LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL · MBA GUIDE
London Business School’s full-time MBA starts in August in London, and you choose whether to finish in 15, 18, or 21 months. Start here to understand the program and prepare each part of your application.
August 2027 intake
GET TO KNOW THE PROGRAM
You start with a shared core in your first two terms. After that, electives, an exchange, and a company project let you shape the rest, and you pick an exit point of 15, 18, or 21 months.
BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Pre-term modules cover finance, accounting, and quantitative methods. If you already know the material, you can take the tests without the coursework.
TERMS 1 AND 2
Twelve core courses, from Finance I and Strategy to Data Analytics for Managers and Operations Management, taken with a study group of five or six students from varied backgrounds.
AFTER THE CORE
You choose your electives, and LondonCAP gives you a ten-week, faculty-led project with a real company.
Tuition is the same whichever exit point you pick, so choose by what you want to study.
15 months: The shortest route. You still complete the core, your electives, Leadership Launch, and a Global Experience, but you can’t take an international exchange.
18 or 21 months: More time for electives and, if you want one, an exchange at one of more than 30 partner schools.
Global Experiences: Faculty-led, one-week courses in other business settings. LBS’s brochure gives Singapore, Lima, and Riyadh as examples. The 2027 destinations may be different.
Concentrations: LBS lists nine: Change Management, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, Private Capital, Strategy, Economics, Technology and Analytics, and Sustainability.
Skipping a core course: Some core courses can be waived if you have a relevant qualification from the last ten years, or experience plus an exam. LBS reviews the list of waivable courses each year.
Your visa: Most international students need a Student visa. LBS issues your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, the reference your visa application needs) after you accept your offer and pay the commitment and reservation fees, and you’ll need to show funding. From outside the UK, you can apply up to six months before the course starts.
Working while you study: LBS says students can work up to 20 hours a week during term and full-time during official vacations.
Health care: You pay the Immigration Health Surcharge with your visa. LBS’s visa page prints £776 for each year of the visa. It gives you access to the NHS (the UK’s public health service), and LBS suggests registering with a local doctor.
Your family: For courses starting from January 2024, students on a taught course such as the MBA usually can’t bring dependents. GOV.UK lists exceptions, such as government-sponsored study of more than six months, so check your own case.
After you graduate: LBS’s visa page still describes a two-year Graduate visa, but GOV.UK gives 18 months for applications made from January 1, 2027. Rules can change before you graduate, so check again before you apply.
Housing: Most students rent privately in London: studios, flats, or shared houses. University of London Housing Services has a limited number of hall places, and LBS’s housing page doesn’t promise family accommodation.
UNDERSTAND WHAT LBS LOOKS FOR
LBS says its MBA suits people who are “ambitious and driven, with a global outlook” and have a “strong track record of achievement and success.” It names changing industry, function, or country, or starting a business, as good reasons to apply.
YOUR TRACK RECORD
LBS looks for a strong record of achievement, and you don’t need a management job title to show it.
Letrado’s adviceOn your one-page CV, separate what you did from what your team or your employer’s name did. Numbers help when they’re your own.
GLOBAL OUTLOOK
Most of the class comes from outside the UK, and LBS asks for a global outlook in the people it admits.
Letrado’s advicePick one time you had to change how you worked with people from another country or market, and say what you did differently afterwards.
A CLEAR NEXT STEP
The main essay asks for your post-MBA goals and how your experience and LBS will help you reach them.
Letrado’s adviceStart with the job you want right after LBS, then the skills you’re short of for it today. If you could get there without an MBA, say why the degree still matters.
WHAT LBS DESCRIBES
Round 2 interview decisions
Round 2 interviews, from early February to early March
Round 2 admission decisions
If you’re invited, you’ll meet an LBS graduate or a senior member of the admissions team, normally in your own region. You may need to travel.
LBS’s AI rule also mentions a video submission, but we didn’t find a description of the current video on its public MBA pages.
