Andy Burnham’s new government has set ambitions around growth, education, employment, innovation and devolution that overlap strongly with the aims of enterprise education. However, there is not yet clear evidence that the government shares the sector’s broader understanding of how entrepreneurial capabilities are developed or used. The opportunity for EEUK is therefore to help turn common goals into more closely aligned approaches.

TLDR version

Andy Burnham became Prime Minister on 20 July 2026 and appointed Jonathan Reynolds as Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Secretary and Lucy Powell as Education Secretary. Jacqui Smith remains a Minister of State across education and employment, providing some continuity from the previous government.

Their records offer reasons for both optimism and constructive challenge:

• Burnham’s work in Greater Manchester shows a strong commitment to place-based growth, technical pathways, universities and colleges as civic partners, and greater local control. It is less clear whether this has included enterprise education in the broader sense recognised by EEUK, QAA and EntreComp.
• Reynolds offers the clearest opening: the SME plan developed during his previous period as Business and Trade Secretary explicitly supported enterprise education across schools, colleges and universities.
• Powell’s previous focus on social mobility, broad educational opportunity and technological change could align well with enterprise education, but her approach as Education Secretary is not yet known.
• The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper led by Smith contains many welcome ambitions, but its failure to give enterprise education a meaningful place is a significant omission.

EEUK hopes the new government will recognise enterprise education as central to its ambitions for growth, opportunity and economic renewal—embedding entrepreneurial competencies across education, valuing diverse pathways and working with educators and policymakers throughout all four UK nations.

Common goals, but not yet common approaches

In his first Downing Street speech, Burnham promised a new economic model, reindustrialisation and a ten-year plan for Britain. He also said the government would change the education system to help more young people into work. Jonathan Reynolds, Lucy Powell and Jacqui Smith now occupy the roles most directly connected to business, innovation, education and skills.

These ambitions matter to enterprise educators. But enterprise education is not simply business studies, employability, work experience or preparation to start a company. QAA guidance describes it as developing behaviours, attributes and competencies that enable people to lead self-determined professional lives and create social, cultural and economic value. EntreComp similarly focuses on developing the capacity to turn ideas and opportunities into value through action.

Helping people into good work, responding to skills shortages and strengthening technical education are important goals. Enterprise education supports them, but also helps people create new work, innovate, respond to uncertainty and address social or community challenges.

The question is therefore not whether Burnham’s priorities are compatible with enterprise education. Many clearly are. It is whether the government will recognise enterprise education as part of the connective tissue linking education, innovation, opportunity, community development and economic renewal.

What does Greater Manchester tell us?

Burnham’s record as Mayor offers the strongest evidence of how he may approach these questions.

Greater Manchester has pursued a deliberately place-based model, bringing together economic development, transport, employment, skills, public services and local institutions. Its Civic University Agreement united the combined authority and the city region’s five higher education institutions around priorities including education and skills, jobs and growth, digital development, net zero and the creative economy. The universities have been treated not only as providers of teaching and research, but as anchor institutions supporting businesses, innovation and communities.

The Greater Manchester Baccalaureate—the MBacc—provides another indication of Burnham’s thinking. It aims to give young people a clearer technical route into employment, linking subject choices, workplace experiences and local growth sectors. The inclusion of business-related routes is positive, as is the effort to give technical education greater visibility and status.

Enterprise educators when provided with time and resource, can support the workplace engagement, collaboration, local ecosystems and clearer pathways within this approach. However, the evidence does not yet show that it is rooted in the same principles as the QAA guidance or EntreComp.

The emphasis has generally been on progression into employment, meeting regional skills needs and connecting provision to growth sectors. We have found less evidence of an explicit focus on developing entrepreneurial agency: the ability to recognise opportunities, mobilise resources, work through uncertainty and create different forms of value.

This may be a difference of language rather than intent, or it may represent a substantive gap. EEUK should recognise the common goals while making the case for a broader approach.

