INSEAD Breaks Through To No. 1 In The Financial Times’s European B-School Ranking

Posted by Admin December 2, 2024 Bussiness

INSEAD is celebrating its first No. 1 ranking in The Financial Times‘s annual ranking of European business schools. The school ranked 18th last year

When INSEAD launched a master in management program in 2019, it put the Fontainebleau, France-based business school on a path to rankings glory.

That journey came to a successful conclusion today (December 1), as INSEAD was named No. 1 for the first time in The Financial Times‘s annual ranking of European business schools. INSEAD jumped an incredible 17 places from last year as its MiM program, launched in 2019, was factored into its overall score for the first time, giving the French school programs in all categories in the magazine’s ranking.

HEC Paris fell out of first place in the Euro B-school ranking for the first time in six years, dropping to second. London Business School slipped to third from second, IESE of Spain dropped to fourth from third, and ESCP, which has multiple campuses around Europe, dropped to fifth from fourth.

Rank in 2024	Rank in 2023	Rank in 2022	Three-year average rank	School name	Location (main campus)
1	18	15	11	Insead	France/Singapore/UAE
2	1	1	1	HEC Paris	France
3	2	2	2	London Business School	UK/UAE
4	3	6	4	Iese Business School	Spain/US/Germany
5	4	3	4	ESCP Business School	France/Germany/Italy/Poland/Spain/UK
6	5	4	5	SDA Bocconi School of Management	Italy
7	7	7	7	Edhec Business School	France
8	9	9	9	Essec Business School	France/Singapore/Morocco
9	6	5	7	University of St Gallen	Switzerland
10	8	10	9	IE Business School	Spain

There were some noteworthy leaps further down the ranking. Two schools made big jumps to join the top 25: Trinity Business School in Dublin, Ireland, which went from 32nd to 24th, and the UK’s Cranfield School of Management, which jumped from 37th to 25th. More dramatically, Skema Business School in France jumped to 26th from 71st, an improvement of 45 places, most of any school in the ranking; and EBS Business School in Germany moved up to 50th from 81st. (See the complete ranking on the next page.)

But the real glory belonged to INSEAD, which had dropped 15 places in two years in the Euro B-school ranking before today. It had ranked as highly as second (in 2011) and third (in 2021) but never reached first. The triumph caps a strong rankings year, including a No. 3 MiM ranking by FT, a No. 2 global ranking from the magazine for its 10-month MBA program, a No. 1 by FT for custom executive education programs, and a No. 1 in P&Q‘s international MBA ranking.

INSEAD Dean Francisco Veloso tells Poets&Quants that the Euro B-school ranking “reflects the consistent excellence in everything we do at INSEAD — from our world-class faculty delivering impactful programs and groundbreaking research, to our ability to drive innovation and create value at every level of business education.”

FT ranks B-schools by their MBA (25%), EMBA (25%), MiM (25%), and custom (12.5%) and open (12.5%) executive education programs. For MBA, EMBA, and MiM, scores are based on two main factors: average alumni salary three years after completion, and average difference in alumni salary between before their degree and three years after completion.

INSEAD, with FT‘s No. 1 MBA in Europe, has an MBA alumni salary of $198,904, a figure eclipsed only by the $202,534 at SDA Bocconi in Italy. INSEAD’s average MBA salary increase is 110%. In the MiM category, INSEAD grads make an average base salary of $118,984, 68% higher than their pre-MiM salary.

“From shaping high-potential talent to developing senior executives and supporting organizations in navigating complexity, our programs continue to redefine leadership and business,” says Veloso, whose school was named Poets&Quants‘ Program of the Year last December. “We are committed to empowering individuals with the skills, agility and global perspective to lead with lasting impact.

“In a world defined by rapid change and growing complexity, INSEAD’s enduring excellence comes from our steadfast dedication to our lasting mission of bringing together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society.”

See the next page for the complete 100-school Financial Times ranking.

HEC Paris dropped out of first place in the FT Euro B-school ranking for the first time since 2018

