New university course for budding entrepreneurs

A new course at UWE Bristol aimed at producing graduates with degrees plus experience of running their own businesses has just welcomed its first cohort of 37 students.

The course structure is ground-breaking – no classrooms, compulsory lectures or exams – and has been introduced to the UK for the first time this year.

Called Team Entrepreneurship, the degree course is based on methods pioneered in Finland and also run successfully in Spain and Hungary, and has been described as a revolution in management education.

Course leader Carol Jarvis from UWE’s Bristol Business School comments: “Running a real business – devising a product or service and selling it to customers – is what drives the students’ learning.

“All students have an equal financial stake in the companies they create and will learn to manage the risks and rewards this entails.

“We believe they learn better, and the information is retained, as they acquire knowledge when they need it.

“They learn by applying theory to practice and by reading material as it becomes relevant to them.

“The first group of students are already showing themselves to be confident, resilient, highly motivated team members.”

Ideas for businesses under way so far include a top quality clothing company, a classic car parts company, and creating a business model for selling customised headphones into the student market in other universities.