UPF Barcelona School of Management consolidates its place in the Financial Times’ Executive Education ranking for the second year in a row

• The management school of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra is the only business school affiliated to a public university in Spain included in the most prestigious ranking in the Higher Education sector.
• The UPF-BSM consolidates its status as one of the select group of five Spanish schools to feature in this highly respected ranking, alongside IESE, ESADE, EADA and Deusto.
• The distinction reaffirms the UPF-BSM’s position among the global elite of executive training for leading companies.

For the second consecutive year, the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) has been included in the Executive Education Custom 2024 ranking published the Financial Times, remaining the only school affiliated to a public university in Spain to feature in the most prestigious ranking in the Higher Education sector at an international level.

Only five Spanish business schools have made it into the ranking (the UPF-BSM alongside IESE, ESADE, EADA and Deusto), which only features 90 of the most reputable accredited business schools across all 5 continents. Moreover, the fact that four of the five Spanish institutions in the ranking are based in Barcelona reaffirms the Catalan capital’s status as a global hub of executive education.

José Manuel Martínez-Sierra, the Director General of the UPF-BSM celebrated by emphasizing that “featuring in this prestigious ranking headed by acclaimed international schools confirms our position among the elite in the sector at a worldwide level. In addition, it is a clear step forward in our steadfast journey towards internationalization and, once again, underlines our commitment to academic excellence and top-class executive training”.

The UPF-BSM, a leading school for executive education

Featuring in the Financial Times’ (FT) ranking is an acknowledgement of the excellent work of the UPF-BSM in the field of executive education, and a demonstration of our commitment to the positive transformation of institutions and companies.

The management school trains over 12.000 employees of internationally acclaimed companies each year, In fact, one of the aspects most highly rated by the FT is the addition of new international clients to our portfolio, once again reaffirming the School’s internationalization strategy.

The main objective of the UPF-BSM’s business area is to accompany private and public organizations throughout their processes of cultural and organizational change by training leaders, executives and professionals committed to generating a positive impact on society. This achievement consolidates the UPF-BSM’s status as a leading executive education institution at a national and worldwide level.

The Financial Times, a symbol of academic quality

The Financial Times’ Executive Education Custom ranking 2024 analyzes the academic quality of the custom training programs offered by the leading business schools to companies and institutions all over the world.

Only schools that have previously been accredited by the AACSB or EQUIS, the world’s most important business school associations, are eligible for consideration. This ensures that the ranked schools adhere to the highest standards of quality and academic rigor.

With respect to the ranking’s methodology, of the broad range of key variables taken into consideration, the UPF-BSM has been rated highly for the quality of the new capacities acquired by the executives, the level of accompaniment throughout the studies, the reputation and diversity of the faculty, and the international vision.

The top 5 in this year’s edition of the ranking (2024), in which 90 schools from all over the world took part (20% more than the previous year), includes acclaimed schools of the caliber of Insead, IESE Business School, IMD (International Institute for Management Development), Duke Corporate Education and HEC Paris (the last two sharing joint fourth position).

Another step further along the road towards excellence

The UPF Barcelona School of Management recently embarked on a process to achieve academic excellence, which already led to its accreditation by the AMBA in 2021, and by EQUIS in 2022. These are considered to be two of the most important academic accreditations at a global level, certifying the academic quality of institutions in line with rigorous international standards. Moreover, this month, the UPF-BSM has just been reaccredited by the AMBA and accredited by the Business Graduates Association (BGA) for the first time, making it the first Spanish school to obtain this distinction, and only the eighth in Europe.

The School is currently undergoing a process of transformation with the aim of becoming the first business school linked to a Spanish university to be awarded the three leading international accreditations in the higher education sector, known as the “Triple Crown”, an achievement reached by only 1% of business schools around the world.

The distinction reaffirms the UPF-BSM’s position among the global elite of executive training for leading companies. The UPF-BSM consolidates its status as one of the select group of five Spanish schools to feature in this highly respected ranking, alongside IESE, ESADE, EADA and Deusto.