The Sainsbury Management Fellowship supports engineers with high career potential to complete a full-time MBA at one of 19 approved business schools, including HEC Paris. Engineers and Scientists in Business Fellowship funds and delivers the scheme, while the Royal Academy of Engineering administers it.
The scheme aims to develop leaders who remain engaged with UK engineering, business, industry, and their professional communities. Applicants may apply before, during, or after applying to an approved business school.
Benefits & funding
- £50,000 toward costs associated with an eligible full-time MBA, including tuition, course materials, living expenses, or relocation.
- Access to Royal Academy of Engineering opportunities and network groups.
- Membership of the Sainsbury Management Fellowship alumni network and opportunities to support future engineers.
Eligibility
- Be a UK national currently living in the United Kingdom.
- Hold a first degree in engineering, an allied technology, or a science discipline; a first or upper-second classification is preferred rather than required.
- Have a GMAT score of at least 650 before applying.
- Demonstrate strong commitment to UK engineering, business, or industry and to the applicant’s engineering community.
- Be considering, applying to, admitted to, or already attending a full-time MBA at one of the 19 approved business schools; executive, part-time, distance-learning MBAs and MPAs are not eligible.
- Applicants usually have four to ten years of post-degree professional experience, but the official criteria present this as the typical profile rather than a hard limit.
- Chartered Engineer status or progress toward it is viewed favourably but is not required.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
UK
Residence required
UK
Education required
Bachelor
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Application process
- 1Read the Royal Academy of Engineering applicant guidance notes.
- 2Create a profile in the Academy’s Grant Management System and submit the written application.
- 3If shortlisted, attend an in-person interview; the panel may also request a short presentation on a supplied topic.
- 4Successful applicants without a confirmed business-school place receive an offer in principle and must confirm an approved-school place within 12 months.
Program timeline
Application deadline.
30 September 2026, 4:00 pm
Late October or early November 2026
Interviews for the May-to-September application window.