Master of Business Administration (Full-time)

Differences from 2014/15 to 2022/23

§§1. Degree of Master of Business Administration  (Full-time and Part-time)

  • 1. Any person who has been admitted to the status of student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration, who has satisfied the conditions prescribed by this section, and who has satisfied the examiners as required, may supplicate for the Degree of Master of Business Administration.

  • 2. The Social Sciences Board with the concurrence of the Education Committee shall have power to make and vary such regulations as may be necessary for carrying out the duties laid upon it and upon the Registrar by this section.

  • 3. A Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration who is not a graduate of the University may wear the same gown as that worn by Students for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

§§2. Admission of Candidates

  • 1. A candidate seeking admission as a Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration shall apply to the MBA Committee. Candidates for admission shall be required to provide such information as the committee may determine from time to time by regulation. Applicants shall in addition be required to undertake such other tests and meet such conditions as, subject to the approval of the Social Sciences Board, the committee may determine by regulation.

  • 2. No person shall be admitted as a Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration under these provisions unless hethey or she isare also a member of some college, hall, or other approved society, and unless the application for admission as a Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration has the approval of that society. The Head of MBAAdmissions programmes shall forward the application to the candidate's society or to the society to which the candidate wishes to apply for membership, as appropriate; and admission by the committee shall be conditional upon admission by an approved society.

  • 3. A student registered for any other higher degree or diploma in the University may apply for transfer to the status of Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration. The committee shall have power to make such transfer, provided that it is satisfied that the student is well qualified and well fitted to undertake the course of study for which application is made, and that the application has the support of the candidate's society. A candidate who transfers status in this way shall be reckoned as having held the status of Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration from the time of admission to his or her previous status, unless the committee shall determine otherwise.

§§3. Supervision of Students

  • 1. Every candidate on admission as a Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration shall be placed by the MBA Committee under the supervision of a member of the University or other competent person selected by the committee, and the committee shall have power for sufficient reason to change the supervisor of any student or to arrange for joint supervision by more than one supervisor, if it deems necessary.

  • 2. It shall be the duty of the supervisor of a student entered upon a course of study to direct and superintend the work of the student, to meet the student regularly, and to undertake such duties as shall be from time to time set out in the Divisional Board's memorandum of guidance for students and supervisors.

  • 3. The supervisor shall submit a report on the progress of a student to the committee three times a year, and at any other time when the committee so requests or the supervisor deems expedient. The supervisor shall communicate the contents of the report to the student on each occasion that a report is made, so that the student is aware of the supervisor's assessment of his or hertheir work during the period in question. In addition, the supervisor shall inform the committee at once if hethey or she isare of the opinion that the student is unlikely to reach the standard required for the Degree of Master of Business Administration.

  • 4. It shall be the duty of every Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration to undertake such guided work and to attend such seminars and lectures as his or her supervisor requests; to attend such meetings with his or her supervisor as the supervisor reasonably arranges; and to fulfil any other requirements of the Divisional Board as set out in its memorandum of guidance for students and supervisors.

§§4. Residence and other Requirements

  • 1. No full-time Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration shall be granted leave to supplicate unless, after admission, hethey or she hashave kept statutory residence and pursued his or hertheir course of study at Oxford for at least thirty-seven weeks.

  • 2. No full-time Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration shall retain that status for more than six terms in all.

  • 3. Part-time students for the Degree of Master of Business Administration shall in each case be required to pursue their course of study over an elapsed time of 21 months. Part-time students shall not be required to keep statutory residence but must attend for such instruction and undertake such supervised coursework as the MBA committee shall require. The part-time MBA Director shall keep a register of attendance of part-time students. No student shall be granted leave to supplicate unless the register shows satisfactory attendance by him or her.

  • 4. Part-time students may hold the status of Student for the Part-time Degree of Master of Business Administration for a period not exceeding 48 months.

  • 5. A Student for the Degree of Master of Business Administration shall cease to hold that status if:

    • (a) he or shethey shall have been refused permission to supplicate for the Degree of Master of Business Administration;

    • (b) the MBA Committee shall, in accordance with provisions set down by regulation by the Divisional Board, and after consultation with the student's society and supervisor, have deprived the student of such status;

    • (c) he or shethey shall have been transferred under the relevant provisions to another status; or

    • (d) he or shethey shall not have entered for the relevant examination within the time specified under this sub-section.

§§5. Examination of Students

  • 1. The examination for the Degree of Master of Business Administration shall be under the supervision of the MBA Committee. The subjects of each examination shall be determined by regulation by the committee, which shall have power to arrange lectures and courses of instruction for the assessment. The assessment shall consist of:

    • (a) course assignments;

    • (b) written examinations;

    • (c) oral presentations;

    • (d) written or oral reports on a business project approved by the committee;

    • (de) class participation; and

    • (ef) an oral examination; provided that the committee shall have power by regulation to authorise the examiners to dispense individual candidates from the oral examination. This provision notwithstanding, the examiners may, if they deem expedient, set a candidate a further written examination after examining the candidate orally.

    • Assignments and reports must be submitted using the University approved online assessment platform, as set out in the assessment section of the programme learning platform, by the stipulated submission date.

  • 2. No candidate shall be permitted to take an examination under the preceding clause unless hethey or she hashave been admitted as a candidate for the examination in question by the committee and has satisfied any other conditions prescribed in the regulations for that course.

  • 3. Unless otherwise provided in this sub-section, the number and distribution of examiners shall be as set out in the relevant regulation.

