The UPF Barcelona School of Management consolidates its status as a Transforming School in the Positive Impact Rating

For the fifth year in a row, the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) has been named as a “Transforming School", by the Positive Impact Rating (PIR), an international classification awarded in recognition of responsible business education, social impact and sustainability of the world's leading business schools based on the opinion of the students themselves.

“Receiving this accolade once again this year is a sign of our commitment to our mission as a school: to train professionals to become leaders equipped to manage companies, institutions, and projects, while promoting innovation, social transformation, commitment to culture, and global wellbeing,” emphasized José M. Martínez-Sierra, the Director General de la UPF-BSM.

This is the latest achievement in a long list of recent milestones, including the School’s recent reaccreditation by EQUIS, which the UPF-BSM was first awarded in 2022, making it the first business school in Spain affiliated to a public university to gain this distinction. The School also recently featured in the Financial Times Executive Education Custom Ranking 2025 for the third year in a row.

In this fifth edition, in which students from 86 business schools across 28 countries and five continents took part, the UPF-BSM has consolidated its position at level 4, as a Transforming School, which is defined as a culture of positive impact, integrated within the institution’s governance and systems, with visible results in several dimensions of impact.

“A commitment to generating a positive social impact is part of our School’s DNA. One demonstration of this priority is the creation of a dedicated vice-deanship to lead this area. Through this vice-deanship, we have developed a solid social impact strategy that is enabling us to become a leading business school setting the standard at an international level in this field. This is reflected in rankings such as this one,” explained Ana Freire, the Vice Dean of Social Impact and Academic Innovation at UPF-BSM.

With respect to the UPF-BSM, in the 2025 edition, the classification published by the Positive Impact Rating highlights, among other factors, the School’s  integration of sustainability within its courses and activities, the increasing number of practical learning opportunities and real-world applications, improved networking through events, and the strengthening of partnerships with NGOs and local organizations. 

The Positive Impact Rating, a lever of change

The Positive Impact Rating (PIR) has experienced a 13% rise in student participation this edition, with the number of responses increasing from 15,000 to 17,167 in total. Students from all over the world (28 countries) have evaluated their perception of the positive impact of their schools, beyond their economic and business contribution. The rating aims to be a lever of  change, promoting the transformation of the higher education market and of business schools themselves, by giving a voice to the people at the heart of our activity: the students.

A key new feature of the ranking in this year’s edition is the inclusion of the Faculty Survey, which, for the first time, enables a comparison between the perspectives of students and lecturers. This dual-perspective approach allows schools to identify overlaps, reveal blind spots, and foster a more consistent and collaborative strategy with respect to social impact.

The PIR’s evaluation del PIR is based on seven key dimensions of impact: governance, culture, programs, learning methods, student support, the institution as a role model, and public commitment.

The overall rating obtained by each school places it in one of the five levels of results: Beginning, Emerging, Progressing, Transforming –in which UPF-BSM classifies– and Pioneering.