Member perspective: Dr Andrew Baird – Manchester Metropolitan University

“Under Andy Burnham’s leadership and support for civic collaboration across Greater Manchester, enterprise education has become an important bridge between universities, social enterprises and communities. Through partnerships that connect education, innovation and social impact, students are helping tackle real-world challenges across the city region. However, greater recognition is still needed for the vital role enterprise education plays in driving inclusive growth, social value and community prosperity.”

Devolution raises the importance of local government

Burnham’s belief in devolution is particularly relevant. England’s new devolution framework gives strategic authorities responsibilities and influence across areas including local growth and adult skills, with mayoral authorities receiving the most extensive arrangements. Education and most business development are already devolved to the other Nations of the UK.

This creates opportunities for enterprise education to be embedded in local growth plans, skills strategies, innovation ecosystems and community development. It also means that EEUK’s engagement cannot focus only on education and business departments in Westminster.

Angela Rayner, the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, strategic authority mayors and local government leaders will all have a role in shaping the environments in which enterprise education operates.

Local government can connect education, employers, business support, communities and regional investment. The sector must be present when local priorities and delivery structures are designed.

 

“Every nation and region of the UK  will need people who can respond to change, create opportunities and turn ideas into value. Enterprise education is not an optional addition to a growth and skills strategy; it is one of the capabilities that will make that strategy work.”

Dr Emilee L. Simmons, President of Enterprise Educators UK, on behalf of EEUK

Employer involvement—and the entrepreneurial voice

Employer engagement through live projects, placements and contact with practitioners can improve learning. However, an “employer-led” approach also requires care.

Large employers are usually better able to attend boards, host substantial placement programmes and influence policy. Their legitimate focus may be on filling existing roles and addressing immediate workforce needs.

Entrepreneurship can disappear from the discussion unless it is deliberately represented.

Partnerships should therefore include small businesses, start-ups, freelancers, social enterprises, co-operatives and innovators. Learners need exposure not only to current vacancies, but to people who have created organisations, services and responses to social challenges.

The people shaping the agenda

Andy Burnham, Prime Minister

Burnham’s mayoral record suggests an instinct for long-term, place-based collaboration and for treating universities and colleges as partners in economic and civic development. His support for technical pathways also reflects a desire to widen the routes through which people can progress.

The opportunity is to extend that thinking. Enterprise education can help learners across every route take initiative, adapt, collaborate and create value. At present, that broader understanding cannot confidently be attributed to the Prime Minister; it is an area in which the sector has evidence to offer.

Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade

Reynolds provides the clearest existing policy connection.

The Backing Your Business SME plan developed during his previous period as Business and Trade Secretary committed the government to promoting enterprise education in schools, colleges and universities. It stated an ambition to embed enterprise and entrepreneurship throughout education and referenced the QAA definition. It also recognised smaller firms, self-employment, under-represented founders and co-operative models.

His expanded department now combines business with innovation and science. In his first statement in the new role, Reynolds emphasised commercialising research and using innovation to deliver growth across the UK.

This provides an important opening for EEUK. The challenge will be to connect the full pipeline: enterprise learning across disciplines, student and graduate entrepreneurship, innovation, research commercialisation, SME development and inclusive business creation.

Lucy Powell, Secretary of State for Education

Powell now oversees schools, further education, apprenticeships, skills and higher education in England. Her previous contributions have emphasised social mobility as progress for the many and recognised that automation and digital change increase the need for a rich education and appropriate skills.

These themes can align strongly with enterprise education. Entrepreneurial competencies help learners navigate change, build confidence and networks, identify possibilities and apply knowledge in new settings.

It is too early to know how Powell will translate those concerns into policy. England’s curriculum reforms already refer to confidence, problem-solving, collaboration and preparation for life and work, while the new enrichment framework includes enterprise among wider life and future skills. The next question is whether these elements will become a coherent entitlement or remain dispersed across subjects and optional activities.

Jacqui Smith, Minister of State

Smith offers continuity from her work as Skills Minister. The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper set out reforms intended to meet economic needs, close skills gaps and strengthen collaboration between employers, colleges, universities and public bodies. It also established an ambition for two-thirds of young people to participate in higher-level learning by 25.

