Welcome to Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education
Enterprise education is not just about business creation because it encompasses a broader set of skills, mindsets and competencies that are valuable in many aspects of life and work, not only in starting a business.
Enterprise education aims to develop an enterprising mindset- creativity, problem-solving, adaptability and initiative. These qualities are important in any context, whether someone is launching a business, working in a company or engaging in social causes.
The Student Startup Team is a part of the Careers and Employability Department and empowers students, graduates and university staff through enterprise and entrepreneurship education. The team provides tailored support for students and recent alumni looking to explore, launch, or grow their own business ideas, offering guidance, resources and practical opportunities. In addition to working with students and graduates, the team actively collaborates with academic and professional staff to embed entrepreneurial thinking into the curriculum and co-curricular activities, fostering a culture of innovation across the institution.
What's New?
Please access the recordings below introducing what we do to support staff and students ...
UoP Guidance
You can read more about the current guides and regulations for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship below:
Be Inspired
A Self Employed Placement (SEP) is an alternative option to the traditional placement year in industry. A SEP aims to develop the individual's enterprise and entrepreneurship skills whilst starting and running a business, they may wish to take a product to market, create a social enterprise or use their skills to work as a freelancer. They receive a comprehensive support and guidance programme throughout the year giving them access to a variety of workshops, opportunities and networks.
Our Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs) scheme offers business start-up advice to our students, alumni or staff to launch or grow their business. At any one time we work with approximately 40 experienced entrepreneurs and senior level business executives. They use their experience to help students plan, develop, network and market their new businesses as well as delivering guest lectures to share their experience with a wider audience in the curriculum. In return, our Entrepreneurs in Residence benefit from access to our research, events and partnerships across the University. If you would like to find out more about the Entrepreneurs in Residence scheme please contact studentstartup@port.ac.uk
Pitch to the Experts
Every 2 years, we host a 'Pitch to the Experts' event. The most recent one, held in June 2025 saw eight entrepreneurial students/graduates pitching their ideas and startups to a panel of out Entrepreneurs in Residence.
The event is designed to provide a supportive and safe environment for students and graduates to gain a real life experience in securing attention, interest and feedback on their start-up ideas. This can lead to further opportunities to build their networks, grow their businesses and secure future funding.
Events and Workshops - Staff
We would welcome a conversation with you about how we can work together to upskill staff in the education of enterprise and entrepreneurship. We regularly design our workshops according to the needs of the audience, tailoring the learning to deliver specific outcomes.
Please see an example below:
This interactive workshop will explore what we mean by 'being enterprising' and put this into action. The research and academic environment offers many opportunities for enterprising individuals. You might be contemplating how you can build a business from your research using your researcher capabilities or perhaps you have never contemplated this. Whatever stage you are at, this workshop will help you analyse and develop your enterprising capabilities through self reflection and practical activities.
The purpose of this workshop is to help you to
- identify and reflect on your current enterprising ideas.
- develop a mindset, set of capabilities and attitudes which can enable a culture of innovation, creativity, risk taking and opportunism that underpins employability, enables entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship and facilitates knowledge transfer.
- think about how to use your enterprise capabilities creatively for your own benefit and that of others.
- gain inspiration from the experience of other enterprising colleagues from a variety of disciplines, backgrounds and career stages.
- explore ways in which you might develop your confidence energy and ideas.
- recognise your enterprising potential and understand how to move forward with your ideas.
Students and Recent Graduates
Outside of the curriculum, the Student StartUp team delivers the Enterprise Programme. This offers our students and recent graduates a host of resources, workshops and events for enterprise, innovation and entrepreneurship. These opportunities give them access to funding, 1-1 support, mentoring and expert advice as well as incubator services. They can develop enterprise skills, connect with industry founders and leaders and receive tailored guidance to transform their ideas into action and viable businesses.
The Student StartUp team and our wider Careers & Employability Department can offer Changemaker Challenge Workshop. These challenges provide a platform for students to engage with employers and organisations, and transform their passion for change into tangible actions. Students develop essential skills, commercial awareness and create a lasting impact on the world around them.
Watch highlights from our first Changemaker Challenge here.
We can work with you to co-design a challenge for your students in a format that works for you.
Resources
Explore the links, articles and external policy documents designed to support engaging enterprise education in higher education.
Staff at the University of Portsmouth can benefit from the membership we have with Enterprise Educators UK. These include access to free online events and discounts to in person events, including the annual International Entrepreneurship Educators Conference.
QAA policy: "Enterprise and entrepreneurship education." Guidance for UK HE providers, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education:London
This national guidance has been adopted by EEUK (2018). The report provides clear guidance for all those working in the sector as enterprise educators (academics, influencers & practitioners). It has sections for all areas of enterprise and entrepreneurship and all the definitions you need to ensure you are aligned to UK education practice. If you only read one policy document this should be the one.
University of Portsmouth Enterprise Educators Toolkit and Themes
Framework (Advance HE) for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education
The EntreComp Framework
The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework is a comprehensive, flexible & multi-purpose reference framework that is designed to help you explore what is meant by entrepreneurship as a competence. Created by the European Commission, EntreComp identifies the competencies that make up what it means to be entrepreneurial such as discovering and acting upon opportunities and ideas, transforming them into financial, cultural or social value for others.