicon Valley. Add in the London-based Warwick Weeks, and this has been a truly global MBA but on my terms. By electing to sit these modules face to face, I have enabled myself to focus on one distance learning module at a time, set over three months, complimented by a second intensive five-day face to face module in the same period.

By keeping this pace, I will have completed the course in the two years that I set out to achieve it in. However, I know I also have the ability to space the modules out a little more should life get too busy. Some of my friends have done just this, deferring modules to a third year to allow them to focus on one module at a time.

Flexible learning

Finally, I recently saw an elective module that I really wanted to attend in Beijing, but the dates were too early. A simple email to the distance learning programme team was all it took. They discussed a plan and suggested moving modules around to cater for it, even though it wasn’t ‘elective season’ (I’m still completing my core modules). Within two weeks my study schedule had been reorganized and I was able to take this elective module earlier than planned. This proactive and considered approach to individual needs and wants really makes the course stand out from anything else I have seen or experienced. 

Overall if you are looking for a world-leading MBA with the flexibility to fit around your life, Warwick Business School offers the very best teaching and excellent standards alongside an incredibly supportive and understanding environment.

Find out more about the Distance Learning MBA.