Accreditation & Memberships

Cork University Business School has earned accreditation from both AACSB and AMBA in recent years, this double accreditation places it among the top 2% of business schools worldwide.

Accreditation confirms that a business school’s undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and executive education programmes have passed rigorous standards for quality and that their programmes teach the knowledge and skills that employers require. Students reap the benefits of accreditation studying in practice-inspired programmes that are recognised as having met the highest standards in global business education.

Together CUBS and the Irish Management Institute (IMI) deliver fully accredited business and management education through a wide range of programmes that offer a complete lifelong learning pathway from the undergraduate level through to Executive Education.

As the world’s largest business education alliance, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) connects educators, students, and business to achieve a common goal: to create the next generation of great leaders.  CUBS has been awarded accreditation by AACSB, a mark of global excellence in business education. Less than 5% of the world’s business schools have earned AACSB accreditation which means that AACSB-accredited schools are considered to be leaders in business education.  In short, AACSB accreditation confirms that CUBS delivers a globally recognised standard of education. AACSB connects, shares, and inspires innovation and quality throughout the member network, as well as the business community.

The Association of MBAs (AMBA),  is one of the world’s leading authorities on postgraduate business education. Accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) represents the highest standard of achievement in postgraduate business education and shows CUBS’s continuing commitment to excellence in management education. AMBA’s rigorous assessment criteria ensure that only the highest-calibre programmes which demonstrate the best standards in teaching, curriculum, and student interaction achieve AMBA accreditation. Fewer than 300 Schools have achieved AMBA accreditation. For MBA students, AMBA accreditation is an assurance of quality, while for employers AMBA accreditation is a quality mark important when recruiting managers and future business leaders. 

Upon receiving AMBA accreditation, all current MBA students and recent MBA alumni of Cork University Business School are invited to join AMBA’s global member community of more than 55,000 students and alumni in more than 150 countries on a free basis, for networking, thought leadership, career development, and a variety of benefits.

Having achieved both AACSB and AMBA accreditation, the school will now focus its attention on EQUIS. EQUIS is the final accreditation in the CUBS journey towards treble accreditation.

EQUIS is the leading international system of quality assessment, improvement and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration. EQUIS is run by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and its fundamental objective is to raise the standard of management education worldwide. By attending an EQUIS accredited school, students can be assured that they are part of a high quality institution.

The Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths, and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. The Charter is now being used across the globe to address equality in Higher Education more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

Pictured: Athena Swan Committee

Cork University Business School (CUBS) is applying for an Athena Swan Bronze Award. ​Our Bronze application will include equality monitoring data to measure, understand, and report on challenges and progress across academic, research, professional, managerial and support staff roles in the school.

CUBS is committed to “Enabling Individuality, Empowering All” by

  • Addressing unequal representation across our school​
  • Empowering all students and staff to reach their full potential​
  • Supporting the progression of students into academic careers​
  • Creating a more inclusive working environment for all
  • Identifying areas for positive action in the school as well as recognising and sharing our good practices
  • Further developing our reputation in academia and the business community locally, nationally, and internationally​

To find more about Athena Swan at UCC  - https://www.ucc.ie/en/athenaswan/

Advance HE Ireland Athena Swan https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/equality-charters/international-charters/athena-swan-ireland

HEA Centre of Excellence for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Resources https://hea.ie/policy/gender/athena-swan/

 

European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) - EFMD is an international membership organization with more than 650 member organizations from academia, business, public service and consultancy in 75 countries.

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Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) - The mission of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative is to inspire and champion responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally.

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Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) - ACCA has assessed a number of our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for exemptions. Depending on the programme, Cork University Business School accounting and finance graduates are exempt from sitting papers to become an accountant with ACCA.

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Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Institute) - The MSc Corporate Finance and the MSc Asset Management Degrees at Cork University Business School, UCC have achieved CFA Institute University Recognition Programme status. This is granted to institutions whose degrees program(s) incorporate at least 70% of the CFA Program Candidate body of Knowledge (CBOK).

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Chartered Alternative Investment Association (CAIA) - CAIA awarded Cork University Business School, UCC Academic Partnership status in recognition of the MSc Asset Management Degree and the MSc Corporate Finance Degree. CAIA Academic Partnership is granted to institutions who cover at least 60% of the entire CAIA curriculum as represented by the Core Knowledge Outline (CKO)

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Chartered Accountants Ireland - Chartered Accountants Ireland has assessed a number of our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for exemptions. Depending on the programme, Cork University Business School accounting and finance graduates are exempt from sitting papers to become an accountant with CAI.

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Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - CIMA has assessed a number of our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for exemptions. Depending onthe programme, Cork University Business School accounting and finance graduates are exempt from sitting papers to become an accountant with CIMA.

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Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) accredit MSc HRM and HDip HRM programmes. Upon completion, graduates of this programme can apply for professional memberships of the internationall recognised Chartered institute of Personnel Development (CIPD)

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OSTC Financial Trading Lab - OSTC is a leading global trading company that specialises in exchange traded products in all major asset classes on the biggest international derivatives exchanges. Cork University Business School at UCC is the first university in IReland to be selected for this collaboration.

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Certified Public Accountants of Ireland - CPA has assessed a number of our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for exemptions. All exemptions are granted on a subject-for-subject basis to applicants holding a qualification recognised by CPA Ireland for exemption purposes.

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Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) - CUBS MSc Finance (Banking & Risk Management) programme has been accepted into the Global Association of Risk Practitioners (GARP) Partnership for Risk Education. GARP Partnership for Risk Education is granted to institutions that cover at least 70% of the GARP curriculum and allows the programme to award 6 scholarships to students from the programme to take Part 1 of GARPs professional exams each academic year. 

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Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) - The Irish Tax Institute grant exemptions from certain modules where applicants have successfully completed other Level 8 or 9 examinations from Cork University Business School.

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International Institute of Business Analysis - The BSc Business Information Systems Degree at Cork University Business School, UCC have achieved International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) certificate status.

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The Institute for Management Consultants and Business Advisers in Ireland - The IMCA is the national and internationally recognised professional institute for management consultants and business advisers in Ireland

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The 2+1 Partnership - The BA (Hons) Business and Financial Economics programme is a joint initiative between the Department of Economics in UCC and partner universities in China.  The curriculum is designed to enable students to develop a strong understanding of business and financial economics, from both a theoretical and applied perspective. The programme also features capstone modules where students develop research skills, teamwork, presentation, and report-writing skills. The programme directors work closely with the students in these modules, facilitating skills development. Active citizenship, particularly sustainability, is also an important aspect of the programme. Students study modules such as environmental economics, regional and urban economics and economic growth. In providing these modules, we intend to empower students to become more informed active citizens who can make a positive impact on society.