Aston Business School, part of Aston University in Birmingham, has experienced substantial financial growth of something like 200 per cent in the past decade. The school is rated highly for research excellence and does well in surveys of overall student satisfaction.

Vital statistics.
Students on Aston’s MBA programme get there with an average GMAT score of 620 and at least three years’ work experience. They study ten core modules, which cover topics such as organisational behaviour, leadership development and business ethics; two electives, selected from options such as international business, strategy in practice and electronic business; and a project. The course costs £18,925.

Rankings.
Aston is 54th in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Which MBA? guide 2007.

Work experience.
Most students choose a project that allows them to work with an organisation as an unpaid consultant. Previous MBA students have worked with companies such as Emirates Airlines, Toyota, Ford Motor Company in Vietnam and T-Mobile.

International experience.
All students spend a week at a European business school in a city such as Nice, Paris, Barcelona or Leuven. More than a third of the school’s academics are from outside the UK.

Links with business.
Academics at Aston work with industry to develop their research in a number of areas. Specialist centres cover subjects such as leadership, innovation, experimental finance and performance measurement. The professional development programme, part of the MBA, includes guest speakers such as Sir Digby Jones, the former director-general of the CBI, and Sir Adrian Cadbury, formerly the chairman of Cadbury Schweppes and a former director of IBM.

Application deadline:
July 31 each year. The school also runs regular information sessions; the next is on February 11, 2008

Sources: www.abs.aston.ac.uk; mba.eiu.com

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