NCI Blog

“The MBA is the most robust, enduring and internationally recognised of all management qualifications.” - Professor Jimmy Hill, Vice President at National College of Ireland

With more than 60 years’ experience in delivering real world management education, and a team of lecturers who have extensive experience both as educators and practitioners in international business, the MBA at NCI can offer significant benefits to your career and to your life.

But there are lots of MBA courses available in Dublin. Why should you choose the MBA at National College of Ireland?

Dr Colette Darcy, Lecturer and MBA Programme Director at National College of Ireland, put together this guide to the questions she is commonly asked about the NCI MBA.

Q. What kind of people is the NCI MBA aimed at?

A. The MBA is aimed at people who have gained high-quality work experience, but who are at a relatively early stage in their career. Essentially, the programme is suitable for people who want to increase their knowledge of business and management to:

• Enhance their existing career and accelerate their promotion prospects

• Change career by changing function or industry

• Start their own business

Q. What are the entry requirements?

A. Applicants are required to hold a minimum of a 2.2 honours degree in either a cognate or non-cognate area at level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications and a minimum of three years’ work experience, ideally but not necessarily, in management.

Admission may be granted to candidates with less than three years work experience if they can demonstrate superior academic credentials and outstanding evidence of management through professional and personal experiences.

Q. What is unique about the NCI MBA?

A. It is designed to develop creative and articulate strategic managers with strong analytical and interpersonal skills who can operate and lead effectively in an international environment. Organisations are looking for people, who are not only ‘value creators’ but are also ‘game changers’ and we believe NCI equips people to do that very well.

Q. What kind of career does the MBA prepare you for?

A. As a general management programme, the MBA is good preparation for any job that requires general management expertise. The programme is of particular interest to people working in or planning to work in consultancy, manufacturing, service or technology industries. Increasingly, some students use the MBA to help them establish their own business or return to help run a family business.

Q. What are the benefits of the NCI MBA for students?

A. The programme emphasises experimentation, critical thinking, innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship and our programme team combine academic and significant commercial experience.

Q. What’s a typical programme participant like?

A. Every year our MBA cohort features a diverse range of professionals from across a range of sectors.  We find that students from all sectors benefit considerably from the experience of their fellow classmates.  Here is a profile of a recent MBA group at NCI to give you some idea of the type of people who undertake the Masters in Business Administration at National College of Ireland:

A key feature of the MBA is the stimulating and varied international participant mix. Each year approximately 75% of the class come from Ireland, with the remaining 15% made up of participants from different countries.

Q. What is the average age group of participants on the MBA programme?

A. The average age profile ranges from late 20s through to mid-50s.

Still have questions about the MBA at National College of Ireland? Come along to  our upcoming "Taste of an MBA" event at our Dublin city centre campus on Thursday 11th April, or email the MBA programme director Dr Colette Darcy on colette.darcy@ncirl.ie.

This blog post was originally posted in July 2016 and updated in March 2018.