The West of Scotland University Business School

Age: 8.

History: renamed in 2007 in line with the unification of the University of Paisley and Bell College. Before that, Paisley's faculty of business was restructured in August 2000 into a business school, and split into three divisions: accounting, finance and law; management and business economics; marketing, enterprise and tourism.

Address: There are now four bases, at the university's campuses in Ayr (West of Scotland Management Centre), Paisley, Dumfries and Hamilton.

Ambience: The Paisley campus business school lies across the road from the town's museum and next to the university's £6.8 million library and learning resource centre. Postgraduate facilities at Ayr are housed in a large, 18th-century house, converted in 1997 into a management and training centre. It's also near some world famous golf courses. The Hamilton campus is close to the town centre and only 11 miles south of Glasgow.

In Dumfries, courses are offered on the University campus in the grounds of the magnificent 85-acre Crichton Estate and near the heavenly Solway coast.

Vital statistics: A wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate business courses are offered, but the school's pride and joy is the executive MBA, a two-year, part-time programme designed for working people who can't take time out. It's studied on an open-learning basis with a mix of online study and monthly Saturday workshops. The business school has recently started teaching masters degrees in knowledge management, logistics and supply chain management, human resource management and international business.

Added value: Close collaboration with business and industry, most evident in the school's work placement schemes. Students benefit from advice on business set-up and entrepreneurship through links with the Scottish Institute for Enterprise. Under an agreement with the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust, - the first of its kind in Scotland - students are given advice on starting up and running their own business. There are around 100 staff members.

Easy to get into? It's getting more and more competitive: executive MBA applicants are expected to have at least a second-class honours degree or professional equivalent, and at least three years of relevant work experience.

Glittering alumni: Gavin Hastings, former Scottish rugby union captain; Dr Shamshad Akhtar, the first female governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.

Gurus: Entrepreneur Chris Gorman, founding partner of DX Communications, is an honorary professor and runs workshops with students. Former Scotland football manager Craig Brown is a visiting lecturer.

International connections: 65 Socrates partners across Europe, plus links with Chinese and American universities and extensive student and staff exchanges.

Teaching: Commended by the QAA in 2002 for student progression, learning resources, and teaching and learning in accounting and economics.

Student profile: The average age on the executive MBA is 38, with a male to female ratio of 65:35. The majority of students are from the UK.

Cost: Last year, the executive MBA was £8,400 for 12 modules (£2,800 per stage for certificate, diploma and MBA elements) with flexible payment plans available.

Who's the boss? John Turner is the dean.

Prospectus: freephone 0800 027 1000 or +44 (0)141 848 7044; www.uws.ac.uk/schoolsdepts/business; uni-direct@uws.ac.uk