Oxford MBA: Explore the programme

Key Takeaways

Hello and a very warm welcome. My name is Liam Kilby and I'm the associate director for the MBA recruitment and admissions team here at SE Business School University of Oxford. Thank you for joining us for this special session Oxford MBA explore the program. Before we begin, a quick note. The Q&A function is now live and we encourage you to start submitting your questions. Keep them broad if you can. Members of our team will be responding throughout and we'll also answer some questions live at the end of the session. Over the next 30 to 40 minutes, we'll take you through key aspects of the Oxford MBA from the structure of the program and academic experience to the global opportunities, community life, and what it really means to be part of Oxford. We hope you find this session informative and that by the end you not only understand more about the program, but start to see why you belong at Oxford. Before we dive into the program, we wanted to give you a quick look inside the school. The place where your Oxford MBA experience will take shape. SE Business School is a modern purpose-built space conveniently located right next to Oxford's main rail station. Whether you're in a lecture theater grabbing coffee or diving into research in the Sainsbury Library, you'll have everything you need here to get a world-class business education. This will be your home from Monday to Friday during your MBA year. So, let's take a quick look around. While Sai Business School may be a contemporary setting, it's embedded in a university with over 800 years of academic excellence. A powerful blend of the new and the historic. When you join the Oxford MBA, you don't just become a student at Side Business School. You become part of the wider University of Oxford, one of the world's most historic and prestigious institutions. Oxford is a vibrant university city. You'll walk its ancient streets, not just attend lectures, but to experience some of the most memorable moments of your MBA year. Black Thai balls, formal dinners, thoughtprovoking debates, guest lectures from world leaders, and ultimately your graduation. As part of your Oxford journey, you'll also be admitted into one of the university's colleges, a unique and defining part of student life here. Your college becomes your social and interdisciplinary home where you can join clubs and societies, build friendships outside of the MBA, and feel part of a close-knit community. It's a place where you follow in the footsteps of Nobel Prize winners, world leaders, and global change makers. At the Oxford MBA, we're looking for the intellectually curious. those who are ready to make the most of this academic playground. The Oxford MBA is a one-year full-time program beginning in September and finishing the following September. Before you even arrive in Oxford, you'll get access to our pre-program online platform. It's self-paced and designed to prepare you for your studies, helping you build confidence in core areas like finance, accounting, and data analysis. Once in Oxford, your year is divided into four terms. We use traditional Oxford names, Miklmus, Hillary, Trinity, and the long vacation. In Miklmus and Hillary, you'll focus on your core curriculum, the essential building blocks of business. These are mandatory courses that include subjects like technology and operations management, accounting, and marketing. From Hillary term onwards, you'll begin choosing your electives, and this is where your Oxford MBA becomes truly flexible. Around 60% of the curriculum is elective based, giving you the freedom to shape your year based on your interests and career goals. We offer a wide portfolio of electives across themes like finance, entrepreneurship, strategy, social impact, and more, including two immersive international electives, giving you the chance to explore business in a global context. This is a program designed not only to give you a rigorous foundation in business, but you let you tailor your learning experience, so you walk away with the skills, insights, and confidence to lead in the areas that matter most to you. At Oxford, the MBA experience is about more than what happens in class. It's shaped by what you do outside of it. You might attend a keynote at the Oxford Union, join a thought-provoking speaker event, or get involved with any number of student clubs and societies. Many students take leadership roles through the student council or engage with communitydriven groups like the Africa Alliance and the Women's Leadership Alliance where you'll find shared purpose, action, and lasting connection. There's also the chance to represent Oxford at the Embass, take part in world forums, or help run one of our many studentled conferences and competitions. And when it's time to celebrate, there's the iconic MBA ball, a highlight of the year that brings everyone together in classic Oxford style. Through it all, you'll build relationships, gain confidence, and find your own rhythm in one of the most vibrant academic communities in the world. Some of the most transformative learning happens outside the lecture theater. As an Oxford MBA student, you'll have access to a wide range of co-curricular programs designed to give you hands-on practical experience and help you explore potential career paths. You can sharpen your technical skills in the finance lab, prepare for case interviews and client work in the consultant development program or tackle realw world challenges through the impact lab and the skull center. Entrepreneurial-minded at Oxford say the entrepreneurship center offers resources, funding, and workshops to support your journey. Whether you're innovating with an organization or launching a new venture throughout the year, our careers development center also runs a talent development program, a structured series of workshops, coaching sessions, and a leadership activity to help you grow professionally and personally, no matter what your starting point is. You will also have the opportunity to apply for these C curriculums, learning programs alongside your core MBA. It's all designed to complement your academic journey and to assure you graduate ready to lead, launch, and make meaningful change. When it comes to your career sport, you'll be guided by a team of fully trained career coaches, specialists who work alongside your academic journey to help you build your professional path. Our careers development team is structured around industry experts, which are dedicated advisers focused on technology, consulting, finance, and global industries. You'll have tailored support, relevant insight, and a guidance that aligns with your goals. Support begins early. You'll gain access to the careers development center, tools, and platforms 12 weeks before you even arrive in Oxford. You can begin exploring sectors, refining your CV, and settling your career goals before term even begins. And once you've graduated, that support doesn't end. You'll have a lifetime access to career coaching, online resources, and employee connections as an Oxford MBA alum. Throughout the year, our team will support you across four key areas. Career decision making, helping you reflect on your goals and choose your next steps. Career toolkits from crafting your CV to preparing for interview and perfecting your pitch. industry knowledge, understanding who