With campuses in France, Singapore, and the UAE, INSEAD’s strength across multiple categories pushed it to the top spot, rising from 18th place. The ‘Business School for the World’ overtook HEC Paris, which had previously held the title for five consecutive years.

This year’s ranking saw London Business School fall to third place, ending its three-year run as the second highest-ranked European institution. 

INSEAD’s rise can largely be credited to its highly-rated Master in Management (MiM) and Executive MBA (EMBA) programs. Both unranked in 2023, their 2024 scores complemented the school’s long-standing reputation as Europe’s top MBA program—INSEAD has often found itself among the top three worldwide for this program. 

The school’s Master in Management, launched in 2019, made its debut in the FT MiM ranking this year, securing an impressive third-place position. This achievement, alongside consistently high scores for its MBA and executive education programs, contributed significantly to INSEAD’s overall success.

The FT ranking assesses European business schools across a range of metrics, evaluating performance in their MBA, EMBA, MiM, and custom and open-enrolment executive education programs. 

Each program contributes to the overall score, with the MBA, EMBA, and MiM each weighted at 25%, and executive education programs collectively making up the remaining 25%. 

In consideration of each program, the ranking accounts for factors such as career progression, diversity of faculty and students, alumni salaries with three years of graduation, and research outputs.

The Financial Times European Business Schools Rankings

French business schools dominated the 2024 European Business School Rankings, with six institutions securing spots in the top 11. 

Beyond INSEAD and HEC Paris in first and second place, France’s ESCP Business School, EDHEC Business School, ESSEC Business School, and EMLyon Business School followed closely behind, all securing spots in the top 11. Skema Business School made the most significant jump in the ranking, up 45 spots to 26th.

SDA Bocconi, ranked sixth, was Italy’s sole representative in the top 30, though ESCP has a campus in Italy. 

Spain, Switzerland, and the UK also featured prominently in the top 15. The UK’s London Business School led the country in third place, followed by the University of Oxford: Saïd at 13th, and Warwick Business School at 15th.

Switzerland’s University of St. Gallen, known for its top-tier MiM program, ranked ninth overall, while fellow Swiss-based IMD placed 14th. Spanish schools IESE Business School and IE Business School ranked fourth and 10th, respectively.

While ESCP and IESE both have campuses in Germany, the first German school to appear in the ranking was WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management at 16th, followed by ESMT Berlin in 19th, and Mannheim Business School in 20th. 

This year’s FT European Business School Ranking also welcomed five new schools to the list, hailing from the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, the UK, and Portugal.

Respectively, these were: Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, University College Cork: IMI/CUBS, IQS Universitat Ramon Llull, University of Bath School of Management, and Catolica Porto Business School.

The best European business schools for career progression

While INSEAD claimed the top spot in the FT European Business School Rankings 2024, other schools excelled in specific categories, particularly in graduate salaries.

Among EMBA alumni, ESCP Business School, ranked fifth overall, led the way with the highest reported salaries of $363,789. The school also boasted the highest percentage salary increase for this metric, at 114%. 

INSEAD EMBA graduates weren’t far behind, earning an average salary of $346,472.  INSEAD recently announced the launch of a new Global EMBA (GEMBA) Flex program, offering students a flexible EMBA pathway combining in-person, virtual, and asynchronous learning.

In terms of MBA salaries, SDA Bocconi remained a strong performer despite not making the top five in this year’s overall ranking. 

Within three years of graduation, Bocconi MBA alumni go on to earn average salaries of $202,534—averaging an exceptional 135% increase in earnings—the FT revealed. INSEAD closely followed with its MBA graduates earning average salaries of $198,904.

Spain’s Esade, in 12th place overall, had the largest MBA alumni salary increase in this year’s ranking of 151%.

When it comes to Master in Management programs, the University of St.Gallen took home top spot in the FT ranking earlier this year. Ranked ninth overall in Europe, the school offered the highest average salaries for MiM graduates at $140,020. However, St.Gallen slightly fell behind in its EMBA and MBA programs, placing 20th in Europe for both categories.

The best European business schools for diversity

Among the 100 schools featured in the ranking, notable disparities in gender and international representation were present across faculties.

In terms of gender parity, only four schools achieved an equal 50:50 split among their faculty, while eight boasted a majority female teaching staff. 

French schools took the lead in gender balance, with 10 institutions achieving either parity or a female-majority faculty. Topping the list was Essca School of Management, where 57% of the faculty are women.

At the other end of the spectrum, Germany’s HHL Leipzig and Switzerland’s University of Zurich recorded the lowest rates of faculty gender diversity, with women making up 17% of staff.

When it comes to international faculty representation, the UK, Switzerland, and France were well represented. 

Switzerland’s IMD led with a strong 98% international faculty, closely followed by the UK’s Imperial College Business School at 97%. Spain’s IESE Business School also scored highly, with 95% of its faculty hailing from outside the country.

French schools IESEG and ESCP also both reported an international faculty ratio of over 90%.