The Financial Times European Business School Rankings 2022

According to the Financial Times European Business School Rankings 2022, these are the top business schools in Europe.

  1. HEC Paris
  2. London Business School
  3. ESCP Business School
  4. SDA Bocconi School of Management
  5. University of St.Gallen
  6. IESE Business School
  7. EDHEC Business School
  8. ESMT Berlin
  9. ESSEC Business School
  10. IE University

 

This article will first look at the significance of the FT ranking and the methodology they use. If you would prefer to read our analysis of the 2022 ranking, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the article.

What is the Financial Times European Business School Ranking?

The FT European Business School Ranking is an annual list of the top business schools in Europe. This is the 19th edition and contains a total of 95 schools. FT calculates the ranking by combining the scores from their rankings for Global MBA, EMBA, MiM, and Executive Education.

The Financial Times also publishes an Online MBA and Master of Finance ranking, but these are not included in the European Business School Ranking.

What is the ranking methodology?

The European Business School Ranking takes the data already compiled in four of the FT’s program rankings to arrive at the final list. Each program ranking makes up 25% of the total weighting of this list. 

FT removes non-European schools from each program ranking before compiling the ranking. Schools that entered a program ranking but finished outside the listed range are still considered for the European Business School ranking.

In the case of joint programs, each school receives a proportional share of the weighting. For example, a single EMBA program normally makes up 25% of a school’s score. For the joint executive MBA program between ESSEC Business School and Mannheim Business School, the program’s ranking would contribute 12.5% towards each school’s total.

The European Business School Ranking includes data on current salaries and salary increases from other rankings for informational purposes only.

MBA (25%)

The Financial Times Global MBA Ranking accounts for 25% of this list. One hundred fifty-one programs appeared in the 2022 edition.

EMBA (25%)

The Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking accounts for 25% of the European Business School ranking. One hundred thirty-eight programs were featured in the 2022 edition.

Masters in Management (25%)

The Financial Times Masters in Management (MiM) Ranking accounts for 25% of the European Business School Ranking. One hundred thirty-five programs were featured in the 2022 edition.

Executive Education (25%)

The FT Executive Education Ranking accounts for the final 25% of the European Business School Ranking. Custom programs and open-enrolment programs both makeup half of the category. Custom programs are commissioned by employers and customized for their employees. Open-enrolment programs are centered around specific topics and are typically targeted at professionals rather than organizations.

Our analysis of the 2022 list

No change at the top

The top two European business schools have remained unchanged since 2019. HEC Paris retained the top spot, and London Business School remained in 2nd place. London Business School had previously been #1 in the ranking from 2014-2018. You can find out more about HEC Paris in the video below.

Although the top two stayed the same, further down the rankings, there were some notable changes.

There were two new entrants in the top 10: ESCP Business School (#4) and IE University (#10). ESCP shot up 11 places from 14th to register their highest-ever position in the ranking. Elsewhere, Vlerick Business School (#23) and Oxford Saïd Business School (#25) both rose 16 places to break into the top 25.

France still leads the way

No country had more schools in the top 100 (24) or the top 10 (4) than France. Although the overall picture was positive for the country, there were mixed fortunes for some French schools.

EMLyon Business School rose from 19th to 12th in the 2022 list, making it the second French school to rank higher than ever before. On the other hand, INSEAD, one of the top business schools in the world, plummeted from 3rd to 15th. So why was this?

It appears to be because INSEAD only entered two out of four programs for rankings in 2022: Global MBA and Executive MBA. This will have limited the school’s overall score. 

INSEAD only launched a MiM program in 2020, and it will not be eligible to enter the ranking until 2023. Their Executive Education programs featured in the rankings up until 2021, but did not appear in 2022. The reasons for this are unclear, though it may be as simple as not enough INSEAD graduates completing the surveys sent out by the FT.

New schools in the 2022 list

Six new business schools entered (or re-entered) the 2022 ranking. These were Esdes Lyon Business School, Essca School of Management, the University of Cologne, DCU Business School, Bologna Business School, and ISEG (Lisbon School of Economics and Management).

ISEG became the fifth school from Portugal to feature in the ranking. That puts the country on par with Belgium as the joint 4th-most represented nation behind France, the UK, and Germany.

How you can use the FT ranking to find the right program

Given that this ranking is a composite of four separate program rankings, it’s more important than ever to dig a little deeper into the data.

INSEAD is a perfect example of this. At first glance, it may be a little surprising that the school with a top-ranked MBA only finished 15th in the European Business School Ranking. But without a MiM or Executive Education program in the relevant rankings, their total score was limited.

Also, Online MBAs and Master of Finance programs were not considered for the ranking at all. If you plan on studying one of those courses, it may be worth looking at the individual subject rankings instead.

You can use the FT tool to sort the ranking by a range of different factors, including a school’s score for each individual program. You can also look at each school’s diversity, international travel opportunities, average graduate salary, etc. Use this data wisely, and you’ll be better placed to make an informed study decision.

Once you’ve narrowed your search down to your favorite business schools, it might be worth contacting a master’s ambassador from one of those schools. You can ask them what it’s like to study there, which could help you decide which is the best fit for you.