There is much here that EEUK can support, but the absence of enterprise education is striking. Entrepreneurship appears mainly through research commercialisation, business development and spin-outs, rather than as a set of competencies relevant to learners across the post-16 system.

The White Paper’s strong focus on employer needs and priority sectors risks preparing people only for opportunities that can already be described. In a rapidly changing technological and economic environment, learners must also be equipped to recognise emerging opportunities, create new activity and lead innovation.

Schools, colleges and universities: connected rather than competing

The phrase “university is not for everyone” can reasonably support diverse, respected pathways. It becomes less helpful when it presents higher and technical education as competing alternatives, or implies that widening access to higher-level learning has gone too far.

A changing economy will require more higher-level knowledge and capabilities delivered through different routes: universities, colleges, higher technical qualifications, apprenticeships, modular provision and lifelong learning. The government’s own post-16 ambition recognises the need to increase participation in higher-level study.

Enterprise education can connect these pathways.

In schools, it can develop creativity, initiative, teamwork and responsible action before learners are asked to choose a career route.

In FE, it can complement occupational expertise for learners who may become employees, freelancers, business owners or innovators in their sectors.

In higher education, it should reach every faculty and encompass venture creation, social innovation, intrapreneurship, civic engagement and research commercialisation.

The issue is how learners can progressively develop entrepreneurial competencies throughout education and working life.

A four-nation conversation

Much of this article is necessarily England-focused because education, skills and significant elements of business support are devolved.

A UK-wide approach must recognise real differences rather than treating English policy as the default.

Wales’s curriculum is organised around four purposes, including developing enterprising, creative contributors who can apply knowledge, generate ideas and solve problems.

Scotland’s Entrepreneurial Campus blueprint sets out a long-term role for colleges and universities in developing entrepreneurial mindsets and supporting the wider ecosystem; subsequent Scottish reporting has continued to emphasise universities, commercialisation and entrepreneurial activity.

Northern Ireland has its own education, skills and economic structures and has recently set out further reforms to align FE provision with regional economic priorities.

The aim should not be a uniform UK model. It should be an informed exchange in which each nation can learn from different approaches, while UK-wide policies on business, innovation, research and investment recognise their effects across all four nations.

A UK wide perspective: Steve Aicheler – EEUK operations manager

“While devolution brings many benefits, there can be a tendency for devolved governance to result in the re-invention of the wheel. Perhaps proposals for a new baccalaureate style qualification should look to Wales for lessons learnt. The UK government could also look to the ambition shown by the Scottish support for entrepreneurial universities when empowering combined or mayoral authorities.”

EEUK’s hopes for the new government

EEUK hopes to see:

1. Explicit recognition of enterprise education across curriculum, skills, higher education, innovation and economic policy—not only as preparation to start a business, but as the development of agency and the capacity to create value.
2. Entrepreneurial voices within employer engagement, ensuring that SMEs, founders, freelancers, social enterprises, co-operatives and intrapreneurs are represented alongside major employers.
3. Ambitious and connected educational pathways, with technical, vocational and academic routes all supporting progression to higher-level learning and adapting to technological change.
4. Enterprise education embedded locally, so that devolution and local growth planning connect education providers, business support, employers and communities.
5. A genuine four-nation dialogue, respecting devolved responsibilities and learning from the distinctive approaches taken across the UK.

What EEUK will do next

EEUK will seek dialogue with Burnham, Reynolds, Powell and Smith, as well as Rayner and those responsible for English devolution and local growth. We will also approach the relevant education, skills, economy and business ministers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We will offer a concise evidence briefing explaining effective enterprise education across schools, FE and higher education, informed by QAA, EntreComp and the experience of our members.

We will invite ministers and officials from across the UK to engage directly with practitioners through roundtables, Enterprise Exchanges and other EEUK activity.

A call to EEUK members

To make that engagement credible, we need evidence from across our community.

We invite members to share examples that demonstrate what works: curriculum activity, institutional approaches, partnerships with employers or communities, support for founders, intrapreneurship, social innovation and evidence of impact on learners.

