London Business School

Age: 46

History: Established in 1964 as the London Graduate School of Business. In 1970, Queen Elizabeth II opened the current premises, and in 1986 its name was shortened to London Business School.

Address: Beside Regent's Park, close to London's West End and easily accessible by Tube.

Ambience: Good facilities within the beautiful 19th-century Nash building. The Taunton Place facility was opened in 1998 and completely remodelled in 2009 as a dedicated student centre. Housed inside is a high-tech library, study space, meeting rooms, cafe, gym and swimming pool.

Vital statistics: The MBA is 15 to 21 months' long and is made up of core modules, paid consulting projects, a paid summer internship, a large elective portfolio and the opportunity for an exchange with one of the school's 30 or so partner institutions.

Added value: Has one of the best business libraries in Europe. Online teaching, discussion groups, e-mail and remote access is hosted by an intranet site. The school's model of entrepreneurship combines teaching and research with direct participation in entrepreneurial activities. Has many research centres, ranging from emerging markets to corporate governance.

Easy to get into? You need a good degree and a GMAT score around 690. Students have an average of five years' work experience.

Glittering alumni: Lord Dearing, educationalist; Sir John Egan, former chairman and chief executive, BAA.

Gurus: Gary Hamel, fast-talking American who jets in from California; strategy expert Costas Markides; economist Richard Portes; and Lynda Gratton, human resource strategist.

International connections: The school has a closely connected alumni community of 30,000 spread across 130 countries and 92 per cent of students come from outside the UK. Like the European business school big guns, London has a foreign language requirement. The faculty is made up of 30 nationalities. MBAs can spend a term on the campus of one of the school's many partners in Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America, Canada, the United States and Africa.

Student profile: Average age on the full-time MBA is 28, and 33 on the executive option. The male-to-female ratio is 3:1.

Cost: It's £49,900 to do the full or part-time MBA.

Return on investment: Salary hikes range from 50 to 120 per cent.

Who's the boss? Sir Andrew Likierman, who is also non executive chair of the National Audit Office and a director of Barclays Bank.

Prospectus: +44 (0)20 7000 7500; www.london.edu/programmes/mba.html