The University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) was once again ranked among the world’s top providers of executive education programmes by the prestigious annual UK Financial Times (FT) Executive Education rankings, which were announced yesterday, 18 May 2015.

Ranked at number 44, GIBS finds itself in the esteemed company of some of the world’s most prominent business schools, such as Harvard Business School, University of Oxford Saïd Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management.

As a global benchmark for executive education, the FT rankings rate the top 50 business schools globally by combining delegates’ and companies’ views on open and customised programmes. Business schools provide details of a number of their top clients, who are then requested to complete an online survey. GIBS clients who participated in the survey included both leading South African corporates and top multinationals operating across Africa and abroad.

The ranking relies on several criteria, including preparation, programme design, teaching methods and materials, faculty diversity, future use, new skills and learning, facilities, food and  female  participants.

Shaun Rozyn, Executive Director of Executive Education at GIBS, commented: ‘The rankings once again affirm that our efforts are globally recognised. To be ranked among the top business schools in the world is a great achievement and speaks volumes about the quality of education that we offer. The feedback received from such surveys is invaluable as it allows us to benchmark our programmes against global standards.’

Responding to the announcement, Professor Nicola Kleyn, who began her tenure as Dean of GIBS in April, said: ‘We live by our ethos of aiming to significantly improve responsible performance by individuals and organisations through high-quality business education. This accolade will drive us to continuously improve our programmes within an ever-changing economic landscape.’