We are particularly interested in examples from:

• schools and further education;
• different academic disciplines;
• work with under-represented groups;
• Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland;
• projects with evidence of lasting learner, organisational or community impact.

Members can also help by engaging politically.

Invite your MP, MS, MSP, MLA, mayor or councillors to see enterprise education in practice. Respond to relevant consultations. Explain how your work contributes to local growth, innovation, opportunity and community outcomes. Share what policymakers understand well—and where the sector’s language and evidence are not yet reaching them.

Please send examples, evidence and information about existing political relationships to connect@enterprise.ac.uk.

The new government’s ambitions overlap significantly with those of the enterprise education community. We should welcome that common ground without assuming that it represents a shared approach.

EEUK’s role is to provide evidence, challenge constructively and help policymakers across the UK understand that enterprise education does more than prepare people for the economy as it exists today.

It equips them to shape what comes next.

The “Skills Agenda” continues to dominate the discussions around HE and innovation. Reports, such as The Future of Jobs 2025 suggest that the labour market will undergo major reshaping by 2030, driven by demographic shifts, technological advancements, and the push for sustainability and the “green transition.”

Technology is already transforming education. Nearly all (92%) students using AI tools creating a clear need to review our assessment practices (through ideas such as ‘reverse scaffolding’) to ensure we teach students how to use it effectively, as well as avoiding a new digital divide. UK Govt is keen to address this, with a new Digital Inclusion action plan, ensuring digital skills strengthen the UK’s skills pipeline in support of Industrial Strategy.
The Russell Group universities have outlined their “pathway to growth” response to the Industrial Strategy, outlining 5 contributions focused on skills, partnerships and start-ups.

Our graduates are widely recognised as contributing significantly to innovation and productivity, as a Universities UK report emphasising the pivotal role of graduates in driving economic growth, showing how skills align closely to the government’s defined growth sectors as well as to regional growth(stating that the most productive regions of the UK have the highest proportion of workforce graduates). Such recognition underpins EEUK’s response to the recent OfS Consultation, where we proposed graduate outcomes statements such as “I am equipped with the entrepreneurial competences (skills and knowledge) to innovate and drive positive change in my chosen field” and “I actively share and apply my skills and learning within collaborative environments, contributing to innovation and positive impact within and beyond my communities/academic community.”

The focus on innovation also sees appointment of Sir Ian Chapman as the CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), developing the government’s growth agenda through the industrial strategy, research and specifically, Horizon Europe, whilst Lord Willetts is shaping the regulatory approaches needed for new technologies such as drones, through the new RIO (Regulatory Innovation Office). However it is clear that support content for starts increasingly needs to be tailored as league tables recognise that it’s not just Business Schools or Tech that start graduate businesses.

In this evolving landscape, the government seeking to understand working from home, and potentially looking at summer HE white paper. EEUK reviewed its latest research, on the realities of an enterprise educator echoing the latest EDGE UCL report also looked at the changing roles across “third spaces” confirming shifting roles and diversifying support needs. With so much change underway, staying connected is more important than ever—see you at IEEC!

Rumours abound when enterprise education is omitted from key discussions surrounding the student experience, and whilst the consultation on the strategy of the Office for Students may feel outside your day-to-day work as it focuses upon the effective regulation of HE, with 3 priority areas, quality, wider student interest and sector resilience, enterprise educators wish to see the regulatory tools support student ambitions (see the critique of former Education Minister Jo Johnson) whether they are intrapreneurial, entrepreneurial or enterprising! We are urging you to ensure that your English HE institution is indicating that benefits of enterprise education which are not highlighted – either as a benefit of employing an graduate (enterprising or intrapreneurial), or as a benefit to tax payers (supporting UK Growth ambition) or as part of the “hopes and dreams” of any student. With enterprise education potentially providing so many transformational benefits, its omission is worthy of note. Don’t delay in supporting your institutional response (deadline of 20^th ).

There is also talk of sector reform, coming the shape of a White Paper this summer, but few expect any new funding. Many had hoped that education could form a central role in the new government vision for Growth but within the current climate, this opportunity may be missed due to the financial crisis in the sector which is seeing loss of social capital through staff losses.

