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Imperial College Business School

Coordinates: 51°29′57″N 0°10′29″W / 51.4992°N 0.1748°W / 51.4992; -0.1748
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Imperial College Business School
MottoImperial means Intelligent Business
Established2003
Parent institution
Imperial College London
AccreditationAACSB, EQUIS, AMBA
DeanPeter Todd
Location
London
Websiteimperial.ac.uk/business-school

Imperial College Business School is the business school of Imperial College London, established in 2003 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The school is known for its entrepreneurial culture, integrating business disciplines with a science-based curriculum.[1]

The business school offers a variety of postgraduate programmes, including MBAs, Master's degrees, PhDs, and executive education. According to the 2023 QS MBA Rankings, Imperial's MBA programme is ranked third worldwide for career specialisation in entrepreneurship.[2] In the latest Research Excellence Framework, the business school ranked second in the UK for business and management studies.[3]

History

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In 1851, the Great Exhibition, the first World's Fair, was organised by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The proceeds from this event were used to establish museums and royal colleges in South Kensington, to become a centre for science, culture, and industry.[4]

In 1907, Imperial College London was established by Royal Charter, unifying the Royal College of Science, Royal School of Mines, and City and Guilds of London Institute into one university.

In 1909, King Edward VII laid the foundation stone for the Royal School of Mines building, which is part of the present-day Business School facilities.

In 1955, Imperial's first MSc in Production Engineering and Management was launched at 14 Prince's Gate.[5] In 1961, Imperial launched an MSc in Operational Research and Management Studies. In 1964, executive education short courses were first given in Operational Research.

Imperial College Business School

In 1965, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics co-sponsor the founding of the London Business School. The Rector of Imperial and Director of LSE joined the governing body, guiding the establishment of LBS.[5]

In 1971, a Department of Management Science was created, followed by the establishment of the Department of Social & Economic Studies in 1978.[6]

In 1987, the Departments of Management Science and Social & Economic Studies merged to form a Management School at 53 Prince's Gate.

In 1989, an Executive MBA was launched.[7] In 2001, an Entrepreneurship Centre was established. In 2002, a Distance Learning MBA was introduced. In 2003, an Innovation and Entrepreneurial group was established.

View from the entrance. Across the street is the Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis.

In 2003, the school is elevated to Faculty status, alongside the Faculties of Natural Science, Medicine and Engineering. In 2004, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of York officially opened the business school.[8]

In 2021, Imperial's White City Campus opened, whose operations are focused around innovation, entrepreneurship, and multidisciplinary research.

Campus

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Royal School of Mines

The business school is located on Imperial College London's main campus in South Kensington. Its modern glass architecture was inspired by the Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition, reflecting the college’s historical origins. Designed by Sir Norman Foster & Partners, the building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and incorporates the 19th-century vaults of the Royal School of Mines.

The business school has additional facilities on Imperial College London's White City campus, which serves as an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem for collaboration between students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and industry. Included on the White City campus is the Scale Space, set up as a community to help innovative companies accelerate growth. Located there are Imperial's Translation and Innovation Hub, Imperial's White City Incubator, Invention Rooms, and a Hackspace for manufacturing equipment and training.[9]

Academics

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Translation & Innovation Hub

The business school offers undergraduate and postgraduate education, including a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master’s degrees, Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD), and executive education.[10]

The business school is organised around five themes:

  • Technological Transformation: How technologies are transforming business and society
  • Entrepreneurship: How to thrive in dynamic and uncertain environments
  • Healthcare Policy & Management: Policy and practice to improve health and wellbeing
  • Finance & Institutional Resilience: Helping build more resilient business and a stronger global economy
  • Sustainability & Climate Change: Inclusive and responsible business models for sustainability

Research

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Imperial operates the following research centres:

  • Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis
  • Centre for Climate Finance & Investment
  • Centre for Digital Transformation
  • Centre for Financial Technology
  • Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation
  • Centre for Responsible Leadership
  • Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation
  • Imperial Business Design Studio
  • Leonardo Centre on Business for Society

Rankings and reputation

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Business School
International Rankings
European MBA Ranking
QS (2025)[11]7
Financial Times (2024)[12]10
Global MBA Ranking
QS (2025)[13]18
Financial Times (2024)[14]39


