Studying at Cranfield

Here are answers to frequently asked questions about the Cranfield Australian Alumni Scholarship. The FAQs have been divided into nine categories. However if your answer can’t be found here please DON’T hesitate to contact us. We are here to help.

You can also find our supporters group for the scholarship  on www.linkedin.com.


I want to learn something satisfying and stimulating and experience new things.

Attending Cranfield also allows you to travel internationally and to experience life in the English countryside.

Cranfield is in the country (Bedfordshire) close enough to Milton Keynes and London to provide the bright lights of civilisation whilst allowing you to experience the English countryside (decent pubs and a rural lifestyle). The quietness of the countryside intensifies the very demanding environment.

What is the composition of the groups that make up the course i.e. professions, ethnicity …

During your time at Cranfield, you will be a member of several learning teams. In Term 1 the School will place you in a learning team, the composition of which is organised to achieve maximum diversity, that is, students are not only drawn from different nationalities and culture, but all industries, qualifications, experience levels and values.

In Term 2, students are allocated to new learning teams but, after the observations and feedback on their team performances in Term 1, the School may also include factors such as personality type in determining team members.

In Terms 3 and 4 – where students take back control of their learning by choosing from a range of thematic electives – students choose the teams they will join according to the electives chosen and the particular projects they are interested in. In terms 3 and 4 students could be in seven or eight different teams.

What opportunity is there to undertake a language study as a joint degree with the Cranfield MBA (within Cranfield’s University) with a focus also on say International Relations or East Asian Studies

Cranfield is a business school not a language school and expects students to focus on business subjects. That said students must have a working knowledge of a second language in order to graduate and provides – free of charge – tutoring in second languages for those students who do not have a knowledge of a second language.

Generally students in this position take Spanish or French. In addition Cranfield will facilitate ex curricula – for a charge – lessons in a range of languages for students who already speak more than one language but want to learn more. Costs vary but students can within reason choose what to study if they are prepared to pay.

Can I do practical work in an area of interest, e.g. IT entrepreneur in India or a non-profit organisation performing reconstruction work in Africa

In Part II of the Programme i.e., terms 3 and 4 students can choose to undertake one or occasionally two ‘independent projects’. These are generally undertaken for an external organisation e.g., a commercial firm, a charity and can involve overseas travel but in all cases the projects have to be accommodated whilst also studying thematic electives.

In addition all students undertake the International Business Experience. For most students this involves an organised trip to a country – China, India, Japan etc to visit companies but students are offered – and a small number take up – the alternative opportunity to work on a specific project in a developing country e.g. setting up a small business in Ghana.