Rank in 2024	Rank in 2023	Rank in 2022	Three-year average rank	School name	Location (main campus)
1	18	15	11	Insead	France/Singapore/UAE
2	1	1	1	HEC Paris	France
3	2	2	2	London Business School	UK/UAE
4	3	6	4	Iese Business School	Spain/US/Germany
5	4	3	4	ESCP Business School	France/Germany/Italy/Poland/Spain/UK
6	5	4	5	SDA Bocconi School of Management	Italy
7	7	7	7	Edhec Business School	France
8	9	9	9	Essec Business School	France/Singapore/Morocco
9	6	5	7	University of St Gallen	Switzerland
10	8	10	9	IE Business School	Spain
11	10	12	11	EMLyon Business School	France
12	12	17	14	Esade Business School	Spain
13	14	25	17	University of Oxford: Saïd	UK
14	13	11	13	IMD — International Institute for Management Development	Switzerland
15	11	16	14	Warwick Business School	UK
16	16	13	15	WHU — Otto Beisheim School of Management	Germany
17	15	14	15	Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University	Netherlands
18	21	24	21	Nova School of Business and Economics	Portugal
19	19	8	15	ESMT Berlin	Germany
20	17	21	19	Mannheim Business School	Germany
21	24	22	22	University College Dublin: Smurfit	Ireland
22	22	27	24	Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics	Portugal
23	23	20	22	Stockholm School of Economics	Sweden
24	32	37	31	Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Business School	Ireland
25	37	56	39	Cranfield School of Management	UK
26	71	58	52	Skema Business School	France
27	30	27	28	Eada Business School Barcelona	Spain
28	20	18	22	University of Cambridge: Judge	UK
29	28	19	25	Imperial College Business School	UK
30	25	38	31	Audencia	France
31	33	40	35	Grenoble Ecole de Management	France
32	34	41	36	Neoma Business School	France
33	31	23	29	Vlerick Business School	Belgium
34	29	39	34	Kedge Business School	France
35	35	35	35	Henley Business School	UK
36	38	33	36	Tias Business School, Tilburg University	Netherlands
37	36	31	35	Polimi School of Management	Italy
38	40	52	43	Kozminski University	Poland
39	53	59	50	University of Porto – FEP \| PBS	Portugal
40	49	51	47	Alliance Manchester Business School	UK
41	26	26	31	Frankfurt School of Finance and Management	Germany
42	39	48	43	BI Norwegian Business School	Norway
43	44	67	51	Iscte Business School	Portugal
44	27	29	33	Bayes Business School (formerly Cass)	UK
45	50	34	43	Aalto University	Finland
46	41	43	43	WU Vienna University of Economics and Business	Austria
47	55	63	55	Iéseg School of Management	France
48	47	36	44	Copenhagen Business School	Denmark
49	52	62	54	Prague University of Economics and Business	Czech Republic
50	81	–	–	EBS Business School	Germany
51	51	45	49	HEC Lausanne, University of Lausanne	Switzerland
52	54	61	56	Excelia Business School	France
53	45	45	48	NHH Norwegian School of Economics	Norway
54	46	55	52	TBS Education	France
55	61	72	63	Luiss University/Luiss Business School	Italy
56	60	57	58	Rennes School of Business	France
57	47	49	51	Antwerp Management School	Belgium
58	57	66	60	Durham University Business School	UK
59	–	52	–	Hult EF Corporate Education	UK
60	67	63	63	University of Edinburgh Business School	UK
61	42	45	49	Nyenrode Business Universiteit	Netherlands
62	74	82	73	ZHAW School of Management and Law	Switzerland
63	43	42	49	Koç University Graduate School of Business	Turkey
64	65	50	60	HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management	Germany
65	71	72	69	University of Cologne	Germany
66	66	90	74	Bologna Business School	Italy
67	–	72	–	Louvain School of Management, UCLouvain	Belgium
68	70	78	72	Lund University School of Economics and Management (Lusem)	Sweden
69	75	76	73	MBS (Montpellier Business School)	France
70	59	65	65	ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics and Management	Portugal
71	–	80	–	Burgundy School of Business	France
72	64	69	68	University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business	Slovenia
73	71	80	75	Hanken School of Economics	Finland
74	82	88	81	Jönköping International Business School	Sweden
75	76	84	78	Institut Mines-Télécom Business School	France
76	63	54	64	Lancaster University Management School	UK
77	–	88	–	EM Strasbourg Business School	France
78	56	70	68	Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (ULB)	Belgium
79	62	72	71	University of Strathclyde Business School	UK
80	–	–	–	Maastricht University School of Business and Economics	Netherlands
81	–	60	–	University of Zurich	Switzerland
82	85	82	83	IAE Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management	France
83	–	–	–	University College Cork: IMI/CUBS	Ireland
84	–	–	–	IQS — Universitat Ramon Llull	Spain
85	88	92	88	University of Antwerp Faculty of Business and Economics	Belgium
86	80	79	82	Essca School of Management	France
87	86	–	–	ESC Clermont Business School	France
88	77	95	87	University of Glasgow: Adam Smith	UK
89	68	77	78	ICN Business School	France
90	–	–	–	University of Bath School of Management	UK
91	87	86	88	Esdes Business School	France
92	78	–	–	University of Amsterdam — Amsterdam Business School	Netherlands
93	–	–	–	Paris School of Business	France
94	–	–	–	Católica Porto Business School	Portugal
95	–	86	–	Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management	Netherlands
96	–	–	–	Lucerne School of Business	Switzerland
97	–	–	–	Aston Business School	UK
98	–	–	–	Leeds University Business School	UK
99	–	–	–	EMLV Business School	France
100	–	–	–	ISC Paris	France