The University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) has continued its rise in the esteemed annual UK Financial Times (FT) Executive Education Rankings, which were recently announced. 

GIBS has been placed at number 41 in Executive Education, up two places from 43 last year. Over the past 14 years, GIBS has consistently appeared in this ranking alongside some of the world's most prestigious business schools such as Harvard and Stanford Graduate School of Business. GIBS remains the only African business school in the top 50.

The 2017 FT Executive Education Rankings include the 85 best customised programmes and the 75 best open-enrolment programmes worldwide. The rankings are based principally on measures of participants' and clients' satisfaction, as well as the schools' growth in revenues, their international reach and the diversity of their faculties.

For custom programmes, GIBS is ahead of top-ranked business schools like Cambridge Judge Business School, Columbia Business School, and Imperial College London. The survey takes into consideration criteria such as programme preparation, design, teaching methods, materials, new skills and learning, and diversity of faculty and participation of women. The School performed particularly well (11th in the world) in the 'Future use' criterion, which is a sign of good, long-standing relationships with clients.

Lerato Mahlasela, Director: Custom Programmes at GIBS said, 'This is an affirmation of our unwavering commitment to providing quality programmes that meet and exceed our customers' expectations. We are pleased that clients and students alike recognise our efforts.'

GIBS prides itself on providing high-quality business and management education in a rapidly changing and competitive business environment. 'As a leader in the space, the School intends to increase its efforts across the continent, developing leaders in the African business context,' says Director: Open Programmes at GIBS, Nishen Munnisunker.

'Since its inception, GIBS has been at the vanguard of business education on the continent, and being consistently ranked in the Financial Times is testament that the School is fulfilling its mandate,' says Professor Nicola Kleyn, Dean of GIBS. 'We are operating in challenging times and need to continually reinvent ourselves in order to remain relevant. We will continue to work hard at delivering a world-class offering,' she adds.