Situated in the heart of London with 90% of its class coming from different parts of the world, London Business School offers a truly global experience. Whether someone is looking for a fast-track career pace, considering an industry shift or wanting to excel as an entrepreneur, LBS has something to offer to everyone. The institute says all its applicants have one thing in common- a desire to find a place in the diverse, multinational class of high-potential achievers.
Unlike many US schools, LBS does not publish its acceptance rate. However, we know for a fact that a good GMAT score is one of the first evaluation criteria for any top B-school. In one of our previous articles, we talked about the weightage of GMAT scores in the application process.
Along with a good GMAT score, an applicant is judged on various other parameters as well. Here is everything you need to know about applying to London Business School.
This article covers:
- Previous years’ GMAT score trend of London Business School
- What is a good GMAT score for London Business School
- What is a good GMAT score for Indians applying to London Business School
Previous years’ GMAT score trend for London Business School
To determine a good GMAT score for securing admission in London Business School, let us first take a look at the average GMAT scores of incoming classes of the last two years:
| Year | 2018 | 2017 |
| LBS GMAT Score | 707 | 708 |
We see that the average score hovers around 710 for both the years.
Now, we will use a simple 5-step approach to approximate a good score which can increase one’s chances of receiving an interview invite and finally an admission letter from LBS admissions committee.
As per the process, we add 20 points to the average GMAT score of the latest batch of LBS to determine a good score. Accordingly, 730+ should be a good GMAT score for London Business School.
If you are planning to apply to other business schools as well and would want to approximate a good score for getting admissions in some of the top B-schools, here’s the 5-year GMAT score trend report of 50 top US and European business schools
Our analysis, however, doesn’t stop here. Since this is an approximate guesstimate, we would further like to verify it with robust observations derived by analysing actual data from the latest batch of applicants to London Business School.
How to decide on a good GMAT score for London Business School: Methodology
This article is based on data from the LBS decision tracker Class of 2021 on gmat club. Here, we find a summary of the application status of several applicants who applied to the London Business School for the class of 2021.
Below, we have classified the number of applicants, interview invitees and admitted candidates corresponding to each GMAT score.
| GMAT Score | Applications | Interview Invites | Admitted |
| 780 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 770 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| 760 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 750 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
| 740 | 15 | 13 | 8 |
| 730 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| 720 | 18 | 11 | 6 |
| 710 | 18 | 13 | 7 |
| 700 | 16 | 14 | 6 |
| 690 | 10 | 5 | 3 |
| 680 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 670 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 660 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| 650 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| 640 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 610 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Observations
- GMAT scores in the range of 700 to 740 witnessed the maximum applications, interview invites as well as admits.
- In this range, a score of 730 registers a high conversion rate of 75% with 9 out of 12 interviewees securing admission at LBS
- The interview rate is extremely high for GMAT scores 700 and 740 (~87%)
- For scores at the higher end, the interview rate is high- 5 out of 6 applicants with GMAT score 760 and all 6 applicants with GMAT score 770 were interviewed
- Interestingly, the interview rate is more than 60% for all scores above 650 with the exception of GMAT score 690 (Interview rate 50%)
- However, the number of total admitted candidates drops below a score of 700
- In the lower end of the spectrum, 3 out of 5 applicants with a score 650 received admission. No one below this score was admitted to LBS.
Inference
Relative to other top B-schools, the admissions seem to be more spread out with the numbers peaking in the range of 700 to 740 for LBS. We can hence say that a score in this range is a good GMAT score for London Business School. The invite rate for this range is above 60% and hence a score in this range certainly boosts your chances of being noticed by the admissions committee. However, once you get your foot in the door, you will have to work on the other aspects of your application process. As we can see, some high scorers were also unable to make the cut, while some candidates with relatively lower scores succeeded in securing the coveted admission letter. Your profile plays a key role in the subsequent selection rounds.
And hence, you might want to go through 10 ways to boost your MBA profile
This article includes a quick look at the scores of the waitlisted candidates
| GMAT Score | Waitlisted | Admitted from waitlist |
| 770 | 1 | 0 |
| 760 | 0 | 0 |
| 750 | 1 | 0 |
| 740 | 1 | 0 |
| 730 | 0 | 0 |
| 720 | 2 | 0 |
| 710 | 2 | 1 |
| 700 | 2 | 0 |
| 690 | 0 | 0 |
| 680 | 1 | 0 |
| 670 | 0 | 0 |
| 660 | 1 | 0 |
| 650 | 1 | 0 |
While candidates across several scores were waitlisted only two were able to get off the waitlist with score of one candidate not known and for the other being 710. For the class of 2020 as well, two candidates from the waitlist made it to LBS- with scores 710 and 740. No candidate below 710 was confirmed from the waitlist. Along with a good GMAT score, other parameters of the application process are also extremely important.
Here are some interesting ways to get off a B-school’s waitlist
What is a good GMAT score for London Business School
Considering all the above-mentioned factors, we recommend a GMAT score 730 or higher as a good GMAT score for London Business School.
This is a safe score to aim for, considering the high interview rate as well as the conversion rate for this score. While the interview rate for LBS is quite high across scores, a higher GMAT score helps one gain a competitive advantage.
But one will have to complement a good GMAT score with an excellent profile and an impressive interview performance to be able to get the final offer.
What is a good GMAT score for Indians applying to London Business School
The over-represented candidate pool of Indian applicants usually goes through a rigorous preparation process for GMAT with a lot of Indian applicants scoring quite high. Hence, the overall competition for this diaspora goes up by a few notches.
Let’s look at the GMAT scores of Indian candidates who applied to London Business School and see how they fared:
Indian Applicants for the Class of 2021
| GMAT Score | No. of Indian applicants | Interview Invites | Admitted |
| 780 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 770 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 760 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 750 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 740 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 730 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 720 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 710 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 700 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 690 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 680 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 670 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 660 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 650 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 640 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
- 40 Indians applied
- 18 received an interview invite
- 12 received admission offers
With a huge number of applicants from India, the LBS admission committee has to be selective in their decision, considering that they need to maintain certain diversity ratios for each class. Only 2 Indians with scores lower than 700 were admitted to LBS. For all scores in the range of 700 to 770, at least one Indian for each score received an admission offer. For LBS, once a candidate scores above 700, the profile, interview performance and other application factors play a more crucial role in governing one’s selection.
However, for Indian candidates, we still recommend a GMAT score of 740 or higher for improving their chances of admission to London Business School