The debate surrounding AI sees a divided use across the sector, but a new report shares the potential of effective integration, adding to global discussions around effective assessment and #EntEd ones around EntreComp and AI. Others of you may be looking for some quick wins in the office through AI, so check out some free and cheap AI tools to improve meetings, support planning, research or generate a quiz. However many remain cautious, JISC is also highlighting the need for data literacy in the workplace given the increased data load in our roles.

JISC is also capturing Trends in Assessment (Jan 2025) in a new report exploring programme level assessment,  co-design and also looking the need to rethink given AI, given the Russell Group’s 5 Principles, to understand how students use AI and can provide evidence of learning that demonstrates creativity or analyses AI output.

With these themes in mind, we were delighted to see EEUK Directors and members, sharing their case examples from their work across the ‘3Es’ (Norton and Penaluna, 2022) as the pillars that support the success of our students and the wider community. This new Advance HE report (Jan 2025) provides case examples to compliment the key topics coming through AI discussions (above) with sections on co-creation and assessment as well as employer engagement, providing inspirational examples throughout.

2025 is already shaping up to be the year to get your voice heard, share your 3E practice, shape the future and draw in the resources and expertise you need!

Firstly, whilst national consultations take place on role of the Office for students and their future strategy, please encourage disabled entrepreneurs to share their experience  for the next The Lilac Review which seeks to identify the barriers faced by disabled founders in the UK to develop action plan to remove them.  *Why not also check out the wider work of Small Business Britain, who lead on this, as they also offer resources like walks and meet-ups, virtual events, as well as podcasts, and videos (such as those exploring side hustles) so take a look and signpost others!

Also keep an eye on opportunities for you  to share what you do – such as  Advance HE’s Employability Symposium on the 3Es (Employability Enterprise and Entrepreneurship) which aims to spotlight new and evolving themes such as AI integration, future-proofing graduates, authentic assessment, and sustainable development.

It is clear that “AI” will remain a key area to watch especially as some obvious freelancer opportunities are being lost to our future graduates, as is the “first rung” on the work-experience ladder, which once taken away will fundamental shift careers and futures.  EEUK will keep you posted on its impact, sharing observations, reflections and identifying critical shifts, such as how AI has impacted applications for jobs (as” everyone” can  apply for “all” the jobs) and highlight discussions that  help use “reframe the work-ready myth” from a binary state (“ready” or “not”) as  we  keep an eye on “what do graduates do” (report). In addition to committing to “mainline” AI, the Labour Government also created youth guarantee declaring an expectation ‘that every young person is earning or learning’ so expect the skills agenda to continue to dominate education.  Whether you work from your own institutional graduate attributes, EntreComp,DigComp, LifeComp and GreenComp or the Universal Skills Builder, check out approaches like the “topical talks” from the Economist and expect to see a “changing world of employer-university collaboration” (take a look at JISC’s “vision for 2030” which recognises that the world of work is changing so rapidly that neither employers nor universities can address this alone).  Collectively such change will inform and drive our conversations at IEEC, as we focus on “Disruptions, Futures and Enterprise Education” – put the IEEC dates in your diary (10^th-12^th Sept 2025) now and look forwarding to seeing you there!

 

EEUK Practitioners, whether you are coaching, advising, mentoring or inspiring starts or businesses, you always need to keep one eye on the wider eco-system, whether that is potential advantages provided by your local eco-system, such as the Small Business Britian’s 2024 Tour, focus on Small Business Saturday,  or the sector/national changes, such as those seen in areas such as the employment allowance (which allows smaller companies to reduce their National Insurance liability) which increased from £5,000 to £10,500.  This first Labour Budget – Autumn 2024 which has impacted on business and employers, with a rise in the minimum wage as well as ensuring support in accessing finances (through Start Up Loans or Growth Guarantee Scheme) and the continued governmental commitment to Invest in Women Taskforce.

