Master of Business Administration MBA
About this course
The Nottingham Business School MBA is designed to enhance your management knowledge, your leadership capabilities, your global perspective and your professional career. The course is designed around three key themes of Developing Mindset, Leading Agile Transformation and Building and Leading a Resilient Organisation.
Our MBA has three core principles at heart:
- The principles of responsible and sustainable management are central to our School and the programme. We’ll help you to develop the insights, capacities and skills to create and maintain responsible, efficient business practices, as well as to develop your sustainable mind-set, promote responsible leadership and influence organisational cultures.
- The learning style and opportunities are characterised by experiential learning, manifest in the two consultancy projects and a pedagogy designed to increase opportunities for experiential elements in each module.
- We offer a personalised pathway, with the freedom to specialise in the areas that interest you most and to shape your skills and experiences around the career you want.
The NBS MBA aims to prepare you to be more informed across all areas of business administration so that you are able to take up senior strategic management roles as part of your career progression.
We have designed a curriculum which will challenge your thinking, stretch the boundaries of your knowledge and demand reflection on your previous managerial decisions and actions. If you take the programme seriously and go beyond the minimum requirement to pass, it will help you to consider how to be an ethical and effective leader so that you can make a positive contribution to your future organisation, employees and society.
If you have any questions about our MBA, you can now email our MBA Marketing and Recruitment team.
What you’ll gain from this degree?
- we offer a more hands-on experience than most other UK business schools. You will complete three hands-on experience projects; two within the UK and one internationally.
- our Personal, Professional and Leadership Development module will include opportunities for academic and industrial mentoring, careers support and individual personal and professional development based around your needs. Careers coaching during your MBA will support your future leadership career.
- develop global management skills and immerse yourself in a multicultural atmosphere, with a dynamic community of staff and students from around the world.
- develop critical thinking skills which are directly applicable to the workplace.
- be able to apply tools and techniques required to transform the culture and capabilities of organisations to meet the challenges of a turbulent and dynamic business environment.
- understand contemporary topics such as big data and AI and be able to directly apply this knowledge to your role and organisation.
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100% of our MBA students are satisfied by the quality of the course (PTES 2023). -
You will complete three hands-on experience projects; two within the UK and one internationally. -
Your MBA journey continues beyond graduation. Our annual MBA Reconnect is an exclusive event for alumni and students to forge lifelong connections. Recharge, learn, and be inspired by our exceptional MBA community. -
Create a personalised learning experience, giving you a unique MBA degree that equips you with the skills you'll need, for the career you want.
What you’ll study
At Nottingham Business School, you can create a personalised learning experience, giving you a unique MBA degree that equips you with the skills you'll need, for the career you want.
- Programme overview
- Leading with Purpose
- Leading Agile Transformation
- Building and Leading a Resilient Organisation
- Ongoing learning/professional development
Leading with Purpose
- Customer Centric Marketing
- Leading People and Organisations
- Leading Responsible and Sustainable Organisations
- Leading Strategy
- Leading Innovation
Leading Agile Transformation
- Finance for Strategic Decision Making
- Operations and Supply Chain Management
- Data Driven Decision Making
- Change Management
- Strategic Business Planning
Building and Leading a Resilient Organisation
- Governing Organisations
- Digital Transformation
- Global Consultancy Experience
- Business Research Project
Leading with Purpose
Customer Centric Marketing
The Customer Centric Marketing module will enable you to understand the role of marketing, the global marketing context, develop marketing strategy, understand the importance of the customer experience and the interplay with brand. As a result of this knowledge, you will develop skills in applying this contemporary marketing knowledge to a real-world global context.
Leading People and Organisations
The Leading People and Organisations takes a multi-disciplinary approach to develop knowledge, insights, and skills relevant to the management and leadership of people and organisations. You will reflect on and develop your leadership and management practice in the context of contemporary organisations in the global setting.
Leading Responsible and Sustainable Organisations
The Leading Responsible and Sustainable Organisations module will create a sustainable mind-set in you as a global leader through your understanding of the interface between ethics, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and integrated sustainability.
Leading Strategy
Organisations are facing increasing uncertainty and disruption across all areas. Leading Strategy module will provide you an understanding of these issues and as a result you will be able to develop the leadership skills required to ensure long-term organisational success.
Leading innovation
Innovation skills are highly sought after in the global market-place. As a result of this module, you will have the skills needed to lead and facilitate innovation in complex global organisations.
Leading Agile Transformation
Finance for Strategic Decision Making
Knowing how to make financial decisions is an essential leadership skill. The module provides you with the knowledge and skills required to evaluate internal and external financial information and use this to appraise corporate financial performance and strategy.
