Oxford Säid Business School Executive MBA (EMBA) Essay Questions & Analysis
Oxford SBS’s Executive MBA (EMBA) program ranks #1 in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings 2024. The school aims to drive “impact from within” by helping EMBA candidates strengthen their leadership style, develop advanced business skills, and grow their global network through their program, using a part-time delivery format that offers a full MBA qualification without interrupting their career.
Here are the Oxford SBS Executive MBA (EMBA) essay questions and analysis for 2025-2026.
Current Role
Define your current role. (1250 characters)
This is a clear, direct job essay. Further guidance indicates for applicants to “Please list your main responsibilities, your most significant challenges, and your greatest achievement”.
It’s a tight word limit; approximately 150-160 words. Keep your responses to each part of this question brief and straightforward.
First, start by describing the key components of your role – like your day-to-day responsibilities and a brief description of any projects you work on. Don’t use too much industry-specific or role-specific jargon. Your aim is to write in a manner that explains exactly what it is you do, for any reader to understand clearly.
A good structure to use is including your key challenges and greatest achievement within the components of your role/project. For example:
Introductory paragraph: Include title and who you report to
Component A: Main responsibility 1.
Component B: Main responsibility 2, most significant challenge.
Component C: Main responsibility 3, greatest achievement.
Make sure you quantify your challenges and achievements where possible, to give the AdCom better context of the impact of your role.
Essay 1
Please outline your career objectives and explain how the Executive MBA would help you achieve them. (Suggested 500 words)
This is a standard career goals and “Why EMBA” essay.
Chapter 1: It’s best to start with a story that demonstrates your past experience and the passion that has driven your career decisions so far. State what you hope to achieve with your career in the future.
Chapter 2: Once you’ve established a mission statement, discuss your goals. Your short-term, immediate post-EMBA goal should be specific and clear, mentioning the role, geography and company you want to work in.
The longer-term goal you state can be more ambitious, but there needs to be a clear pathway towards it from your short-term role. This is the goal that will help you achieve your mission.
Chapter 3: This now sets you up to discuss why you need an EMBA from Oxford to achieve these goals. Most EMBA applicants have been out of school for years, and want to refresh their industry knowledge using contemporary methodologies and modern business structures. Some others have been influenced by recent changes in their company branding or strategic direction, and found a fresh purpose. Our other clients have written about brushing up on important business skills like negotiations, gaining a global perspective, and networking with like-minded actors in their industry. Others are excited to find new projects and companies to work with. Explain specifically how the Oxford EMBA will provide you with the skills, resources, curriculum, and network to progress your career.
Essay 2
If we asked your closest associates to describe you, what would they say? Which adjectives would they use and why? What would they say are your strengths and weaknesses? (Suggested 500 words)
In this essay, you are being asked to provide a third-person perspective of your personal qualities, strengths, and weaknesses.
Many EMBA applicants like to start this essay with a story from their professional history that demonstrates their key characteristics through their interactions with others. Other clients have divided this essay into the components of their role and the different stakeholders they interact with in each, like their colleagues, contractors, or clients, and written about how each segment would describe them.
If you start with a story, make sure you use the SCAR structure:
Situation: Explain the context of your story and who was involved.
Challenge: What was the problem you had to solve or the task you were working on?
Action: What actions did you take?
Result: What was the outcome? Make sure you quantify this to convey the impact of your work.
Now, explain how your work impacted others and their understanding of your leadership, teamwork, and personality. While it’s easy to state your strengths (your colleagues may say you are collaborative, analytical, communicative), it’s much harder to find weaknesses that your colleagues would be impacted by.
But your weaknesses are also growth areas. It’s unlikely that your closest associates won’t have noticed a lack of tact, being easily distracted, being unemotive, or an excessive attention to detail. Your weaknesses should fit the story and be backed up by evidence. Don’t provide fake weaknesses like “They would say I’m a perfectionist” – you’ll need to explain clearly how your weakness has impacted them, and a flimsy weakness won’t fit the bill.
Essay 3
Describe an aspect of your organisation which could be viewed as 'problematic'. Briefly outline three different action plans which could be implemented to deal with the issues involved, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of each. (Suggested 2,000 words)
While the other essay prompts are similar to a typical MBA essay, this prompt is unique to EMBA applications. Here, the AdCom wants to assess your depth of knowledge of your organization and industry, your critical thinking process, and strategic planning.
