TL;DR: The London Business School MBA application for the August 2027 intake asks three essay questions: a 500 word essay on your post-MBA goals, a 200 word answer to "What makes you unique?" and an optional 500 words for anything else the Admissions Committee should know. That is 700 required words in total, so each sentence has to carry weight. LBS also asks for a one page CV, one referee, a GMAT or GRE score and a £200 application fee, and it runs three application rounds, with deadlines on September 3, 2026, January 6, 2027 and March 22, 2027 (Source: London Business School, MBA how to apply). If you would like an experienced reader for your LBS MBA essays, Oriel Admissions can help: schedule a consultation.
What Are the LBS MBA Essays for the August 2027 Intake?
London Business School publishes three essay questions for its MBA programs. Two are required and one is optional.
| Essay | Question | Word limit |
|---|---|---|
| Question 1 (required) | What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? | 500 words |
| Question 2 (required) | What makes you unique? | 200 words |
| Question 3 (optional) | Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? | 500 words |
The same three questions appear on the application page for the LBS One-year MBA. LBS describes the essays as a vital part of the application and recommends that you spend a significant amount of time preparing them. With 700 required words, there is no room for a slow opening or a sentence that restates your CV.
How Do You Answer the LBS Goals Essay?
Question 1 asks three things in one sentence: what you want to do after the MBA, how your experience so far prepares you for it, and what the London Business School program adds. A workable allocation of the 500 words is roughly a third to each.
The goal. Name the role, the industry and the location you are aiming for straight after the MBA, then say where you want that to lead. A committee can assess "strategy consulting in London, focused on energy clients, with the aim of moving into an operating role at a utility". It cannot assess "a leadership role in a global business".
The bridge from your experience. Pick the two or three parts of your record that make the goal credible. The LBS class averages 5.5 years of work experience, so the committee expects to see progression and results, not a list of employers. If your goal is a change of field, show which skills transfer and say honestly what you still lack.
What LBS adds. This is where most drafts become generic. The program runs 15 to 21 months depending on the exit point you choose, and that flexibility is a real planning decision: say which length fits your plan and why. Then name what you would use: the electives that close your gaps, the London employers you would reach, and the mix of an MBA2027 class of 514 students from 66 nationalities. Our guide to the core pillars of an MBA application covers how the goals, the reason for the MBA and the reason for the school fit together.
How Do You Answer the What Makes You Unique Essay?
Question 2 gives you 200 words, which is about ten sentences. Treat it as one idea with evidence. Choose a single quality, experience or perspective that the CV does not show and that your classmates would benefit from, and support it with one concrete example.
Two tests help. First, could another applicant with a similar job have written the same answer? If so, it is not yet specific enough. Second, does it add something the goals essay and CV do not? A second summary of your career wastes the space. The strongest answers tend to come from outside the job title: where you grew up, something you built, a commitment you have kept for years, or a way of working that colleagues would recognize.
Should You Write the Optional LBS Essay?
Only if you have something the committee needs and cannot find elsewhere. LBS labels Question 3 as optional, and an empty optional essay does no harm. A padded one does, because it tells the reader you could not judge what matters.
Good uses are narrow: context for a test score or an academic record that does not reflect your ability, an explanation of why your referee is not your current employer, or a fact about your circumstances that changes how the application should be read. One practical point: LBS asks you to give reasons for significant gaps in employment on a separate sheet with your CV, so that explanation belongs there and not in the essay. If you do write Question 3, you do not need the full 500 words.
What Else Does the LBS MBA Application Require?
| Component | What LBS asks for |
|---|---|
| CV | One page, uploaded with the online form |
| Referee | One: your current employer or a colleague, or someone else who knows you well in a work context, such as a former employer or a long-standing client |
| GMAT or GRE | A valid score less than five years old; LBS states no preference between the two tests |
| English test | Required unless English is your first language and you meet the conditions LBS sets |
| Transcripts | A transcript of grades from each university you attended |
| Application fee | £200 |
On test scores, LBS reports an average GMAT of around 645 for the MBA class, with a typical range of 555 to 805, and says the minimum it will accept is usually around 555. For the GRE it prefers scores above 160 in both sections. It also warns that the Admissions Committee may ask you to retake the test before making an offer. Our GMAT prep guide covers retake planning, and our MBA resume guide covers the one page CV.
