We are delighted to announce that the following schools have been awarded EQUIS re-accreditation:

• Business School, EM Normandie, France
• Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Hanken School of Economics, Finland
• HEC Liège – Management School, University of Liège, Belgium
• IAE Business School, Universidad Austral, Argentina
• Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIMI), India
• Loughborough University School of Business and Economics, United Kingdom
• School of Management, Fudan University, China

Congratulating the schools Alfons Sauquet, Quality Services & EQUIS Director, commented, ‘We are happy to see these prestigious business schools achieve re-accreditation. It is a privilege for the EQUIS team to accompany them in their journey towards continuous improvement. We hope this achievement will positively impact the schools’ future development.’

EQUIS celebrates excellence in diversity, and the unique profiles of the re-accredited business schools contribute to the richness of exchange in our network. We have highlighted some of their strengths below.

Business School, EM Normandie

With over 150 years of history, EM Normandie has established itself as one of the top business schools, serving over 6000 learners. The school is commended for excelling in the EQUIS transversal criteria, internationalisation and connections with the world of practice.

Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

Surrounded by Silicon Fen, one of Europe’s most successful technology clusters, Cambridge Judge Business School brings innovative educational solutions combining knowledge with professional practice. The school stands out for its quality of research output and tight connections with alumni networks.

Hanken School of Economics

Hanken School of Economics is one of the oldest business schools in Nordics and the only stand-alone business school in Finland. It is recognised for its international and research-oriented approach to academic offerings. The school benefits from strong alumni and corporate networks that positively impact students’ learning journeys.

HEC Liège – Management School, University of Liège

Founded in the 19^th century with the objective of developing the fields related to commercial relations in a disrupted global context, HEC Liege has a long tradition of innovation in management education. The school’s excellent connection to its immediate business ecosystem and to a wider world of practice underpins its educational activities.

Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIMI)

IIMI was established in 1996 with the mission to develop socially conscious managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs. It is now recognised as a top management education provider in India, offering a wide range of programmes in different formats and locations. IIMI is commended for its excellent and diverse student body.

Universidad Austral, IAE Business School

Founded more than 40 years ago, IAE Business School is a highly influential business school in Argentina and Latin America. It enjoys a wide network of 18000 alumni in more than 55 countries worldwide. Teaching with a practice-oriented approach, the school integrates its connections with the world of practice in a variety of ways, from strategy to faculty engagement to programme impact.

Loughborough University School of Business and Economics

The Loughborough University School of Business and Economics is a prestigious institution renowned for its excellence in teaching and research activities and its remarkable partnership network. With strong connections to the world of practice, the school emphasises practice-based skill development for students to excel in a competitive market.

School of Management, Fudan University

Established as a business school in 1929, Fudan School of Management is driven by the mission of cultivating academic specialists, business elites and social leaders with global perspectives and local insights. Recruiters commend the school for the quality of its students and for their numerous and excellent competencies acquired at the time of graduation.

EQUIS accreditation as a learning journey

EQUIS is a rigorous and comprehensive accreditation system that evaluates business schools across a range of criteria, including the quality of faculty, curriculum, research, and student experience. The accreditation process involves an in-depth self-assessment by the school, followed by a peer review conducted by a team of deans and a senior corporate professional.

Beyond the EQUIS-accredited label, this assessment offers a learning experience to business schools. As its name indicates, EQUIS is a quality improvement system, providing the unique combination of accreditation as a recognition of high international quality and a full strategic review regarding a school’s future development. Using a multi-dimensional assessment framework, EQUIS evaluates schools’ overall performance based on principles of internationalisation, connections with the world of practice, and ethics, responsibility and sustainability.

An integral part of the EQUIS accreditation is a rigorous peer-review process which is designed to assess the quality and relevance of a business school’s programmes, faculty, research, and governance structures. It provides an international benchmark to measure efforts against other top-performing institutions. The holistic evaluation of the school includes feedback and recommendations, which are provided in the peer-review report that serves as a roadmap to identify strengths and opportunities and build action plans to tackle areas of improvement.

These qualities were reinforced by the deans of the re-accredited schools.

Elian Pilvin, Director General & Dean, EM Normandie Business School, commented: ‘The whole community is delighted to retain the valuable EQUIS accreditation, which is a real asset for EM Normandie students and graduates and contributes considerably to the school’s reputation and attractiveness. The re-accreditation process went very well, and we particularly appreciated the attentiveness and professionalism of the peer review team during the audit. This step is essential for our institution. It guides us in our strategy, accompanies us in a process of continuous improvement and allows us to pursue an objective of academic and operational excellence.’

Ingmar Björkman, Rector, Hanken School of Economics, said: ‘The EQUIS re-accreditation for five years is an endorsement of our commitment to providing the best possible business education at Hanken. Accreditations drive us towards continuous improvement, and passing the EQUIS evaluation process indicates that we meet demanding international quality criteria. Further, the constructive feedback provided by the peer review teams helps us make Hanken an even better business school.’

Wilfried Niessen, Director General & Dean, HEC Liège – Management School, added: ‘We are pleased with this re-accreditation, particularly for our students and future students, to whom we are sending a strong signal regarding the international quality standards of our teaching, research and governance. The audit underlines HEC Liège’s links with companies (and we would like to thank all our partner companies for their unfailing involvement), demonstrating the adaptation and adequacy of our teaching to professional and economic realities. I would also like to highlight the work of each member of HEC Liège. EQUIS accreditation is a long and demanding process, and together, we have once again met the challenge.’

Carolina Dams, Dean, IAE Business School, concluded: ‘As an internationally connected business school committed to quality assurance, we believe that the EQUIS Accreditation Process is always an instance of learning and improvement. The possibility of sharing key aspects of our vision regarding the challenges of Executive Education with international peer reviewers helps us validate key assumptions of our strategy. We greatly value the feedback received and are convinced that we will continue to improve as a Business School and to generate an impact on people and society.’

Himanshu Rai, Director, Indian Institute of Management Indore, commented: ‘The major strength of EQUIS re-accreditation process in terms of international benchmarking is the high-quality peer group evaluation, rigorous process, and quality assessment. The constructive suggestions of the peer group in terms of programme effectiveness, student engagement, internationalisation of home campus, research and development, faculty sufficiency, and strategic development of the institute are very much insightful. We look forward to our long-term collaboration with EFMD and EQUIS.’

Janet Godsell, Dean, Loughborough University School of Business and Economics, concluded: ‘As a new Dean, I found the EQUIS re-accreditation process to provide a structured and comprehensive way to assess the progress our school had made against its strategy over the last five years. This has informed the direction of our new 2030 strategy and provided clarity on the importance of developing our culture of continuous improvement (CI) within the school. The development objectives provide a focus for CI activities and help to ensure broader University support. As Loughborough university and the business school seek to be more international in their outlook, the EQUIS frameworks for internationalisation will continue to be an invaluable tool, to help us consider a more multi-dimensional approach.’

There are currently 209 EQUIS accredited schools across 45 countries globally. More information is available on our website.

Learn more about the process for receiving EQUIS accreditation.