CLASS PROFILE · MBA2027
The rest came from technology, consumer goods and retail, the public sector and nonprofits, industry, media, health care, energy, and other fields.
LBS gives an average GMAT score of around 645 and a typical range of 555 to 805. It doesn’t say which class these describe or which edition of the test. For the GRE, LBS prefers scores over 160 in both Verbal and Quantitative.
LBS says its usual GMAT minimum of around 555 isn’t a fixed cutoff, and it may ask you to retake the test.
WHAT LBS DESCRIBES
Your referee can be your current employer or a colleague, a former employer, or a long-standing client. They complete LBS’s online form by your application deadline, and LBS asks you to respect the reference’s confidentiality.
The form asks how they know you and for how long, your key strengths, your key weaknesses, how you compare with others in similar roles, and what you might be doing in ten years, and why. They also rate you on 12 qualities.
LBS doesn’t accept general letters or extra references, though current students and alumni can send their own recommendation separately.
EMPLOYMENT REPORT · CLASS OF 2025
Graduates took jobs in 39 locations. After the UK, the largest shares went to Southeast and East Asia and to North America, 12% each.
The employment rate follows the reporting standards of CSEA (the Career Services & Employer Alliance) and leaves out sponsored students returning to their employers. These figures describe one class, not a promise.
WHAT LBS SAYS
LBS says AI is “permitted for checking and editing, but must be fully disclosed within the application.” It isn’t allowed at the interview or video stage, where you must work entirely on your own.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
LBS reviews applications for the August 2027 intake, which it calls MBA2029, in three rounds. Round 1 closed on September 3, 2026. Every deadline is at 5:00 p.m. UK time.
Round 1
Sep 3, 2026Round 2
Jan 6, 2027Round 3
Mar 22, 2027Decisions arrive by 11:30 p.m. UK time on the date shown. LBS’s pages don’t list deposit dates for each round.
Two required essays and an optional one, plus a one-page CV. Explain any significant gap in your employment on a separate sheet. The fee is £200, paid by credit card, and it’s waived for LBS alumni and current active military.
Either test, with no preference, taken within the last five years. Send the official score and upload a copy of your score report. LBS’s MBA pages list no test waiver.
From every university you attended, with a certified English translation if needed. If you’re admitted, LBS asks for an original or certified copy.
From a current or former employer, a colleague, or a long-standing client, submitted through LBS’s online form by your deadline.
With an LBS graduate or senior admissions staff, normally in your region.
Most applicants whose first language isn’t English need a recent test score. The rules are below.
Minimum scores (overall, then each section): IELTS Academic or IELTS for UKVI (the version for UK visas) 7.0 and 6.5; PTE 76 and 70; Duolingo English Test 135 and 125; Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency 180 and 170. Tests must be within two years of the August start.
TOEFL: For tests taken after January 21, 2026, on the 1–6 scale: 5 overall, with 5 in Listening and Writing, 4.5 in Reading, and 4 in Speaking. For tests before that date: 100 overall, with Listening 22, Speaking 22, Reading 23, and Writing 24.
If English is your first language: You’re exempt only if you’ve always been a citizen of, and mainly lived in, one of the majority-English-speaking countries LBS lists.
If your degree was taught in English: LBS may waive the test for a full-time degree taught entirely in English in a majority-English-speaking country, finished no more than five years before you start. Exchange years don’t count, and degrees from Canada are assessed individually.
Paying to hold your place: A £3,500 commitment fee is due about three to four weeks after your offer, then a £6,500 reservation fee, which LBS’s FAQ places at the end of May. Both are non-refundable and count toward tuition. If you’re admitted later in the year, you’ll have less time to pay.
The waitlist: A place on the waitlist can lead to an offer for this year or the following one.
Reapplying: If you’re not admitted, you can apply again in a later cycle.
One LBS program at a time: You can’t apply to two LBS programs at once, and there’s no transfer between programs.