The single referee matters more than it would at a school that asks for two. Choose someone who has supervised your work directly and can describe specific results, and share your goals with them so that the reference and the essay agree.
When Are the LBS MBA Deadlines?
| Round | Application deadline | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | September 3, 2026 | November 26, 2026 |
| Round 2 | January 6, 2027 | April 1, 2027 |
| Round 3 | March 22, 2027 | June 3, 2027 |
All deadlines fall at 17:00 UK time, and LBS requires a valid GMAT or GRE score by the deadline of the round you apply in. If you will need a visa or want to be considered for scholarships, the first two rounds leave you more time.
What Happens After You Submit?
The Admissions Committee reviews your application against the calendar for your round. Selected applicants are invited to an interview, which LBS says is conducted by alumni or senior admissions staff of the MBA program in the region where you are based; you may be asked to travel for it. The interview feedback is combined with the written application, and the decision is an offer, a rejection or a place on the waitlist. LBS notes that some waitlisted applicants are later offered a place in the current class or the following one.
Because the interviewer is usually an alum, expect a conversation that tests whether your goals hold up and whether you would add to the class. Our guide to the MBA interview weakness question covers one of the questions candidates find hardest.
How Do the LBS MBA Essays Fit the Rest of Your Application?
Read the whole file as the committee will. The CV shows what you have done, the referee confirms it, the goals essay explains where it leads, and the 200 words show who you are beyond the job. If two of those say the same thing, one of them is wasted. For the school itself, see our page on the London Business School acceptance rate, which sets out the class profile, the fees and what LBS does and does not publish, and our guide to the best MBA programs in Europe for how LBS compares with INSEAD, HEC Paris and the others.
Frequently Asked Questions About the LBS MBA Essays
There are three. Question 1 asks about your post-MBA goals and how your prior experience and the London Business School programme will contribute to them. Question 2 asks what makes you unique. Question 3, which is optional, asks whether there is any other information the Admissions Committee should know.
Question 1 has a limit of 500 words and Question 2 has a limit of 200 words. The optional Question 3 has a limit of 500 words. The two required essays total 700 words.
Yes. London Business School labels Question 3 as optional. Use it only for information the committee needs and cannot find elsewhere in your application.
One. LBS asks for a single referee, who can be your current employer or a colleague, or someone else who knows you well in a work context, such as a former employer or a long-standing client.
LBS reports an average GMAT of around 645 for the MBA class, with a typical range of 555 to 805, and says the minimum it will accept is usually around 555. For the GRE it prefers scores above 160 in both sections.
For the August 2027 intake the deadlines are September 3, 2026 for Round 1, January 6, 2027 for Round 2 and March 22, 2027 for Round 3. All deadlines are at 17:00 UK time.
Selected applicants are invited to interview. LBS says interviews are conducted by alumni or senior admissions staff of the MBA programme, in the region where the applicant is based.
Yes. The application page for the LBS One-year MBA lists the same three essay questions with the same word limits.
Sources: London Business School, MBA How to Apply; London Business School, MBA Who Attends; London Business School, MBA FAQs; London Business School, One-year MBA How to Apply.
About Oriel Admissions
Oriel Admissions is a Princeton-based college admissions consulting firm advising families and candidates nationwide on elite university admissions strategy, from undergraduate through MBA and graduate programs. Our team pairs deep admissions expertise with a distinctive 360 approach spanning positioning, testing strategy, essays and application execution. To discuss your London Business School MBA application strategy, schedule a consultation.