hires, when they hire, and what trends are shaping the sector, interacting with employers, connecting with recruiters, alums, and companies to grow your network. It's a comprehensive, personalized, and lifelong career service designed to empower you from the moment you apply through your MBA year and far beyond. Of course, your career journey at Oxford isn't something you'll take alone. When you join the Oxford MBA, you'll be part of a truly global and diverse classroom surrounded by incredible group of peers who reflect on the complexity of the world you're preparing to lead in. Our class of 2025 includes 348 students from 59 different nationalities with an incredible 97% coming from outside the UK. This diversity goes beyond geographical. Students bring an average of six years professional experience spanning 24 different sectors from consulting and finance to healthcare, energy, tech, and social impact. We're also proud to have 48% female students in the 2025 cohort supporting our ongoing commitment to gender balance in leadership. So whether you're learning in a lecture, debating a case study, or launching a project, you'll be surrounded by people who challenge your thinking, broaden your perspective, and enrich your experience. We take a holistic approach to admissions. We look at three key areas of your profile. Your academic profile, your professional profile, and your personal profile. Let's take a closer look at what this means. Academic profile. Undergraduate degree plus your transcripts. A recognized undergraduate degree 21 or higher. If your transcripts aren't in English, you'll need an official translation. GMAT or GRE score. While there's no minimum, competitive applicants often score GMAT 650 or higher or a GRE 160 verbal or 160 quant. English language proficiency test. This is required if your degree was not taught in English or English is not your first language. Professional profile, professional experience, which is usually a minimum of two years of full-time work. We look for leadership, impact, and international exposure. CV and two references. One page highlighting your achievements. Your references should speak to your strengths, leadership, and growth. A personal statement. This is where we hear your story, your motivation, goals, and fit for Oxford. Your online assessment, a short timed video completed via Kira Talent. It's a chance for us to see your communication style, thinking, and presence beyond paper. Ultimately, we're not just looking for perfect profiles. We're looking for real people with honest stories. It's okay to share areas of development. What matters is your potential, your reflection, and how you make sense of the journey so far. We're building a class of thoughtful, curious, driven individuals, and we love to hear what you could bring to it. When you're ready to apply to the Oxford MBA, you'll need to select one of our five application stages. Applications open in early August each year and you can apply in any stage, but given the competitive nature of admissions, we do recommend applying as early as possible. Once you've submitted your application by the deadline, here's what happens next. The admissions committee will begin reviewing applications after the stage deadline has passed. You'll then be notified whether or not you've been shortlisted for interview. If selected, you'll be invited to interview either virtually or in person. After all interviews are complete, the committee meets again to decide which candidates will receive offers. Final decisions are emailed by the decision deadline for the stage in which you applied. So, it's important to apply with a complete and polished application and to plan your timing carefully. One of the defining features of the Oxford MBA is its a one-year format. It's fast, focused, and designed for ambitious people who want to create impact quickly. There are clear benefits. You'll spend less time away from your career. You'll reduce your opportunity cost. You'll save on living expenses, and you'll re-enter the job market faster with new skills, a powerful network, and renewed direction. But we're also honest about what it requires. A one-year MBA isn't for everyone. It's academically rigorous, fast-paced, and intense from the very start. It asks you to fully commit, and to thrive in the challenge. If that sounds like you, if a one-year format aligns with your goals, energy, and mindset, we'd love to see your application. Oxford also offers a unique 2-year program known as the Oxford Oneplus 1 MBA. In this format, you'll spend your first year completing a master's degree in a relevant field from one of Oxford's partner departments, such as public policy, education, environmental change, or even international health. In the second year, you'll join the Oxford MBA cohort, bringing with you an interdisciplinary foundation and a richer academic perspective. This option is ideal for candidates looking to shift sectors, deepen their expertise before broadening it with business fundamentals, or simply take more time to explore and transition careers. And despite being a two-year journey, the OnePlus 1 MBA remains more cost-effective than many traditional 2-year MBAs, especially when you factor the opportunity to be awarded the Persing Square Scholarship, which covers full tuition and provides a substantial living stipend for both years of study. If you're curious about bridging disciplines or want a bit more time to immerse yourself in Oxford before the MBA, the OnePlus 1 could be the right fit. Oxford offers a wide range of scholarships to support exceptional candidates and many MBA students benefit from this funding each year. We group these scholarships into three main categories. Some require no additional application. You'll automatically be considered as part of your MBA or your oneplus 1 MBA submission. Others require a separate application which might include essays, an earlier deadline or a specific profile. And then there are also University of Oxford post-graduate scholarships offered across departments and colleges, some of which MBA students may be eligible for. Funding is competitive, so it's really important to start your research early and understand what's required. You can apply to as many scholarships as you like, but we also recommend quality over quantity. Tailor your materials carefully and make sure your application reflects your strengths and values clearly. Remember, you must apply for scholarships at the same time as your MBA application. Once you receive an offer, it's too late to be considered for most awards. Many of our largest scholarships are tied to earlier deadlines, particularly the January deadline. So, planning ahead is key. A polished application is a competitive application. Take the time to get it right. Thank you for taking the time to explore the Oxford MBA with us. We've covered a lot from the curriculum and career support to what makes the Oxford experience so unique. But now it's your turn. We're going to move into our live Q&A. So, please feel free to keep submitting your questions. Some will be answered by our team behind the scenes and we'll also answer a few live right now. If you think of something later or want to revisit the details, you can scan the QR code to download our brochure or contact us anytime. We hope today's session has helped you see why you belong at Oxford. Let's dive in.