MBA students standing outside the offices of PwC

Hand in hand: MBA students on a trip to financial services giant PwC's headquarters in London

Warwick Business School has been re-accredited for another five years by the Association of MBAs as it praised the School for its strong relationship with the business world.

After a two-day inspection, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) commended WBS for its focus on “relevance and practice” and how “there is clearly a sense of partnership between corporates and the School”.

The accreditation means WBS maintains its position as one of an elite band of business schools in the world that has accreditation from the top three global bodies, having been accredited by EQUIS - the quality inspecting body for the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) - since 2000 and the US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which the School was the first UK institution to be accredited by in 1999. Indeed, fewer than one per cent of business schools in the world have the triple crown of accreditation.

Andy Lockett, Dean and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, said: “This is fantastic news and a great achievement for all the staff at the School. Gaining accreditation with AMBA is a challenging process and shows the quality of the research and education delivered at WBS.

“In particular, AMBA praised how our CORE values of curiosity, openness, restlessness and excellence have been embedded across the School and how our Change Maker brand has been brought to life.

“WBS is for the Change Makers and the list of achievements since our last inspection in 2019 highlight that. We became the first UK business school to achieve Athena Swan Gold for improving gender equality, and were awarded gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework in 2023, as well as being the top Russell Group business school in the National Student Survey two years in a row and fifth in the UK Government’s Research Excellence Framework.

“The AMBA inspectors were also impressed with our collegial culture, our strong commitment to academic and professional services staff working together as a team to drive quality, and the consistent and supportive programme for mentoring and training early-career faculty.”

Another highlight that caught the eye of AMBA was the School’s online learning technology, with the governing body declaring the my.wbs platform as “one of the most sophisticated and best integrated business school systems that the panel has seen anywhere in the world”.

And the inspectors also commended the School’s investment in the SmartStage XR livestreaming studio, describing it as “the next generation in online lecture environments” by utilising extended mixed reality.

How important is AMBA accreditation?

With a global alumni community of more than 59,000 across 172 countries, WBS has set up a dedicated WBS alumni team since the last AMBA inspection, with alumni-run and WBS-supported geographical networks in Europe, China, Singapore, India, UAE, and North America (New York).

The AMBA-accredited portfolio includes eight programmes: seven variations of the MBA, including the new Accelerator MBA for younger professionals and the Global Online MBA, which was ranked first in the UK and joint first in Europe in the QS Online MBA Rankings 2023, plus the MSc Management, rated second in the UK and 28th in the world by the Financial Times.

Professor Lockett added: “To be accredited by AMBA is a stamp of quality and gives assurance to our students that they are studying at one of the best business schools in the world.

“With world-class academics, facilities and support staff, WBS offers a first-class learning environment where our students can flourish and have the opportunity of finding the career they dream of.”