| Imperial College Business School | |
| Motto: | Imperial means Intelligent Business |
| Established: | 2003 |
| Head Label: | Dean |
| Website: | imperial.ac.uk/business-school |
Imperial College Business School is the graduate business school of Imperial College London, located in London, United Kingdom. Established in 2003 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, the business school builds upon a history of business education that began in 1955. The school integrates business and management education with Imperial College London's strengths in science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM), fostering an entrepreneurial culture.[1]
Imperial College Business School offers a range of postgraduate programmes, including MBA degrees, specialised master's degrees, PhD programmes, and executive education. According to the 2023 QS MBA Rankings, Imperial's MBA programme is ranked third worldwide for entrepreneurship.https://www.topmba.com/specialisation-rankings In the current Research Excellence Framework, the business school is ranked second in the UK for business and management.
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.[2]
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.[3] In 1961, Imperial launched an MSc in Operational Research and Management Studies. In 1964, executive education short courses were first given in Operational Research.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.
In 1971, a Department of Management Science was created, followed by the establishment of the Department of Social & Economic Studies in 1978.[4]
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.[5] In 2001, an Entrepreneurship Centre was established. In 2002, a Distance Learning MBA was introduced. In 2003, an Innovation and Entrepreneurial group was established.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.[6]
In 2021, Imperial's White City Campus opened, whose operations are focused around innovation, entrepreneurship, and multidisciplinary research.
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.[7]
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.[8]
The business school is organised around five themes:
Imperial operates the following research centres:
| Qsglobal: | 18 |
| Ft: | 39 |
| Qse: | 7 |
| Fte: | 10 |
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.[9] [10]
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.[11] The Enterprise Lab has a 79 per cent startup survival rate.[12]
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.[13]
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.[14]
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.[15] [16] [17] A 2021 analysis by the Higher Education Statistics Agency found that Imperial graduates have the highest median salaries across all subjects in the UK.[18]
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