Top spot in the 2015 Financial Times Global MBA ranking of the 100 best full-time MBA programmes goes to Harvard Business School, which saw off challenges from London Business School (second) and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (third) to keep its crown. Stanford Graduate School of Business, second last year, slipped to joint fourth with Insead.

The ranking is based on surveys of the business schools and their graduates of 2011. MBA programmes are assessed according to the career progression of alumni, the school’s idea generation (see key, page 39) and the diversity of students and faculty.

It is the sixth time Harvard has topped the ranking and the third year in a row. Its alumni have the highest average salary three years after graduation, at $179,910 (weighted), nearly doubling their pre-MBA pay. Harvard is among the top schools for career progression and its MBA was the most highly recommended by graduates of other schools. It also comes second for research and its doctoral programme.