The number of UK schools in The Economist's MBA ranking has increased this year. The notable movers (10 or more places up or down) are
- Rising: University of Edinburgh Business School; Lancaster University Management School; Warwick Business School; Henley Business School
- Falling: University of Oxford; City University; University of Cambridge; University of Bath.

Rank Business School Country
15 London Business School United Kingdom
34 Henley Business School United Kingdom
37 Warwick Business School, University of Warwick United Kingdom
43 University of Bath – School of Management United Kingdom
46 University of Strathclyde – Strathclyde Business School United Kingdom
52 University of Cambridge – Judge Business School United Kingdom
53 Cranfield School of Management United Kingdom
54 City University – Cass Business School United Kingdom
69 University of Oxford – Saïd Business School United Kingdom
70 University of Nottingham – Nottingham University Business School United Kingdom
77 Durham University Business School United Kingdom
82 Lancaster University Management School United Kingdom
87 Aston University – Aston Business School United Kingdom
90 University of Edinburgh Business School United Kingdom
93 University of Birmingham – Birmingham Business School United Kingdom

Interesting about the discrepancies between this and the FT ranking (Lancaster, Cambridge...) I wonder if this has something to do with how the Economist builds memory into its ranking...

Well, certainly Edinburgh and Warwick rising and Cass and Cambridge falling... that does make sense to me. Edinburgh and Warwick both have been leaping forward (an amazing new building at Edinburgh, something like 12 applicants for every seat there; and Warwick really capitalised on its gains by increasing the GMAT, which then attracted better recruiters).

I just noticed here http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/european-business-school-rankings-2013 that The Financial Times now ranks the University of Edinburgh as the #29 European MBA, above Bradford, Durham, Aston and even one of my favourite schools, EDHEC.

It's interesting, then, that Edinburgh's MBA doesn't even show up on the Ft's Global Ranking. Wonder why...

Well it shows up if you click the hyperlink above ;-)

But being #29 in Europe does not get you into the top 100 in the FT ranking; remember most UK schools were hit by changing immigration rules, and it's taken a while for them to get back to where they were. But the top UK schools seem to be holding their own now. Of course it's also a bit easier for universities which are very well resourced: Edinburgh is the UK's third-richest university, and that's obvious when you walk around the school and compare it to, say, Cranfield, Bradford or Aston. Henley, of course, has hugely benefitted from the scale of the University of Reading: all the growth is on the Reading campus rather than at Henley-upon-Thames.

Of course the other element might be that the FT rankings rely on salary data from alumni from three or four years ago. While Edinburgh's had an MBA since 1980 or so, the new building which opened in 2012 has given the space for some really substantial growth (especially with MSc's I think) with the graduate programmes now approaching 600 students. That gives them critical mass with employers, and that's something which Henley is also benefitting from. The comparison with Durham is interesting too. The business school there has moved out into the former seminary in Durham, which I am sure gives more space, while the main business school site is being developed and expanded. Sadly their graduate programmes are split between Stockton and Durham, but I think still they will benefit from greater scale.