Imperial College Business School is part of Imperial College London. In the 2025 QS World University Rankings, Imperial was ranked 2nd in the world, behind MIT, as well as 8th in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings.[15][16]

The business school is known for its entrepreneurial culture, which merges business disciplines with a science-based curriculum. It features some of the UK's best-resourced entrepreneurial facilities and the largest entrepreneurial mentoring system inspired by MIT.[17] The Enterprise Lab has a 79 per cent startup survival rate.[18]

In the 2025 QS MBA Rankings, Imperial's MBA programme was ranked 7th in Europe, and in the 2024 Financial Times MBA Rankings, it was ranked 10th in Europe. The 2023 QS MBA Rankings by Career Specilisation for Entrepreneurship ranked Imperial's MBA programme 3rd in the world and 1st in Europe.[2]

In the 2025 QS Business Master's Rankings, Imperial was ranked 6th in the world for a Master's in Marketing, 8th in the world for a Master's in Business Analytics, 14th in the world for a Master's in Finance, and 15th in the world for a Master's in Management. The 2024 Financial Times also ranked Imperial 15th in the world for a Master's in Finance.

In the latest Research Excellence Framework, the business school was ranked 2nd in the UK for business and management studies.[3]

In 2024, Imperial ranked 1st in the UK for highly-skilled employment or further studies, according to the Complete University Guide, the Guardian University Guide, and the Times Good University Guide.[19][20][21] A 2021 analysis by the Higher Education Statistics Agency found that Imperial graduates have the highest median salaries across all subjects in the UK.[22]

People

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Directors and deans

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*Interim

Notable academic staff

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  • Franklin Allen, Professor of Finance, Executive Director of the Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis (2014–present)
  • Patrick Bolton, Professor of Finance, Research Director of the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment (2023–24)
  • David Miles, CBE, Professor of Financial Economics
  • William Perraudin, Economist (former Chair in Finance, now adjunct professor)
  • Carol Propper, CBE, FBA, Chair in Economics
  • Tommaso Valletti, Chair in Economics, Chief Competition Economist of the European Commission (2016–2019)
  • George Yip, Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Strategy

References

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  1. ^ Hall, Rachel (24 September 2022). "Imperial College London: inside the university that is in the business of studying". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "QS MBA by Career Specialisation Rankings 2023: Entrepreneurship". TopMBA.com. 8 May 2024. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b "REF 2021: Business and management studies". Times Higher Education (THE). 12 May 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  4. ^ "History of Imperial College Business School". Imperial College London.
  5. ^ a b "A History of Management Science at Imperial College (1955-1989)" (PDF). Pubsonline.informs.org. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  6. ^ Gay, Hannah (2007). The History of Imperial College London, 1907-2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology and Medicine. World Scientific. p. 578. ISBN 9781860947094.
  7. ^ Gay, p 580
  8. ^ Imperial College London (27 June 2014). Royal Opening of Main Entrance and Imperial College Business School 2004. Retrieved 18 September 2024 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "White City Campus | Imperial College Business School". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Imperial 2023 Course Offerings". Imperial College London. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  11. ^ "QS Europe MBA Rankings 2025". Quacquarelli Symonds.
  12. ^ "Global MBA Ranking 2022". Financial Times.
  13. ^ "QS Global MBA Rankings 2025". Quacquarelli Symonds.
  14. ^ "Global MBA Ranking 2023". Financial Times.
  15. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2025". Top Universities. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  16. ^ "World University Rankings". Times Higher Education (THE). 25 September 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  17. ^ Hall, Rachel (24 September 2022). "Imperial College London: inside the university that is in the business of studying". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  18. ^ Hall, Rachel (24 September 2022). "Imperial College London: inside the university that is in the business of studying". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  19. ^ "You're hired! Imperial grads are the most likely to get good job offers in the whole UK". The Tab. 7 June 2023. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  20. ^ "The Guardian University Guide 2024 – the rankings". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  21. ^ szadmin (13 September 2013). "The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide: New recruits are not job ready according to survey". News UK. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  22. ^ "UK Graduate Salaries 2021 – Highest Paid Graduates by UK University Ranking 2021 – UACU UK". 18 September 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
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51°29′57″N 0°10′29″W / 51.4992°N 0.1748°W / 51.4992; -0.1748

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