Operations and Supply Chain Management
All organisations rely on systems and processes to operate. As a global leader the module will build your knowledge of how these operate and how critical they are in supporting the delivery of strategic objectives.
Data Driven Decision Making
This module will mean that you see beyond the hype of big data and a result you will be able to navigate your way through complexity, quantity and the ethical and legal issues related to data. Leveraging data in this way will enable you to answer strategically important decisions and thus link you to innovation.
Change Management
The Change Management module involves you working with a group of your MBA peers as consultants to an organisation facing a complex change problem. Through this work based experience, you will learn how to lead change in complex global organisations and also develop consultancy skills.
Strategic Business Planning
Using a live case study organisation, and a real business problem, with a group of your MBA peers, you will be tasked with creating a strategic business plan for an organisation.
Building and Leading a Resilient Organisation
Governing Organisations
As a global leader, you will need be able to operate effectively at board level to ensure the development of a sustainable and resilient organisation and establish the values and behaviours that guide organisational decision making and culture. The module adopts a structural, behavioural and an organisational perspective considering the governance options, behaviours and capabilities required to be an effective senior leader.
Digital Transformation
The ability to navigate and lead the ever-changing digital landscape is an essential leadership skill. The Digital Transformation module will allow you to develop an understanding of the strategic and operational business issues related to contemporary digital products and services for global organisations, with a focus on the technologies, skills and capabilities needed to create and sustain a cutting-edge digital business.
Global Consultancy Experience
This module provides the opportunity to experience dimensions of international strategic management by working intensively for a period of up to one week in a facilitated study tour including an external consultancy project. As a result, you will development of a range of important skills related to the economic global environment, managing across borders and managing projects. Given the international setting for the assignment, this will include strategies for operating in a culturally different environment and working closely with international collaborators.
Business Research Project
The Business Research Project module aims to enable students to rigorously investigate an issue of management or organisational relevance. Students are expected to focus on a project that is relevant to their organisation and to themselves as a Senior Leader.
Ongoing learning
Professional Leadership Development
This module is taught throughout the course develops professional, strategic transferable skills which students can deploy in the workplace.
The purpose of the module is to increase students understanding of how to manage their own continuous professional development in order to be a more effective leader and to enable sustained career success.
Specifically the aims of the module are to:
- Enable an understanding and appreciation of the importance of effective continuous learning in realising potential.
- Develop an understanding of key competencies and attributes relating to development as a leader.
- Develop students’ ability to use reflective practice to improve their performance and continuous development.
- Enable an understanding of how to identify ongoing development needs for continuous career management.
The module content can be grouped into three core themes:
- Developing core personal and professional competencies.
- Developing leadership capability.
- Reflective practice, development planning and career management.
We regularly review and update our course content based on student and employer feedback, ensuring that all of our courses remain current and relevant. This may result in changes to module content or module availability in future years.
Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves
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How you're taught
Teaching and Learning
Nottingham Business School adopts a distinctive approach to the design of student learning opportunities. Your learning is structured around theory, practice, experience & observation, and reflection & improvement. You’ll not only be taught the latest strategies, but also will be given every opportunity to put your learning into action in real business settings. We structure our courses to encourage constructive learning, self-directed study, critical thinking and team work. You’ll spend much of your time in small group workshops and tutorials discussing and analysing your experience of business practices and behaviours.
Coaching and Mentoring
Every postgraduate student will be allocated an Academic Mentor at the beginning of the academic year and you will meet with them regularly throughout the year. Academic Mentors help you make the most of your time at NTU. Careers coaches will enhance your thinking about what’s best for your future leadership career. Industry Mentors will keep you up to date with the latest trends in the job market. They will all support you in developing and enhancing the qualities and transferable skills necessary for your studies, career progression, professional and personal development.
Assessments
An important part of the MBA learning process is the formal assessment. One of the functions of assessment is a measurement of your progression but other attendant skills are developed during the process. The skills required to succeed in assessment are also skills you will require in the workplace such as conceptualisation, analysis, evidence-based argument, effective communication, information-processing, working within a pre-set boundary of time. We have a range of assessment types but no exams.
Consultancy Projects
A unique feature of the Nottingham Business School MBA is the opportunity to put your skills into practice during three hands-on business consultancy projects. The first, part of your Change Management module, is a team project for a UK business. The second is a strategic business plan which you will develop for a local entrepreneurial business based at Nottingham Trent University's Dryden Enterprise Centre. Your third and final project will be based outside of the UK and is set in a global context, giving you the chance to internationalise your experience and develop your global business mind-set while tackling fascinating, real-world challenges with a critical impact on organisational performance.
You may incur minor additional costs to attend international trips on the course.
