The top 20 business schools in Europe

13 December 2019 Consultancy.eu

New research among post-graduates and executives into the satisfaction of European business schools and their educational programmes has unveiled which business schools stand out from the crowd. Meet Europe’s 20 top performing business schools.

Topping the ranking – complied by Financial Times (‘European Business School Ranking’) – this year is HEC Paris, a Paris-based institution which offers a complete range of educational programmes including Masters, MBA, PhD, Executive MBA and custom executive education programmes. The business school, known as De École des hautes études commerciales de Paris, boasts 108 research professors, 4,500 students, and 8,000 managers and executives in training each year.

Having topped the list of Europe’s best business schools for the past two years, London Business School ranks second this year, followed by Italy-based Università Bocconi/SDA Bocconi, which has seen recognition for its academic and executive credentials rise significantly over the past years. Rounding out the top five are Switzerland’s University of St Gallen and Fontainebleau-based INSEAD, one of the largest players in the landscape with over 11,000 executive participants per year.

Positions six to ten are held by business schools from four different countries. Spanish institutions IESE Business School and IE Business School hold sixth and eighth spot respectively, while Essec Business School from France, ESMT Berlin from Germany, and University of Oxford: Saïd from the UK take the other top 10 places. 

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University ranks as the top business school in the Netherlands, holding twelfth spot overall, with the other positions in the top 20 held by academic institutions from four countries: Switzerland, Spain, France and the United Kingdom.

The 20 best business schools of Europe:

1. HEC Paris (France)
2. London Business School (UK)
3. Università Bocconi/SDA Bocconi (Italy)
4. University of St Gallen (Switzerland)
5. INSEAD (France / Singapore / UAE)
6. IESE Business School (Spain / US)
7. Essec Business School (France)
8. IE Business School (Spain)
9. ESMT Berlin (Germany)
10. University of Oxford: Saïd (UK)
11. IMD Business School (Switzerland)
12. Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (The Netherlands)
13. Esade Business School (Spain)
14. ESCP Europe( France / UK / Germany / Spain / Italy / Poland)
15. Edhec Business School (France)
16. University of Cambridge: Judge (UK)
17. Warwick Business School (UK)
18. Imperial College Business School (UK)
19. University of London: Cass (UK)
20. Emlyon Business School (France) 

According to FT’s global Business School Rankings, US-based Stanford and Harvard are the world’s top business schools, both for the quality of their programs, as well as for the opportunities which Stanford and Harvard degrees provide in business.