The government stated its commitment to “Horizon” and promised £6.1bn to research, through  long-term certainty through 10-year budgets.
There was a boost for the creative industries, as the budget 2024 confirmed funding for Create Growth Programme; video games (UK Games Fund) and grassroots music and regional  Creative Industries Clusters programme, including pipeline support for 11-18 year olds – and news of the creation of a new social impact investment vehicle to “mobilise private investment to deliver positive social impacts” and although details aren’t yet clear, this may support the HE funding gaps that are currently being faced.

This Autumn budget came off the back of the consultation paper on the UK industrial strategy – Invest 2035 – which was welcomed for its potential to place HEIs within a national strategy of growth  and prompted wider discussion on the role of innovation, with Chi Onwurah MP, Chair of the Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee calling for “incentives and examples that we can set to inspire more entrepreneurial cultures in our universities”. This ultimately may result in wider changes, such as a currently-speculative calls for a 10 year international visas for STEM grad and government recognition for the role of research and innovation, from “labs to start up”. (so although @WonkHe’s hope that graduate outcomes would feature in the industrial strategy failed to materialise, the HE sector has responded with clear vision for the potential for further HE innovation in response documents such as  Russell Group stats/evidence

Outside of this, there are national calls for partnership, which in the  wider context of  the “civil society” which seeks to “reset” the relationship between government and social enterprises through the civil society covenant so may create impact, value creation and community knowledge exchange opportunities for our students.

And finally with our regular call to “show off” your work, your students and your institutional achievements, for the benefit of yourselves and your students, this month we invite you to shout out about your GEW events, as GEN call upon education to showcase your activities!

Sign up to shout out! And don’t forget to check out the release of new resources, highlighted at IEEC2024 Belfast, as Entrepreneurship for All https://entrepreneurship4all.eu/ launched its bitesize online materials!

Responding to the opportunity of a new Westminster government, Universities UK have created a HE blueprint report by bringing in ‘big hitters’ to author thematic chapters, building on momentum seen in NCUB’s report which seeks to “unlock” SME interaction to “arrest the decline”, as well as Conservative Think Tank report “Venturing out” on commercialising business relationships and engagement. 

This UUK blueprint calls for 5 significant shifts to 1) expand opportunity 2) improve collaboration across the tertiary sector 3) generate stronger local growth 4) secure our future research strength and 5) establish a new global strategy for our universities (see summary here).  

Ultimately this could impact on how we work with business/SMEs and the expectations of such partnerships (for example, the recommendation to aim towards 100 per cent cost recovery for industry-sponsored research, unless engaging with small or emerging businesses). However, whilst these remain recommendations, there is no detail or confirmation, but does lead EEUK to question whether this could be heralding a new era where business partnership and engagement is not just encouraged, but becomes an essential part funding the gap. Changes in this relationship could put knowledge exchange, enterprise and entrepreneurship back on the radar of those institutions who had been looking for cost savings in these areas, and we continue to call upon members to raise the profile, and impact, of the work they do within their communities and regionally.   

• Looking  at impact? why not check out this blog post, exploring the development of an impact framework university–industry collaboration by Professor David Bamford at our 2025 IEEC Hosts, MMU  

• Or if you focus on business starts,  the Entrepreneurs Network (TEN) shared a vision for “united growth” looking for economic growth across all regions (through research with business owners in 12 UK regions) so check their state of the nation to appreciate the issues for your graduate businesses. 

And as term starts, it’s always good to know about the resources available to support you. Following the strong inclusion message throughout IEEC2024, it is worth checking out Lloyds Bank support for female entrepreneurs, and following the release of materials and live masterclasses within the new European Project E4ALL – why not dig into their resource library to find bite size online solutions to use with your students? 

2024/2025 academic year brings clear challenges for the enterprise educator.

Working within a difficult academic environment, that has seen voluntary redundancies, attacks on the value and worth of specific courses and HE in general, the new term brings some inevitable challenges.
Reflecting on last year, and looking ahead to a new Westminster government with a different approach to Europe allows EEUK to create a call to action for all enterprise educators.  This call is to “future proof” your work by seizing the opportunities for you and your students (which potentially could include the movement of young people to work and study in Europe) and capturing and evidencing the impact of your work.