In-sessional English language support
In-sessional English language classes are offered to international students at no extra cost. The classes aim to provide focused support in the skills you need in order to develop your English in your subject area.
Further information please contact the Nottingham Language Centre based in the Djanogly building on City Campus:
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 6156 | Email: englishsupport@ntu.ac.uk | Website: www.ntu.ac.uk/nlc
Personalisation
We know our postgraduate students are a diverse group, with different levels of academic knowledge in their chosen area of study, different cultural and educational backgrounds, and varying levels of personal and professional skills and competencies.
At NBS we strive to ensure that these two motivating factors are nurtured and therefore supported. Our students are encouraged to practice and develop the skills and competencies required to critically reflect on their learning, and on their ability to apply this learning to their studies and to real world complex issues within the workplace. Through a series of curricula and extra-curricular initiatives, strengthened by tailored academic mentor support, NBS provides all our postgraduate students with the ability to participate in a range of challenging and unique activities, projects, events and experiences to enable our students to succeed in a competitive and dynamic global environment.
You may incur additional minor costs to attend international trips on the course however travel and accommodation costs are covered by the university.
Careers and employability
At Nottingham Business School, we’re focused on your employability from the start of your degree. We provide you with a learning experience that integrates theory and practice.
Graduates from this course have gone onto roles within the public, private and third sector, undertaking positions such as:
- Head of Procurement
- Project Manager
- Managing Director
- Finance Director
Employability Team
We have a dedicated Employability Team who not only help you during your time with us but also following graduation, they’ll continue to support you by providing a number of services that will help kick-start your career.
Our Employability Team offer a wide range of support from one-to-one appointments with our specially trained consultants, to arranging recruitment fairs and skill building workshops.
Services they provide include:
- Finding placements, internships and part-time work
- Helping you to pursue self-employment
- Advice on taking gap years and time out
- Information and help on getting into volunteering
- Providing advice on further study.
As a student you will have access to our virtual learning environment, where you will be able to get in touch with our Employability team for CV support, application, interview and job hunting advice, career ideas and employer videos.
You can visit the Employability Team on your local campus every day during term time. They are also open outside of term time too, except on University closure days. So drop in, say hello, and get help with quick enquiries or book an appointment with a careers consultant from your school.
Re:search Re:imagined
To us, research is about more than writing papers and proposing new ideas. By daring to think differently, we’re disrupting the research landscape and finding the answers to the questions that really matter. From ethics, innovation and entrepreneurship to behavioural science, we’re inspiring the brightest minds to rise up and find solutions to some of the most significant global challenges facing society.
Find out more: ntu.ac.uk/research
Campus and facilities
You’ll mainly be studying in our brand-new Postgraduate Centre, at the heart of our vibrant City Campus. Designed to support collaborative study, there’s a range of accessible teaching spaces, state-of-the-art technology, breakout areas, quiet work booths and a communal café. You can access dedicated market research reporting platforms and digital resources (e.g. Mintel, Passport, SPSS, and Adobe Creative Cloud) and a room equipped with Bloomberg terminals, which enables you to delve into industry-leading data, news and analytics.
NTU’s City Campus has everything you’ll need to keep occupied between lectures. As well as the Boots Library and its beautiful roof garden, there’s our superb Students’ Union building and two-storey, 100-station gym; a whole host of cafés, bars, restaurants and food outlets catering to every taste; our much-loved Global Lounge; performance and rehearsal spaces for musicians; and so much more!
If that’s not enough, just take a few steps off campus, and you’ll find yourself in the beating heart of Nottingham — one of the UK’s top 10 student cities, and one of the top 25 in all of Europe. It’s a city stuffed with history, culture, and well-kept secrets to discover at your leisure: enjoy lush green spaces, galleries, hidden cinemas and vintage shopping by day, and an acclaimed food, drink and social scene by night. For more details, why not take a Virtual Tour?
Entry requirements
You will need the following:
One year Full-time
- A good first degree (typically 2:2 or above) or equivalent professional qualifications and a minimum of 3 years professional experience.
- If you do not have an undergraduate degree we can accept 8+ years of professional experience.
Two years with a placement
- A good first degree (typically 2:1 or above) or equivalent professional qualifications and a minimum of 3 years professional experience.
- If you do not have an undergraduate degree we can accept 8+ years of professional experience.
Other requirements:
- Vocational and academic references
When you join the MBA, we assign you an Academic Mentor who will work with you through the duration of the course to help you achieve your career objectives.
Get in touch If you need any more help or information, please contact us at Ask NTU or call on +44 (0)115 848 4200.
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form
You will need the following:
One year Full-time
- A good first degree (typically 2:2 or above) or equivalent professional qualifications and 3-5 years professional experience.
