Admissions FAQs

You must normally be a graduate of an approved University holding an honours degree or a relevant professional qualification considered equivalent to a first degree with honours. A second class honours degree or relevant equivalent professional qualification is required for the Executive MBA programme.

You are expected to have three years or more of full time work experience with a management dimension (five years for the Executive MBA programme) preferably gained since graduating from your first degree.

Two references should accompany your application; alternatively, please arrange for your referees to send these directly to our MBA office. We prefer to receive references from:

• An academic or training source (e.g. former University or company training or personnel officer); and
• An employer or business contact.

If your first language is not English, and you do not have a degree from a UK institution, we require evidence of your competence in English. We will normally require one of the following combinations of test results for an immediate entry to the MBA Programme.

Either:

• An IELTS score of at least 7.0, with a minimum score of at least 6.0 in each element of the test

Or any one of the following options:

• An Internet-based TOEFL score of at least 100, with the following individual scores: reading 22, writing 21, listening 21 and speaking 23
  
  Together with a Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) of at least 600 with an Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) score of at least 5.0
  .
• Or Pearson Test of English Academic: a score of 68 (minimum 55)

IELTS is administered through British Council offices in many countries. For information about your local test centre contact the British Council in your own country.

Information is available at: www.ielts.org or telephone the UK helpline on +44 161 9577755. Please note that you should apply to do the 'Academic' version of the test.

TOEFL and GMAT are administered by the Educational Testing Service in the USA. Information is available from:
English Course for Postgraduate Business and Management Students

Sometimes applicants with a low IELTS or TOEFL score may be made an offer which is conditional on attending and passing a preparation course at the Centre for English Language Education. You will only be admitted to the MBA programme if you pass this course at the required level. This specialist programme is intended for postgraduate international students going on to Masters courses in business and business-related subjects and has been developed in close collaboration with Nottingham University Business School.

The aim of the programme is to enable you to meet the language demands of the future academic course and to familiarise yourself with future tasks and expectations of the school. The minimum entry requirements for registering on the programme are set out on the website. If you attend and pass the English Course for Postgraduate Business and Management Students, you will not normally need to take an IELTS or TOEFL test at the end of the course.

The School reserves the right to ask for additional individual evidence to support an application. All applications are acknowledged and you will be notified if further information is required. Applications are treated in confidence and your details will not be given to organisations outside the University without your consent.

Following graduation, overseas students who commence a postgraduate degree with Nottingham University Business School will be entitled to apply for a UK work permit. The work permit will entitle you to work in the UK for up to 12 months after successful completion of your studies. Details and updates on the points based system can be found on the UK Border Agency website.

You can apply for the full-time MBA at any time for the annual entry in September/October but we do advise you to apply early, and for guidance purposes, recommend overseas applications are received by the following dates:

• 31st July : where applicants need to apply for a visa
• 31st August : where applicants currently hold an appropriate visa

Applications will not normally be considered after these dates.

Full-time : September
Part-time : September and January
Executive : September, January, April or July

If you are within reasonable travelling distance of Nottingham you will be required to attend an interview. We may also offer interviews to UK and overseas candidates, which can be conducted by web cam, Skype or telephone.

To apply please complete the on-line application form.

The following documents will be required before a decision can be made. Please forward:

• Degree Certificate
• Full transcript of marks
• Curriculum Vitae
• 2 references
• English Language Test results (where applicable)

The decision regarding acceptability of qualification rests solely with the Business School.

A fee of £25 is required when applying for a place on the Nottingham MBA.