HEC Paris and INSEAD, both in France, came second and third in the FT’s European Business School Rankings 2016, leaving the top three unchanged from 2015.

“One of the main strengths of the LBS programmes is the wide range of students from different countries”

IE Business School in Spain rose one place to fourth, overtaking the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, completing the top five.

London Business School’s large and diverse international intake contributed to it clinching the top spot, according to Laurent Ortmans, team statistician for the FT Business Community.

“One of the main strengths of the LBS programmes is the wide range of students from different countries,” Ortmans wrote.

More than 90% of LBS’s MBA cohort were overseas students in 2015, coming from around 60 countries.

LBS also performed well across all of the FT‘s five annual business school rankings – MBA, Executive MBA, Masters in Management and two rankings for executive education – which are used to make up the table, with all of its programmes ranked among the top 10 in their category.

Its full-time MBA courses reached second place, while its joint EMBA and customised executive courses both came in fourth.

“We are proud of the consistency of our ranking among the world’s top business schools; 2016 has been an exciting year for the school with new programmes and research centres,” commented Andrew Likierman, the school’s dean. LBS has placed in the top three spots since the ranking began in 2005.

INSEAD had Europe’s leading full-time MBA programme, and its two ranked Executive MBAs placed first and third overall.

The University of St Gallen claimed the highest-ranked Master’s in Management, and Iese Business School the best custom programmes for Executive Education.

There were no major upsets to last year’s rankings, with the exception of Rotterdam School of Management rising three places to 10th and edging out the University of Oxford’s Said Business School.

Lower down the table, EMLyon Business School in France climbed nine places to 20th, while another French institution, Edhec Business School, rose 11 places to 14th.