- If you do not have an undergraduate degree we can accept 8+ years of professional experience.
Two years with a placement
- A good first degree (typically 2:1 or above) or equivalent professional qualifications and 3-5 years professional experience.
- If you do not have an undergraduate degree we can accept 8+ years of professional experience.
Other requirements:
- Vocational and academic references
As part of the application process, we will meet with you to identify your individual training needs. This will allow us to provide personalised support as we assign you an Academic Mentor who will be with you through the duration of the course to help you achieve your training and learning objectives.
English language entry requirements
If English is not your first language you need to show us that your language skills are strong enough for intensive academic study. We usually ask for an IELTS test and we accept some alternative English language tests.
- For 1-year Masters you'll need a 6.5 grade overall with minimum of 5.5 in each component.
- For 2-year Masters you'll need a 6.5 grade overall with a minimum of 6.0 in speaking and listening, and 5.5 in reading and writing.
For a list of our language requirements please visit our English language page.
If you need to do a pre-sessional English language course to meet the English requirements, please visit our pre-sessional English course page.
Help and support
If you have any questions about your qualifications or about making an application to the University please contact our international team for advice.
Fees and funding
Home fees for September 2025 entry
Study route | Home fees |
|---|---|
One year (full-time) | £24,500 |
Two years (with placement)* | £26,350 (£24,500 in Year One and £1,850 in Year Two) |
*Please note that if you are considering a course that runs over more than one year, the tuition fee stated is for the first year of study. The course fee for the second year may be subject to annual review.
Funding your studies
Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there’s no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and living costs and funding pages will answer your questions.
Postgraduate loans
The government introduced a new postgraduate loan scheme for Master degrees. The loan will be a contribution towards the costs of study and it will be at the student's discretion to use the loan towards fees, maintenance costs or other costs. Find out more on our postgraduate loans page.
Scholarships
You might be able to get a postgraduate scholarship to help fund your studies. We award scholarships to those students who can demonstrate excellent achievement, passion and dedication to their studies.
Alumni Discount
We’re happy to be able to offer a 20% alumni discount to most current NTU students and recent NTU alumni. This discount is currently available for those starting an eligible postgraduate taught, postgraduate research or professional course.
Getting in touch
For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service on Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494 or for Scholarship help please contact us on Tel: +44 (0)115 848 4460.
International / EU fees for September 2025 entry
Study route | International / EU fees |
|---|---|
One year (full-time) | £24,500 |
Two years (with placement)* | £26,350 (£24,500 in Year One and £1,850 in Year Two) |
*Please note that if you are considering a course that runs over more than one year, the tuition fee stated is for the first year of study. The course fee for the second year may be subject to annual review.
When and how to pay your fees
For advice and guidance on making secure international payments to the University please visit our international fees page.
Scholarships
You might be able to get a scholarship to help fund your studies. We award scholarships to those students who can demonstrate excellent achievement, passion and dedication to their studies.
Alumni Discount
We’re happy to be able to offer a 20% alumni discount to most current NTU students and recent NTU alumni. This discount is currently available for those starting an eligible postgraduate taught, postgraduate research or professional course.
If you have graduated from NTU with a qualifying award from NTU during or after the 2017/18 academic year and you’re progressing onto this course you will be eligible for our alumni discount.
Advice and guidance
If you have any questions about international fees, scholarships and other funding please contact the International Development Office at international@ntu.ac.uk or + 44 (0) 115 848 8175.
How to apply
Ready to join us? Apply through our NTU Applicant Portal.
- Register as a new applicant and create an account in the Applicant Portal - don't worry you won't need to complete your application at once, you can come back to it so keep your details safe.
- Fill out and submit your application - make sure to check all the information such as entry requirements before submitting.
- Track the progress of your application – you can do this by logging into the Application Portal.
- Check your offer – As long as you’ve provided all the information we need, we’ll try and make a decision on your application within five to ten working days. However, this can take longer and you should allow at least three weeks for a decision.
- Accept your offer within four weeks - Remember that competition for places is high, and if you don’t accept your offer within four weeks it may lapse. After eight weeks it will be automatically withdrawn.
- Meet the conditions of your offer (if you have any) - Upload all the documents required to meet the conditions of your offer using the My Documents section of the Applicant Portal.
Don’t worry if you’re waiting for results – we recommend applying now, and then adding them to your Application Portal once they arrive.
If you need some help in writing your application you can view our handy tips.
Good luck with your application!
You can apply directly to us on our NTU Applicant Portal.
Application advice
Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example. After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.
Writing your personal statement
Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:
Would you like some advice on your study plans?
Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.
- Complete this simple form to keep in touch with the International Office.
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