  • 4. A candidate who has failed to satisfy the examiners in the examination may enter again on one, but not more than one, subsequent occasion for that part of the examination which hethey failed. Re-sits or shere-submissions failedof assessed course components must take place no more than twelve months after the final meeting of the Board of Examiners, excluding any period of suspension.

A. Full-time students

  • 15. Candidates must follow for at least three terms a course of instruction in Management Studies. Candidates must complete components (a)-(e) below:

    • (a) all eightnine courses from the Schedule A;

    • (b) EITHER nine electives taken in Hilary term, Trinity term and the summer, a maximum of two of which can be completed by taking equivalent (up to four) ‘half’ electives;

    • OR seveneight electives, a maximum of two of which can be completed by taking equivalent (up to four) ‘half’ electives;

    • OR six electives, a maximum of two of which can be completed by taking equivalent (up to four) half electives, and a Strategicsummer Consultingproject, Project (SCP) that is undertaken in a group during the Summer. The SCPwhich must be approved by the MBA Director and is assessed through a report of not more than 15,000 words.

    • A list of Hilaryelectives, andincluding Trinitythe termmethod electivesof assessment, will be published by the MBA Director no later than the firstpreceding Mondayterm. Candidates who have taken an MBA elective as part of Michaelmasanother Term.degree Summerprogramme electivessuccessfully willcompleted beat publishedOxford nocannot laternormally thantake the firstsame Mondayelective again as part of Hilarythe Term.MBA;

    • (c) Thethe integration modulesmodule on Global Rules of the Game, Responsible Leadership, and Entrepreneurship;

    • (d) an Entrepreneurship Project (EP), which requires completion of assignments given in the Integration Modules and a report in the form of a business plan, which should not exceed a total of 8,000 words. The EP must be undertaken in a group and approved by the MBA Director;

    • (e) Global Opportunities && Threats Oxford (GOTO), which requires the completion of assignments in the Integration Modules, two additional group assignments and a group project in the form of a written report of not more than 8,000 words.

  • 26. Students must satisfy the examiners inattempt all assessments/examinations associated with components (a)-(e) above, but may fail one of the eight courses from component (a) or one of the elective courses from component (b) (or two half-elective courses) and still pass the programme as a whole. Candidates may be required to attend an oral examination on any part.

    •  

    • 3. The examiners may award a distinction for excellence in the whole examination to candidates for the Degree.

    • 4. In exceptional circumstances, a candidate wishing to take an examination later than the one to which he or she has been admitted may do so by application to the Chair of Examiners.

    B. Part-time students

    • 1. Candidates taking the course on a part-time basis must follow for not less than 21 months a course of instruction in Management Studies. Candidates must complete components (a) to (g) below:

      • (a) all eight courses from Schedule A;

      • (b) six electives, a maximum of two of which can be completed by taking equivalent (up to four) ‘half’ electives. The list of electives to be published not later than the first day of the first module of the second year of the programme;

      • (c) Entrepreneurship Project (EP), which requires completion of a report in the form of a business plan, which should not exceed a total of 8,000 words. The EP must be approved by the Director of the part-time MBA;

      • (d) the Global Rules of the Game integrative module, and the assessment associated with this course;

      • (e) the Strategic Leader integrative module and the assessment associated with this course;

      • (f) the Business in Emerging Markets module and satisfy the examiners in the form of an essay submission associated with this module of not more than 5,000 words;

      • (g) Global Opportunities & Threats Oxford (GOTO), and the assessment associated with this course;

    • 2. Students must satisfy the examiners in all assessments/examinations associated with components (a)-(g) above, but may fail one of the eight courses from component (a) or one of the elective courses from component (b) and still pass the programme as a whole. Candidates may be required to attend an oral examination on any part.

      • 3. The MBA Committee shall have the discretion to permit any candidate to the part-time MBA to be exempted from up to four courses providing that the Committee is satisfied that such a candidate has completed equivalent study of an appropriate standard, and has passed the assessment associated with that equivalent study, on either the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Strategy, the Postgraduate Diploma in Global Business, the Postgraduate Diploma in Organisational Leadership, or the Postgraduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation (previously the Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Strategy) no more than five years before initial registration for the part-time MBA. Application for exemptions will only be permitted until 31st December 2017, after which candidates on any Postgraduate Diploma may only transfer onto the part-time MBA under clause 4 below.

      • 4. The MBA Committee shall have the discretion to permit any candidate to transfer onto the part-time MBA from either the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Strategy, the Postgraduate Diploma in Global Business, the Postgraduate Diploma in Organisational Leadership, or the Postgraduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation, providing that the Committee is satisfied that such a candidate has completed equivalent study of an appropriate standard on the four courses on the respective Postgraduate Diploma, and has passed the assessment associated with these four courses.

      • 5. With the approval of the Director of the part-time MBA, a candidate may substitute core courses or electives on the part-time MBA with core courses from the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Strategy, the Postgraduate Diploma in Global Business, the Postgraduate Diploma in Organisational Leadership, the Postgraduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation, or M.Sc. in Major Programme Management, assuming that core course falls within the permitted registration period for the part-time MBA.

      • 6. The examiners may award a distinction for excellence in the whole examination to candidates for the Degree.

      • 7. In exceptional circumstances, a candidate wishing to take an examination later than the one to which he or she has been admitted may do so by application to the Chair of Examiners. 

      Schedule A 

      • (a) Analytics

      • (b) Firms && Markets

      • (c) Accounting

      • (d) Strategy

      • (e) Business Finance

      • (f) LeadershipOrganisational FundamentalsBehaviour

      • (g) Technology && Operations Management

      • (h) Marketing

      • (i) Capitalism in Debate