The One-year MBA: A separate 11-month MBA in London, also starting in August. It’s for applicants who earned a qualifying management master’s at least three years earlier and have at least three years of relevant work.
What’s different: It accepts the Executive Assessment as well as the GMAT and GRE, and runs its own five rounds for 2027. The essays, CV, and reference match the main MBA’s.
Check your degree: LBS’s pages list the qualifying schools a little differently, so ask LBS to confirm that yours qualifies.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
500 and 200 words, plus an optional 500A 500-word goals essay and a 200-word essay are required. The optional essay allows up to 500 words.
LBS allows AI only for checking and editing, and you must say so in your application.
Letrado’s adviceWrite the goals essay first. Once your plan is clear, 200 words on what makes you unique can go to who you are, not to your career again.
LBS asks what your goals are after the MBA and how your experience so far and its program will help you get there.
The question is just “What makes you unique?” In 200 words, one specific story will say more than a list of qualities.
LBS invites any other information about you or your application. Use it for something that isn’t covered elsewhere, such as a weak grade or an unusual turn in your path.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Tuition for the 2026 intake is £123,950 for the whole program, whether you finish in 15, 18, or 21 months, and it’s the same for UK and international students. LBS estimates living costs of £41,680 a year. The fee for the August 2027 intake isn’t published yet.
MOST SCHOLARSHIPS
LBS’s financial aid page says you’re considered for the vast majority of its scholarships when you apply. Awards can reflect merit, the diversity of the class, and financial need.
LAIDLAW WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP
For women with academic merit, leadership potential, and financial need or significant past hardship. You’re invited to apply after an interview invitation, with a separate application.
OUT IN BUSINESS
For admitted MBA students who will contribute to LGBTQ+ equality at LBS, whatever their own orientation or identity. You send a separate form with an essay of up to 500 words.
The Laidlaw page and the Out in Business form still carry earlier cycles’ labels, so check their 2027 instructions and deadlines before you apply.
LBS scholarships and financial aid (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED TUITION · 2026 INTAKE, WHOLE PROGRAM
£123,950Tuition doesn’t change with your exit point. Travel for your Global Experience is extra and depends on the destination.
For the August 2027 intake, use the fee and budget LBS publishes for it. The 2026/27 budget doesn’t include a partner or children.
2026/27 cost of attendance (PDF) (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceIf a scholarship matters to you, apply in an early round. LBS’s financial aid page says some awards are made early, and it recommends applying early.
LBS’s Class of 2025 report gives mean salaries by where graduates worked. The North American mean was £143,262 and the UK mean £88,516, so the overall average says little about your own plan. Sponsored and self-employed graduates are left out.
MBA employment report (PDF) (opens in a new tab)ADMITTED TO LBS · A.L.
She was a French professional in luxury retail and e-commerce with a prestigious employer and polished international experience. Her early application showed little difficult feedback and no clear reason for an MBA.
Her leadership essay followed a store pilot she defended too long because senior leaders liked it. She listened to frontline staff, redesigned it, and named what made her slow to listen.
She spoke with managers and reviewed likely timelines. Limited finance, data, and cross-industry experience would still hold her back, which made the MBA’s purpose specific.
She completed a quantitative refresher and rewrote her résumé so the brand’s prestige no longer stood in for her own contribution.
LBS’s goals essay (opens in a new tab) asks how your experience and the program will get you to your post-MBA goals. Testing the degree against moving up internally, as A.L. did, gives you a specific answer.
AI illustrationHER LBS OUTCOME
Offered a place in the London Business School MBA
HER CHOICE: LBSLondon Business School, London · Photo: Rapdas111 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped.
IESE offered a highly structured program, and Esade combined innovation with Barcelona. LBS let her shape her own path and test roles across industries. She knew returning to her employer was one possible outcome, not a promised promotion.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
WHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
_from_Regent%27s_Park_%5E2_-_geograph.org.uk_-_5948525.jpg){kind=link}
