International accreditation
Less than 1% of business schools in the world hold "triple accreditation" - Strathclyde is one of them. Currently, only a handful of business schools out of around 3500 worldwide have been fully accredited.
These accreditations are rigorous processes that involve assessment of numerous aspects of the school and its programmes. Typically, this involves the business school submitting an in-depth self-analysis report for scrutiny by these bodies, followed by a visiting panel and the consequent interviewing of current students, staff, alumni, corporate clients and employers. These bodies have no obligation to make an award - indeed, many business schools are unsuccessful in their application. All the more reason for us to promote this achievement.
What is accreditation?
Accreditation is an extensive quality control process normally carried out by teams of professional assessors assisted by senior management from other Management Schools. The primary objectives of the world's leading accreditation bodies differ.
Accreditation in detail
There are three international accrediting bodies for business schools. These are :
- AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, based in the USA
- EQUIS - the quality assurance scheme run by the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) and based in Brussels
- AMBA - the Association of MBAs, based in the UK
To achieve accreditation by one of these bodies is an achievement in itself. To achieve accreditation by all three bodies is a truly outstanding accomplishment and one to be proud of.
While AACSB and EQUIS accredit the business school as a whole, AMBA accredits programmes. Initially only accrediting MBA programmes, AMBA now accredits other Masters programmes. Having held accreditation for its MBA programme for many years, Strathclyde’s MBM and the Strathclyde SKIL MiM (India) programmes have also now been fully accredited.
In addition to triple accreditation, Strathclyde Business School is Europe's first university faculty to be awarded a licence to operate an MBA programme in the United Arab Emirates.
It was scrutinised by the deans of three top US Business Schools as part of the process carried out by the UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation. The licence establishes the school as an educational institution officially recognised by the UAE government.
External recognition
Rankings are just one aspect of a business school's reputation but many applicants rely on rankings produced by newspapers, such as the Financial Times, to judge the standing of a business school. While we participate in these rankings, and understand the importance given to them by applicants, students and alumni alike, they can only provide a snapshot view of a school based on certain, selective criteria.
We have always emphasised the importance of taking a more measured approach and considering all aspects which affect a business school’s reputation, such as the school's research rating, teaching standards, and accreditation, which provides an objective and independent measure of all aspects of a business school.
