Salford Business School has again been recognised for our societal impact and commitment to sustainability, as part of the 2026 Positive Impact Rating (PIR) for Business Schools. We have progressed even further up the scale, from a ‘level three progressing school’ last year to a ‘level four transforming school’ in 2026.
This year, Salford Business School joins 87 rated schools from 32 countries, representing 19,789 valid student responses in the PIR. Level four schools are defined as, “showing a positive impact culture, embedded in governance and systems, with visible results in many impact dimensions.”
2026 marks the seventh edition of the ratings with this year’s launching on the 22 June at the PIR Global Summitt 2026. The ratings continue to be supported by the UN (United Nations) PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education), further highlighting their growing international influence and credibility.
The ratings are based on how well we’re equipping our students to become responsible leaders, highlighting our continued commitment and impact in this area. This year, we also extended the survey to our faculty and staff, to effectively capture their perspectives on how embedded this is within the school.
Preparing students to tackle complex societal, technological and economic challenges requires learning beyond traditional classroom approaches and engagement with real-world complexity. At the same time, SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), micro-businesses and civic organisations often lack the capacity to explore innovation, digital transformation and sustainable practices independently.
Here at Salford Business School, we’ve expanded applied, co-created learning across programmes, enabling students to work with SMEs and micro-businesses on live briefs, internships and real-world challenges aligned to organisational priorities. Intensive formats, including AI (artificial intelligence) bootcamps, developed skills in data storytelling, prompt engineering and AI risk awareness, alongside structured reflection on ethical and responsible implementation.
Environmental responsibility was embedded through Carbon Literacy training across postgraduate provision, linking knowledge to behavioural and organisational change. During Global Entrepreneurship Week, a co-creative hackathon with Salford City Council brought together students, public-sector partners, entrepreneurs and community stakeholders to collaboratively address place-based challenges across Greater Manchester.
Professor Katy Mason, PVC Dean, Salford Business School, comments: “Our Positive Impact Rating is a powerful endorsement of the work we’re doing here at Salford. It reflects our continued commitment to developing responsible leaders who can navigate complexity with assertion, creativity and integrity, to drive meaningful change, not only across our region, but globally.
“Thanks to the continued work we’ve been doing, Salford students are developing confidence, ethical awareness and capability in applying business, digital and sustainability skills in complex, real-world contexts. Learning has shifted from problem analysis to responsible action, while partners benefit from fresh perspectives, additional capacity and actionable insights, strengthening local economic resilience, digital capability and the creation of social, environmental and economic value creation across the regional ecosystem.”
Professor Thomas Dyllick, PIR Founder and Member of the Supervisory Board, stated: “While future students now have an alternative source to select their business school, schools refer to the PIR primarily to measure and communicate their transformational progress. The voice of the student has become a true source of value.”