Newcastle Business School takes ‘Business School of the Year’ at the prestigious Times Higher Education Awards 2015

Newcastle Business School won the Business School of the Year title at the Times Higher Education Awards 2015, held in association with Santander Universities. The awards, now in their eleventh year, are widely recognised as the Oscars of the higher education sector, shining a spotlight on the outstanding achievements of institutions, teams and individuals in the UK higher education sector. 

A fundamental review of the purpose of a modern business education, which propelled Northumbria University’s Newcastle Business School into an elite group made up of less than 1 per cent of the world’s institutions, is a significant reason why it has triumphed in this category. In May 2014, the school became one of only 10 global institutions outside the US, and the only one in Europe, to be accredited in both business and accounting by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

This was the culmination of an eight-year strategy that involved a major redesign of the school. It included creating undergraduate and postgraduate programme goals, establishing research-rich and industry-relevant course content, working with employers to create a strong curriculum focus on ethics and employability, and an emphasis on personal development and reflective professional practice. As a result, the school saw a 41 per cent increase in internship opportunities and now has the largest suite of programmes in the UK accredited by the Epas scheme, run by international management education body the EFMD. It is also the first business school in the North East to be awarded the Small Business Charter by the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

The judges said the review of the purpose of the business school and the resulting overhaul were “impressive”. The fact that it involved “fairly fundamental changes across all aspects of the school made it even more notable”, they said. Crucially, it “was able to quantify the impact of the changes” in terms of “staff development, student mobility and employability, and accreditations”.

Their victory was witnessed by more than 1,100 people, who gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane for the awards last night, hosted by comedian Rory Bremner.

The Minister for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson MP, joined universities from all over the country to celebrate the greatest ideas, the finest practice and the very best researchers and teachers in the sector.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges including Alison Johns, chief executive of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, Sir Deian Hopkin, president, National Library of Wales, and Joanna Newman, vice-principal (international), King's College London.

For more coverage of the awards, profiles of the winners, and photos from the evening, please visit www.the-awards.co.uk or pick up a copy of THE, available in newsagents from 3 December.