Brexit and Graduate Management Education in the United Kingdom

Overview

This report examines international candidate interest in the United Kingdom as a study destination since the 2016 Brexit vote. Data sources include periodic surveys of non-UK citizens who sent a GMAT score report to a UK business school program, GMAT score sending data, and the 2018 Application Trends Survey.

Quick Facts

• Since the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, business schools in the United Kingdom (UK) have continued to experience strong demand from non-UK citizens despite fears that Brexit would repel international business school candidates.
• Most recently, survey findings from December 2018 of non-UK citizens who sent a GMAT score report to a UK business school program show that 54 percent of respondents overall say Brexit has no impact on their decision to study in the UK, up from 46 percent in December 2016.
• Despite this, GMAT score sending behavior shows that UK programs have remained just as popular a choice for business school as before the 2016 Brexit vote. In fact, the share of GMAT score reports sent to UK programs has increased slightly since 2016 and is stable or up across world regions of citizenship.
• Findings from GMAC’s annual Application Trends Survey also show continued strong international demand for UK programs, as 71 percent report year-on-year international application volume growth in 2018.