The £50k course that may, or may not, get you a £90k banking job in the UK
Doing a master’s in finance can be great for your career, yes, but there is an alternative, rather less known and generally more popular in Europe – the master’s in management (MiM). In many ways the baby brother of the MBA, and much like the MBA, not all MiMs were created equal.
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The most authoritative source of MiM worthiness, the Financial Times’ rankings, found that – for the 16th year in the last 17 – the Swiss University of St. Gallen offered the best MiM in the world. Swiss universities in general provide excellent MiMs.
British universities do not, however. Since 2018, when the FT’s ranking expanded to 100 universities (from 65), UK universities have consistently underperformed on the ranking, being either the worst or second worst on average among major countries (which we’ve defined as France, Germany Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK).
Part of that problem is that British MiM courses struggle with employability. The FT has measured employability after three months of graduation since 2019. In that year, British universities were on top of their peer group – 96% of students had a job after three months. In 2026, just 79% did, the lowest of their peer group.
A university like London Business School (LBS) is a good example of the decline. LBS’s MiM graduates had an employment rate of 94% after three years in 2019. In 2024, this employment rate declined to 91%. In 2025, to 90%. In 2026, to 88%.
The MiM employment rate at Warwick Business School, one of the UK’s traditional target schools for financiers, has declined even more dramatically. In 2019, 98% of Warwick MiM graduates were employed three months after graduation. In 2026, 82% were.
The University of Edinburgh’s business school is even worse. From a 3-month employment rate of 95% in 2019, it's now down to 66%.
All of these MiMs cost money, and a pretty pile of it, too. LBS’ MiM cost £53k. Warwick’s cost £42k. Even Edinburgh, where a third of students didn’t have a job after three months of graduation, cost £35k.
If you do get a job, it could be lucrative. The FT says LBS MiM graduates make an average of $120k (£89k) in 2026. At an 88% success rate, that might be worth a punt. Warwick’s graduates make an average of $74k (£55k). Edinburgh’s graduates make an average of $71k (£52k). At what point is it no longer worth that punt?
Maybe better to do a master’s in finance. Or even a master’s in financial engineering.
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