School vs school · figures from each school’s own report
Oxford Saïd or Cambridge Judge
The two one-year MBAs charge within £7,870 of each other; Oxford Saïd's graduates report £81,466 on average, Cambridge Judge's £71,216.
Highest ten-year value for you
Oxford Saïd
NPV -$58,761 · payback 8.8 years
| Oxford Saïd | Cambridge Judge | |
|---|---|---|
| Program length | 12 months | 12 months |
| Tuition and fees | $124,676 | $114,251 |
| Living budget | $23,446 | $27,420 |
| Total cost for you | $238,122 | $231,671 |
| Hired within three months | 75% | 73% |
| Salary reported | $107,914 | $94,336 |
| Kind of figure | average base salary | average base salary |
| Payback after graduation | 8.8 years | 13.2 years |
| 10-year NPV | -$58,761 | -$163,151 |
* school-wide salary: no figure published for this goal. US dollars at the ECB rate of the last update. Method.
Built by Radif Partners · figures checked · Method · Editorial policy
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge sell almost the same product on paper: a 12-month MBA in a university town, for £94,120 and £86,250 of tuition. They part ways on what comes after. Oxford Saïd reports an average base salary of £81,466 for the Class of 2024-25, Cambridge Judge an average base salary of £71,216 for the Class of 2024/25 (Employment Report 2026). For a person earning $90,000 today, the totals with the salary given up are $238,122 and $231,671, the paybacks 8.8 years and 13.2 years, and both ten-year values are negative: -$58,761 and -$163,151. Both publish a living budget for the year, £17,700 at Oxford Saïd and £20,700 at Cambridge Judge. The classes also go to different places: 35% of Cambridge Judge's graduates work in Asia against 12% at Oxford Saïd.
One year each: fees, living and the pay you forgo
Tuition for the year is £94,120 at Oxford Saïd and £86,250 at Cambridge Judge. Both programs last 12 months, so a $90,000 earner gives up the same salary at either. The difference in the totals comes from tuition and from the two living budgets, which pull in opposite directions. Cambridge Judge publishes a budget for a full-time student, £20,700 for the year. Oxford Saïd publishes £17,700. Both sit above the UK visa minimum for a year outside London, £14,052, which is the least a student must show, not a cost estimate.
The totals, $238,122 and $231,671, are therefore built the same way. If you plan to live in college accommodation or share a house, type your own budget in the tool above.
Oxford Saïd or Cambridge Judge: the faster payback for you
Higher 10-year value
Oxford Saïd
| Oxford Saïd payback | 8.8 years |
| Cambridge Judge payback | 13.2 years |
| Oxford Saïd 10-year NPV | -$58,761 |
| Cambridge Judge 10-year NPV | -$163,151 |
Two averages, and why the gap matters
Both schools publish an average base salary rather than a median, so for once the two figures measure the same thing. Oxford Saïd's £81,466 covers offers from £17,115 to £192,288, a range wide enough to pull an average around. Cambridge Judge's £71,216 is lower by $13,578 once converted at the ECB rate; the school also prints a dollar figure converted at purchasing power parity, which we do not use, since every amount on this site goes through the same market rate.
That gap decides the payback. With costs this close, 8.8 years at Oxford Saïd against 13.2 years at Cambridge Judge comes almost entirely from the salary line. For a $90,000 earner, neither program repays within ten years in our model; for someone coming from a lower salary or a lower-wage country, both can. Oxford Saïd also reports where the pay differs: £116,827 for graduates in North America, £80,718 in the United Kingdom and £40,399 in Asia, a sign that the destination weighs more than the school.
Finance and London at Oxford, Asia and strategy roles at Cambridge
Oxford Saïd's class leans toward finance: 38.6% of graduates, with 14.6% in investment and asset management, at £78,017. Consulting takes 22.2% at £90,746. 48% stay in the United Kingdom, which puts Oxford Saïd 3 of 6 in our UK ranking.
Cambridge Judge's class is spread across technology (24%), finance (23%) and consulting (17%). By job, its largest groups are corporate planning / strategy (19%), consulting (16%) and product management (9%). Its distinctive feature is Asia: 35% of the class works there, 7 of 18 in our Asia ranking, the highest share of any British school we read.
Who should pick which
Choose Oxford Saïd for a finance or asset management career in London, or for the higher average salary its graduates report. Choose Cambridge Judge for a return to Asia, a strategy or product role, or a smaller class of 222 against 339. Both cost about the same; the salary you earn now decides whether either repays within a decade, so run your own figure through the comparison tool before treating either as an investment.