Dear all,

I'm a Swedish student aiming to study for a masters in management in the UK. My goal is to do a PhD after that, but as I am aware of the job market for academics, I am also looking for a master that could serve as a decent stepping stone onto the UK labour market.

About me:

BSc Economics and Mathematics '16 - Uppsala University, Sweden. Grade: 2.1 (mid 60s) (predicted)
Erasmus Scholarship (one year) '15 - UCL, London. Grade: 2.1, with a 1st (75) in dissertation.
LSE Summer School, Management '13 Grade: A

Wrote my UCL BSc. dissertation on rebranding of non-commercial organisations, highly praised by my supervisors. Won a venture creation competition organized by UCLs management department (a team effort)
Volunteered as a sub teacher at an inner city 6th form college, which I hope shows that I enjoy teaching. Will get good rec letters, but not from high profile professors. I speak Swedish, English and working Mandarin.

Personally I think the likes of LSE, Imperial, UCL and WBS are long shots (also expensive for me). Now, should I look within the rest of the Russel Group (Exeter, Liverpool, Nottingham etc.) or the universities that aren't famous but have good b-schools (Aston, Cass, Lancaster etc.)? How do these groups compare if I want to join academia vs just get a job in England? How 'high' do you think I can dare to aim with my profile? The reasons I want to move are primarily personal (family).

Hi there,

I'm not sure what the funding is like for studies in management, specifically, so hopefully someone else will be able to provide some help on that front.

In terms of your candidature for a masters degree, your grades seem pretty much in line with what most (if not all) universities would be willing to accept as minima; obviously, each institution will have its own rules for admission, and for PhD there is stiff competition for entry - and even stiffer competition for funding (generally speaking, although this does of course vary by subject, especially here in the UK).

One thought that comes to mind, after serving a decade in management in the UK, is that your academic record wouldn't preclude you from applying for a graduate training scheme / entry level management role in Britain. I know of many people who have taken a route of working in management for a number of years (myself included), been funded through professional and academic qualifications, and had the employer pay for the whole lot.

In terms of how high you dare apply, how high do you want to? (Incidentally, the Russell Group aren't the be all and end all. I'm currently at a Russell Group uni, but did my undergrad at St Andrews - which isn't Russell Group, but is hardly low down in the league tables - and, frankly, I found it had a better environment for research than my present institution)

Thanks Sempronius for your reply.

I've been thinking about applying for placements first, but at this point I think it would be difficult. The only work experience I have, aside from the teaching thing, is at a start-up in Stockholm. I learned a lot and had some serious responsibility, but although the company is doing well these days, I doubt it's the kind of experience large City firms are looking for. I'm really not bothered with prestige or big starting salaries, but I don't know how smaller companies feel about employing foreigners when there are many unemployed natives already. My English is as close to fluent as they come, but I have few connections and frankly, an economics degree isn't that vocational.

I saw that Chester University offers a business master with two 20-weeks paid work placements at local companies. Perhaps this is worth looking into as a first step to get some UK-based experience? Also the salary, while modest, is enough to pay for tuition and living costs in the north-west. It's a shame there doesn't seem to be more universities offering this.