Despite drop in global position, IIM-Bangalore tops Indian institutions in QS Executive MBA Rankings 2025

The Indian School of Business (ISB), a private institution with campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, had the second highest rank among Indian institutions, standing in the 111-120 rank band.

This is followed by IIM Kozhikode (161-170 rank band), IIM Indore (181-190), the Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad (181-190), Woxsen School of Business, Hyderabad (191-200), and the Goa Institute of Management (201+).

READ | ‘My story is her story too’: How Manu Garg overcame visual impairment, cracked UPSC, and honoured his mother’s sacrifices

Four of the seven institutions have seen their rankings fall compared to last year – IIM Bangalore (a fall of nine positions compared to last year’s 41), ISB (it was in the 101-110 rank band last year), IMT Ghaziabad (from 171-180 last year, to 181-190 this year), and the Woxsen School of Business (from 181+ last year, to 191-200 this year).

While IIM Indore has retained its rank from last year, IIM Kozhikode has recorded a marginal improvement in its rank – from the 171-180 band last year to the 161-170 band this year. Six of these institutions featured in the rankings last year as well, while the Goa Institute of Management has made its first appearance in the list.

The 2022 and 2023 rankings had a fewer number of Indian institutions – three – IIM Bangalore, ISB, and IIM Kozhikode.

Globally, the Said Business School at the University of Oxford topped the ranking for the second year in a row, followed by HEC Paris, IESE Business School (campuses in locations including Barcelona and New York), MIT Sloan School of Management, and London Business School.

The USA is the most represented country/territory in the rankings (68 business schools on the list), followed by France with 13 schools, the UK with 11, and Canada and Spain with nine each. China and India both have a total of seven institutions featured in the rankings this year.

This year, IIM Bangalore, which is the only Indian institution in the top 100, had a score of 87.1 in ‘career outcomes’, placing it among the top 25 in the world in terms of this indicator. The B-school performed better on the ‘career outcomes’ indicator last year when it had a score of 90.8.

It had a score of 24 in ‘diversity’, 36.8 in ‘executive profile’, and 70.4 in ‘employer reputation’ (down from 73.9 last year).

The QS executive MBA ranking uses data from two QS surveys – the QS Global Employer Survey and the QS Academic Survey. It also collects data from the schools on indicators like executive profile (work experience of those enrolled), and career progression (like average salary increase and promotions a year after graduation).

According to QS, “Executive MBA programmes are designed for students who are already pursuing a business career and want to combine full-time work with education.”