A young male university student in a grey hoodie sitting at a shared worktable in a university start-up incubator with a laptop showing a colourful project strategy presentation, a whiteboard covered in clustered Post-it notes and growth hacking diagrams on the exposed brick wall behind, teal pendant lights overhead and another student working opposite, representing the hands-on venture-building focus of Entrepreneurship degrees

DEGREE GUIDE

Entrepreneurship

What do Entrepreneurship degrees involve?

Entrepreneurship degrees teach you how to turn ideas into successful businesses by developing creativity, resilience, and business acumen. You will explore key areas such as innovation, marketing, finance, leadership, and business strategy. These courses help you understand how to identify opportunities, manage risk, and scale a business in competitive markets. You will also gain practical experience through start-up projects, pitching ideas, and learning from real entrepreneurs. Many degrees offer mentorship, networking opportunities, or incubator programmes, equipping you with the skills to launch your own venture or drive innovation within existing businesses.

Example
Modules

Foundations in Entrepreneurship: Discover what it means to think like an entrepreneur, building confidence in generating ideas, taking risks and solving real-world problems.

Opportunity Identification and Market Research: Learn how to spot gaps in the market, assess customer needs and test whether your business idea has real potential.

Creative Thinking and Innovation: Use tools like design thinking and rapid prototyping to turn creative ideas into valuable products or services.

Common Degree Names

💼 Most Entrepreneurship degrees offer a placement year or enterprise internship.
🌍 Study abroad is available at some institutions.

BA (Hons) Entrepreneurship
BA (Hons) Business Entrepreneurship
BA (Hons) Entrepreneurship and Innovation
BA (Hons) Enterprise and Small Business Development
BA (Hons) Business and Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship may also be offered as a specialist stream within broader business degrees.

A laptop displaying a pitch deck with revenue projections and market size charts alongside a printed Business Model Canvas with Post-it notes in each section, a notebook with hand-drawn mobile app wireframe sketches, printed market research results with bar charts, a teal mug and scattered Post-it notes with words like innovate, scale and pivot, illustrating the venture planning and prototyping skills developed in Entrepreneurship degrees

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

Entrepreneurship degrees teach you how to start, grow, and manage businesses. Universities are looking for students with creativity, problem-solving ability, and analytical skills rather than specific subjects.

Subjects that could strengthen your application:

Business Studies or Economics – useful for understanding finance and enterprise
Maths – helpful for budgeting, data, and planning
English Literature, English Language & Literature, or Psychology – good for communication and understanding people
Art, Design, or Technology – relevant for product or creative entrepreneurship

✨ You don't need to have studied Business to apply. A combination that includes analytical or essay-writing subjects shows the skills you'll need.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Business or Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (widely accepted)
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside relevant A-Level subjects
T-Levels in Management and Administration, Digital Data Analytics, Accounting, or Finance
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with at least two IB Higher Level subjects (ideally three - see relevant subjects above) alongside your Career-Related Study; a Business pathway would be directly relevant

Some Entrepreneurship degrees sit within Business Schools and may have slightly higher requirements – always check.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE / MYP / National 5)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language and Maths at grade 4/C or above, or equivalent such as National 5s or MYP

📘 Strong English and Maths skills are key for writing business plans, analysing data, and presenting ideas.

If you’ve taken Business Studies, Economics, or Design & Technology, these can provide useful early experience—but they aren’t required.

💬 Interviews
Interviews are not usually required, but some universities interview as part of the selection process.