As “third space” professionals Enterprise Educators see the transformation of students, the connection and the community and are often the reason why students are on campus. EEUK calls upon you to shout about – prove your worth, and showcase your achievements through those of your students – and in her keynote to IEEC Belfast, Alison makes the case to:

Showcase your work: Post-lockdown sector research (including the work of The Sutton Trust and the government itself, which shows the proportion of home students disclosing mental health condition to their university at over 5%) has shown our young people to be more anxious, less connected, and less able to embrace the university experience in a political climate where its value was questioned.

However, last year also provided notes of celebration, such as UCAS (2024) reporting a record number of disadvantaged Scottish students getting their place in university and key reports suggest that graduates are positive about the experience. Our challenge is now to support all the students coming through to have this.  Working in the “third space” enterprise educators have the opportunity to engage with our students and be the reason they come on campus.

 Ensure AI doesn’t add to the digital divide: find opportunities to be inclusive The current discussion in HE suggests that AI can be embraced; though it is clear that in future proofing our students, we need prepare them for the arrival of Sora and the next generation of AI, not by ignoring or second-guessing it, but by ensuring they engage and are supported to understand its potential.  Whether you can share AI innovation tools to compare the speed of the experience with the passion of the group work thinking  process, or need to follow QAA and the advice of others speaking about “doing good”, it is key that you are not furthering the digital division.

The opportunity to really offer Inclusive entrepreneurship asks that you to understand who you are working with and explore whether you are providing the support to their needs and how you can best help those who you have yet to engage with.

Inclusivity also means understanding the international. With a significant change from Westminster, this will mean ensuring your offer is right for all.

Build Skills – develop competences – use EntreComp to develop your people Futureproofing our nations by developing the skills of a workforce has been a strong political message recently as we see HEFCW rebrand from CTER to MEDR (skills in Welsh) and Skills England is created by the new Starmer government. This upskilling includes us as enterprise educators! so connect with EEUK to access support and use EntreComp to help track, and evidence, the development of your students, starts and even your own team.

Working as part of knowledge exchange, to build your KEF “perspective” explore what this might mean for local business and keep your eye out for opportunities!

Futureproof by showcasing your #3E work, ensuring your students are tax-ready online and you are in a position to maximise  institutional opportunities through KE, Skills Development, whether through micro-credentials which offer particular benefits, or through your wider work in the community (KE).

So if you are feeling that education is in turmoil, whether you are working in curriculum or as a practioner, then Track, Evidence, Action and Report – take the time to “show off” your students and your impact)! Embrace the metrics as they show that are doing a good job – hold yourselves to account and deliver for your students – be the reason they come on campus and the reason they leave ready for the challenges ahead!

Post Election, EEUK is looks forward to hearing the details behind the manifesto promises.

With many looking for a new model for HE, picking up on issues across the sector as well as ones that impact our work directly, such as visa issues.

EEUK is seeking a vision and long-term commitment which might with the call from  The Entrepreneurs Network and YBI (Youth Business International (June 2023) for enterprise education in schools (Empowering the Future) based on their previous work as to “what applied learning really looks like” (Jan 2023). This calls for under-18s to be able open business bank accounts without credit facilities to help them separate personal and business finances from a young age, as well as calling for transversal skills to be the key (which EntreComp is) seeking that essential skills that necessary to be entrepreneurial are embedded across the curriculum from primary school/

Ensuring the education system is “fit for an entrepreneur” is a message also being heralded across Wales, with the launch of their new resources for schools which draws upon competency-based questioning as progression points and shares links to additional resources

Wales has also announced that CTER will Medr (when established in August to replace Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.) which is Welsh for “skill” or ability.

This connects with the launch of the launch of the 2018 QAA UK Quality Code which outlines 12 sector-agreed Principles for academic standards, as this has been uniquely designed to apply to all post-secondary providers (to align with changes in Wales and Scotland – as @WONKHE suggest possibly, anticipating a future need in England.

