Masters of Business Administration MBA

Programme information

Edinburgh Business School’s MBA programme is listed as the largest international MBA programme in the world in the Financial Times 2013 survey of ’40 of the top distance learning programmes’.  

Edinburgh Business School offers part-time students the chance to study at their own pace, in their own time, yet get full on-campus and online academic support. EBS also offers the students the chance to interact with fellow students across the world and to join our network of over 10,500 students worldwide, and over 15,000 alumni (more than 300 in the Gulf area).  

The full-time students can dedicate 12 months to complete the MBA programme with full on-campus and online academic support, while becoming part of our growing international student population at Dubai Campus.

Programme content

Students on the MBA Programme must complete nine courses made up of seven Core courses: Economics; Organisational Behaviour; Marketing; Accounting; Project Management; Finance and Strategic Planning and two elective courses from a range of 33 courses.

To complete an MBA with Specialism, students must complete the seven Core courses and a further four elective courses from a range of 33 courses. Specialisms are offered in:

  • Marketing
  • Financial Management
  • Human Resources Management
  • Strategic Planning

About the Edinburgh Business School

Edinburgh Business School (EBS) is the Graduate School of Business of Heriot-Watt University. Founded in 1997, the flagship programme is its world renowned MBA, which has been offered in Dubai on a part-time basis since 2006 and on a full-time basis since 2011. 

More than 15,000 students have graduated from our programmes from over 160 countries, making Edinburgh Business School the largest International MBA programme provider in the world. 

Over 40% of Fortune 500 companies have employees on Edinburgh Business School programmes. 

Designed for working professionals, our MBA can be studied from anywhere in the world and is often chosen by executives whose careers require them to travel and even relocate during their studies. 

The MBA programme is supported in Dubai by a full-time, dedicated team to ensure a quality service for our MBA students. Students can choose to pursue their MBA study on a part-time basis and complete within a 22 month period or on a full-time basis and complete within a 12 month period.

The MBA at the Dubai Campus is taught by experienced faculty, with many flying over from our Edinburgh Campus to deliver seminars in each subject. 

You work towards your MBA on a course by course basis and after completing the required nine courses (consisting of seven core and two electives from a choice of 33) you are eligible for the MBA degree from Heriot-Watt University.  

Part-time and full-time students will receive over 50 hours of class contact time per subject, at weekends for part-time students and during weekdays for full-time students. It is possible to complete programmes by self managed distance learning if you relocate or cannot attend the classes.

Entry requirements

  • Admission to the part-time or full-time MBA is by application and acceptance. You are expected to have: a recognised first or second class Honours degree, or a qualification deemed to be equivalent, or passes in three of the MBA courses (one of which must be core) by self-study, a minimum of two years’ post-qualifying full-time work experience of a relevant nature (a CV and two reference letters, ideally one academic and one work reference must be submitted).

English language requirements

Where English is not the first language, applicants must demonstrate English language proficiency. Minimum acceptable scores are:

TOEFL:

  • 587 (paper-based test)
  • 240 (computer-based test)
  • 95 (internet-based test)

IELTS:

  • 6.5 (with no score lower than 6.0 in each section).