Given that the Oxford EMBA programme’s key learning themes are global complexity and adaptability to change, entrepreneurial thinking and challenging the status quo, and strategic leadership, you are expected to demonstrate your alignment with these values in this essay. As an experienced professional, you will have to probe deeper into complex business questions and challenges, unlike an MBA applicant. The Oxford EMBA will equip you to apply your learning directly to your organization, so think of this essay as a practice run for the types of interactive questions you will tackle in the classroom.
We suggest using the following structure:
Chapter 1: Explain what your company does and what aspect of it do you find ‘problematic’: First, briefly describe your organization and its function. Remember, the person reading this is not in your industry! So don’t overwhelm them with detail. Next, explain the issue you have observed with your organization. For example, they may have taken a new strategic direction that is facing roadblocks, they are unable to keep up with changing legislations and client demands, they have expanded their market internationally and are struggling to be net profitable, facing change management concerns, slow adaptation to disruptive technologies, or other similar concerns.
Chapter 2: Action plans: Next, clearly state that you are presenting three action plans that you would propose to your organization’s management to improve this issue.
Outline each action plan clearly using bullet points and bold titles. Your action plan should critically assess the specific issue at hand (like addressing a lack of communication between teams, or expanding into new geographies, or continuing investments in cutting-edge equipment). In addition to your own industry knowledge, reach out to your managers, colleagues, and other industry professionals to gather more data about this issue and the stakeholders involved. Ensure that you quantify budgets, margins, personnel, costs, and any other key information that can provide the AdCom with a clearer picture of your organization and industry.
Chapter 3: Pros and cons. Then, outline the advantages and disadvantages of your action plan. If your action plan is implemented, what benefits would it have on the issue you have outlined in the introduction? At the same time, what challenges might arise in its implementation or as a result? You may also use real-world examples of cases where this strategy has worked or faced challenges, and apply these to your organization.
Given the length of this essay (2000 words), you should spend the most amount of time on this part of your application. Make sure you reference any quotes you use and cross-check any organizational data that you share. This essay is also the basis of your next application question, the Video Essay, so make sure you are well-prepared with this answer.
Video Essay
As part of your application, you must submit a video essay that complements your written essay 3. Before recording your video essay you will need to submit the following essay on the Essays page:
Essay 3: Describe an aspect of your organisation which could be viewed as 'problematic'. Briefly outline three different action plans which could be implemented to deal with the issues involved, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of each. * Suggested 2,000 words
In your video essay you will present and pitch for up to two minutes on the three action plans you have outlined and explain which action plan is the best solution for the problem you have addressed, as though you are presenting this to senior leaders within the organisation.
To submit the video essay follow these steps:
1) Write essay three and upload to the Essays page. The essay question is:
Essay 3: Describe an aspect of your organisation which could be viewed as 'problematic'. Briefly outline three different action plans which could be implemented to deal with the issues involved, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of each. * Suggested 2,000 words
2) Select below to begin your video recording. You will first be required to test your camera and microphone to confirm both are working. Once you confirm you will have 20 seconds preparation time before recording your video essay.
3) Once you start recording your pitch you will have up to two minutes to describe the issue, present the three action plans and conclude which action plan is the most effective solution.
This video essay asks applicants to choose one of the 3 action plans they outlined in their previous written essay, the Organization Problem. You will have 2 minutes to pitch your proposal to your senior leaders (this is roughly 250-300 words, depending on your pace).
Here, you’re being asked to offer a perspective that carefully weighs all 3 action plans and makes a recommendation for what the organization should ideally implement. Many applicants choose to combine 2 action plans into one brief recommendation that minimizes risks and offers optimal benefit to the organization. You can also tie this into your own goals and leadership potential.
To prepare, it’s best to write a script for your video essay to practise your answer. You don’t want to sound too rehearsed, however, so make sure you practise your video essay with a friend/consultant before your actual interview.
First, briefly describe the issue you presented in your previous essay and your three action plans. Next, describe your recommendation. Here, you can weigh the disadvantages of your action plan (or combination of action plans) against their benefits. Explain why it is the most effective solution and how the senior leadership can mitigate the risks involved/what the organization should focus on. Explain the long term outcomes of your proposed action plan.
In some cases, the problem may not entirely be resolved by any one action plan – that’s okay! Your goal isn’t to provide an all-encompassing solution, but to show critical thinking and reasoning, brainstorming, and effective communication. Explain that your organization may continue to face this problem due to external factors and unpredictable market conditions, but your solution will improve the situation significantly despite these.
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