Master of Business Administration – (MBA)

The Kent MBA programme is distinguished by its small class size, the level of talent and experience of the participants and a curriculum that aims to incorporate academic rigour alongside softer skills such as leadership, negotiation and networking. The profile of a Kent MBA applicant is eight to 13 years' work experience from a wide range of sectors and nationalities – there are ten countries in the current cohort.

The Kent MBA can be competed in one or two years, typically, participants who are UK-based tend to follow the two-year format which is offered in ten one-week blocks over 21 months, and we have had participants commuting from Europe for this. More recently, the division between the profile of full-time programme participants and those on the modular executive programme is becoming increasingly blurred. The current economic climate has meant that we are seeing more senior applicants investing their redundancy packages in a year-out to complete their MBA and reflect on the future of their careers. They will benefit from new skills, knowledge and the networking potential of the programme. With such a wide pool of talent, the MBA class represents an excellent source of talent for consultancy projects. This year, there are 12 companies including BBC, Barclays, KCC, Cummins and HSBC working with Kent MBAs on specific projects to help organisations grow or work through economically challenging times.

Organisations are becoming more aware of the benefits of sponsoring their managers on the Kent MBA programme. It is an excellent way to motivate, leverage and retain talent; it can help develop new business opportunities; it can save money on external consultants and, in the case of modular executive participants, has an immediate impact on individual performance in the workplace. After graduation, Kent MBAs can participate in the Alumni Elective Scheme, which means they can join the current cohort to complete a free one-week elective as part of their Continued Professional Development – another bonus for their organisations.

The Kent MBA combines a demanding core of general management learning with the opportunity to study areas of personal interest through elective modules. It includes a compulsory business consultancy project, the MBA Business Report, which allows you to tackle a real business issue in the workplace. You must also write an additional report, the Management Skills and Career Development Report, to complete the programme. This will assist your career development by enabling you to reflect on your own business skills and strengths. Both reports are mentored. The programme is designed so that one and two-year students share some teaching. This is an important feature of our programme as it enables students to exchange ideas and experiences, and to network.

The Kent MBA has a maximum of 50 places. We strongly encourage potential applicants to attend one of our monthly MBA briefings or to request an informal discussion with the MBA Programme Director