🔍 Work Experience
You don't need work experience to apply for Entrepreneurship. If you've started something yourself — a small business, a fundraiser, a social media project, or a school venture — that's the most relevant experience you can have. If not, any part-time job or volunteering where you can observe how an organisation runs, solves problems, and makes decisions gives you useful perspective.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What draws you to starting and building ventures? Entrepreneurship degrees focus on creating new businesses, social enterprises, or innovative projects - not just studying how existing organisations work. If you've started something yourself, whether a small business, a school project, or a creative venture, reflect on what you learned from the experience: what worked, what failed, and what you'd do differently. But you don't need to have launched a company or a school club - reading about entrepreneurs, following startup stories, exploring what makes ventures succeed or fail, or identifying problems you'd love to solve can all show entrepreneurial thinking. Admissions tutors want to see initiative and curiosity about creating value, not just interest in business generally.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Year in Business or Entrepreneurship

Many universities offer a business foundation year if you don't have the required subjects or grades. This adds an extra year but leads directly into the full degree.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Business or Social Science)

Widely accepted by universities offering Entrepreneurship degrees. Aim for strong results in your graded units, particularly in business and numeracy content.

💼 Level 3 Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships such as Business Administrator, Digital Marketer or Team Leader carry UCAS tariff points from 2026 and are well-recognised. Entrepreneurship degrees are typically offered by universities with flexible admissions policies.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with an Entrepreneurship degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

Running Projects, Events & Ventures: The entire degree is built around turning ideas into reality. You'll learn how to spot opportunities, plan and build a business from the ground up, secure funding, lead a team, and scale your venture, putting everything into practice through hands-on projects.

Brands, Media & Influence: Building a brand and influencing others is central to entrepreneurship. You'll learn how to pitch your ideas persuasively, develop marketing strategies that connect with customers, build a personal brand, and understand what makes people choose one product or message over another.

Money, Markets & How Economies Work: The financial side of building a business runs through the degree. You'll study entrepreneurial finance, how to raise investment from angels and venture capital, how to manage cash flow, and how to price products and forecast the numbers that keep a young business alive.

Students who thrive in an Entrepreneurship degree are often motivated by

Commercial Ambition

You're energised by the work of building commercial success: spotting opportunities others miss, thinking through how to position a product or service in a market, working out how to grow an organisation, and making the strategic decisions that move things forward. You're drawn to the challenge of turning a good idea into something that thrives commercially, whether that's a product, a service, or a whole company. The competitive side of business engages rather than tires you.

Entrepreneurship and Taking Risks

You get excited about starting something from scratch: launching new projects, ventures, or initiatives and being willing to take calculated risks to make them happen. It's the act of beginning, of turning an idea into reality, that energises you. You'd rather try something uncertain than play it safe, and setbacks feel like learning opportunities rather than failures.

Creativity and Innovation

You're energised by the act of creating something new or finding a fresh way to approach a problem. Whether it's designing, writing, building, or experimenting, you feel most alive when you're generating original ideas rather than following established methods. The possibility that something has never been done before excites rather than intimidates you.

Influencing and Persuading

You're energised by convincing others of your ideas, selling a vision, or motivating people to take action. Whether it's through a well-crafted argument, a compelling presentation, or a one-to-one conversation, you find energy in changing someone's mind or getting buy-in for something you believe in. The challenge of working out what will actually land with this person, in this moment, is part of what makes it satisfying.

What makes Entrepreneurship click for the students who love it?

Some students cannot sit with an idea without wanting to build it, and that itch is what brings them here. They want to make something of their own from nothing, and the risk does not scare them. The creative side is the fun part, the product no one has tried yet, and so is the commercial side, turning an idea into something that pays its way. Winning people over counts as much, the first customer, the first backer. Seeing a thing they dreamed up come to life is what they are chasing.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Do you enjoy coming up with ideas for things that don't exist yet — products, services, or ways of doing things differently?
Do you find yourself noticing gaps or problems in everyday life and thinking "someone should fix that"?
Do you like the idea of persuading people to support something you believe in — whether it's an idea, a project, or a cause?
Do you tend to bounce back quickly when something doesn't go to plan, rather than giving up or getting stuck?

Careers an Entrepreneurship degree could lead you to

Entrepreneurship

What do Entrepreneurship degrees involve?

Example Modules

Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers an Entrepreneurship degree could lead you to

Example
Modules