The UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) has obtained EQUIS accreditation, the most prestigious institutional distinction for business and management schools, which certifies its quality based on rigorous international standards and places it among the elite of business schools. This recognition, available to only 206 of the nearly 30,000 business schools in the world of these characteristics, is added to that previously awarded by AMBA, making UPF-BSM the first business school linked to a public university in Spain to achieve it.

"This accreditation, recognised worldwide, endorses our reputation and confirms our present and future commitment to international standards of excellence", said UPF-BSM Director General José M. Martinez-Sierra. "We are extremely grateful to EFMD for endorsing our most important duty: to offer the highest quality education to our students," stated Martínez-Sierra.

"This accreditation, recognised worldwide, endorses our reputation and confirms our present and future commitment to international standards of excellence"

The accreditation, granted by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), endorses the quality of business schools in up to ten chapters: governance, programmes, students, faculty, research, executive education, resources and administration, internationalisation, ethics, responsibility and sustainability, and links with the environment. EQUIS has congratulated the school on achieving its certification with a warm welcome and has recalled that they are a "rigorous tool for business schools to assess, accredit and improve their quality".

Thus, obtaining EQUIS allows UPF-BSM to advance in the goal of achieving the triple crown, an expression to define the three most relevant international distinctions, a milestone that only 1% of business schools in the world have achieved. In this sense, this week the Initial Accreditation Committee to Advance Collegiate School of Business (AACSB), has given the go-ahead to the start of the school's accreditation process for the last of the certifications that make up the triple crown.

International prestige

"Receiving external recognition like this certifies that we are going in the right direction as a school and that we have done our work correctly as an organisation", Dean Llorenç Bagur, pointed out. "The EQUIS distinction is a sign of how we do things, how we want to do them and where we want to go," he added, celebrating the certification of UPF-BSM's eligibility for AACSB accreditation.

Besides the international prestige it brings, obtaining EQUIS - in addition to AMBA- is a guarantee of quality at a global level for the entire UPF-BSM community, especially for the collaborating companies and institutions and for the students and alumni as well, as their qualifications will be valued in an international dimension thanks to the link to a double-accredited school. This is extremely important in an increasingly globalised environment and will allow them to access better job opportunities.

"Receiving external recognition like this certifies that we are going in the right direction as a school and that we have done our work correctly as an organisation"

Achieving the certification has involved an exhaustive internal review period, carried out by EQUIS through peer-review process, which has lasted more than two years. In this regard, Martinez-Sierra expressed his gratitude the UPF-BSM community for its efforts and "for what it has meant to comply with the standards of such a complex accreditation in each of the different areas of the school".

Barcelona, international hub for higher education

The accreditation obtained by UPF-BSM is yet another element that reinforces the definition of Barcelona as an international hub of higher education excellence, as it has top-level institutions such as Pompeu Fabra University's School of Management, recognised as the best university in Spain and the 15th best young university in the world according to the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2021).

Barcelona's reputation in higher education it's thanks to the quality of its research and the excellence of its programmes, accredited by demanding external bodies in accordance with international standards. Accreditation obtained by UPF-BSM helps to reinforce Barcelona's name as a highly attractive destination for international students.