At the other end of our educational pipeline, the HESA data is out, sharing the story of our graduates as freelancers and business starts with “graduates running own business, self-employed/freelancing or developing a portfolio by domicile – Academic years 2017/18 to 2021/22” as well over 21,000  (Figure 8). Have a read of “What do graduates do” which shows, that in government data for broadly the same period, which shows that English graduates were earning £11,500 more a year than non-graduates.  This links to last month’s blog discussions and a King’s College report,  which emphasised the benefit of having a degree, by highlighting the high esteem in which a UK education is held. This month, LEO datas shows from the latest (2021/22) data on graduate earnings and employment that for first degree graduates, median earnings five years after graduation reached £29,900.

All of which helps us understand our students and graduates better – it seems that we can be inspired as research (tomorrow’s entrepreneurs). with entrepreneurs under the age of 35 show that they are more than twice as likely to say their business’ primary aim is to solve a social or environmental problem than older entrepreneurs.

The future is bright – see you at IEEC Belfast 2024 to explore it all in detail!

With a general election underway, we want to focus on policy, rather than politics but working at the intersection of major policy areas, many enterprise educators continue their call for long term direction and clarity, whilst the financial constraints/staff changes across the sector make planning uncertain.

However, against this turbulent backdrop, the latest UUK research  (using LEO data) shows conclusively it is “worth getting a degree” with evidence that becoming a graduate increases earning potential across a life time.  Whilst it is worth noting that this data also shows that the gender pay gap continues, it also serves as reminds that our current students are in a different position to those being tracked in the workforce, having studied through Covid and a cost of living and now a shrinking HE/ funding crisis.  As enterprise educators we might need to understand Why university students “see little point” in attendance (May 2024) as we begin planning our 2024/5 programme especially when the initial findings from the forthcoming (2025) Lilac Review (paywall) show discrimination against disabled entrepreneurs. We need to future proof our offers to support our current students. Such review is also usefully informed by looking internationally at UK graduate outcomes International Graduate Outcomes (May 2024). It calls for improved career support, and as enterprise educators we need to consider our roles in this. The report also calls for more collaboration with employers to ensure skills are embedded in the curriculum, something which our vibrant EntreComp community supports. With further recognition for the diversity within education, the power of alumni and the need to realise the benefits of visa routes. So, plenty to think about as we support our home and international students! And a quick focus on:

Academics: SEDA is seeking your inputs on your use of AI in learning and assessment

Practitioners in Careers: join us for FAST TRACK if enterprise education is new to you!

Influencers: We will be shaping a statement for the new Government, share your concerns

See you at IEEC Belfast 2024

Once again, those working across enterprise agenda are being asked “stand up” to make the case for its contribution to student experience.

As the Financial Times (May 2024) declares “UK universities warn of more course closures and job cuts without state help” and this live tracker shows the national scale of HE change, EEUK recognises the hidden losses that started with the end of ERDF funding which has seen (some hidden) job losses in our enterprise centres over the last few years. EEUK believes that the loss of enterprise centres, departments and staff is a short-sighted move as institutions strive to provide students with community and connectivity, support their well being and deliver on the UK’s ambitions for innovation and drive. But as  last month’s report showed, if Vice Chancellors still don’t recognise the so-called ‘third’ mission of institutions, then the inclusion of #EntEd within the institutional mission fails to provide the protection it appeared to signal.

EEUK calls upon the next government to signal and demonstrate clear and consistent commitment to the enterprise and entrepreneurship educational agenda and allow UK universities and colleges to contribute to the development of the regional, national, and international educational entrepreneurial eco-systems that create innovation.

And on a practical lee, EEUK reminds you to “stand up” and shout about your achievements and those of your students – do it for yourself, the sector, and your students. Write blogs, press releases, contribute to your local news and newsletters, and let us know! (and celebrate Great British Entrepreneurs – get your start-up alumni to apply here)!

To help you make a difference in your work this month, we are highlighting:

• Careers Professionals:
  • What Scottish Graduates do
  • Role of AI
• Educators/Curriculum designers:
  • go “Beyond Blended”
• Influencers:
  • Spotlight on Spin Outs Report
  • Academic Spin Outs

And be inspired by the stories from the EntreComp Community!