Salford Business School

Age: 5

History: The school has its roots in the technical colleges of the 19th century, when the area around Manchester was an industrial powerhouse. The University of Salford was created in 1967, and the school is the hub for all the university's teaching, research and enterprise in business and management.

Address: Situated at the main university campus, Peel Park, the school takes up four floors of the nine-storey Maxwell building.

Ambience: The campus is surrounded by almost 40 acres of green parkland, just over a mile from Manchester city centre. The Maxwell building recently underwent major refurbishment to accommodate the business school's expansion.

Vital statistics: The Salford MBA has a practical orientation, relating directly to business and commerce: the full-time option is one year, with a national and international business community profile, but the school also runs 20 Masters programmes in areas such as tourism, management, human resource management, information technology, logistics and finance and banking. Salford's MBA was accredited by AMBA in October 2009.

Added value: Students have close contact with local and national companies, and the school also runs short courses and offers consultancy and in-company training.

Glittering alumni: Mike Greenwood, managing director, Peter's Food Services.

Gurus: Professors Christos Kalantaridis, entrepreneurship and enterprise technology; Glen Arnold, investment and corporate finance; Peter Collins, government adviser on gambling policy; Andrew Newman, retail marketing; David Forrest, gambling and sports economics.

International connections: Partnership and exchange programmes with a number of European institutions and with Thompson Rivers University in Canada. More than 100 nations are represented in the student body.

Easy to get into? You'll need at least a 2.2 in your first degree, or substantial managerial experience, for entry to all Masters programmes. The AMBA-accredited MBA also requires three years' work experience, and overseas students must have a TOEFL score of 575 or an IELTS of 6.5. The school also offers "access to masters" courses designed for non-native English speakers with language support and a social programme.

Student profile: There are 1,200 professional or postgraduate students. The average age on the full-time MBA is late 20s.

Cost: The full-time MBA is £15,500.

Who's the boss? Professor John Wilson, a qualified accountant and marketer with an academic background in politics and economics.

Prospectus: +44 (0)161 295 5923; www.business.salford.ac.uk; go-sbs@salford.ac.uk