The Policy Framing of UK Entrepreneurship Education

What is it about?

The paper examines how entrepreneurship education (EE) in UK higher education has been framed and re-framed across successive waves of government policy and national guidance. Using secondary document analysis, it traces the evolution of EE from early small-business training for managers in the 1970s, through the mass-employability agenda of the 1990s and 2000s, to the broader value-creation framing embedded in the QAA’s 2012 and 2018 guidelines. It analyses how definitions, expectations, and targeted outcomes have shifted, particularly the move from a narrow focus on start-ups toward creating cultural, social, and economic value, and identifies the opportunities and challenges generated by this broadened conceptualisation. The paper concludes by outlining the implications of this evolution for educators, policymakers, and future EE provision.

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Why is it important?

The study provides a needed clarification of how UK policy and guidance have shaped, and at times muddled, the purpose, scope, and expectations of EE. By mapping these shifts, it highlights the risks created by conceptual ambiguity, including blurred boundaries between EE and general business education, misalignment between policymakers’ economic aims and educators’ practices, and challenges in evaluating impact when value creation extends beyond start-up activity. At the same time, it shows how broadened definitions have expanded EE’s reach and relevance across disciplines. This analysis offers policymakers and educators a clearer foundation for designing coherent EE strategies, balancing broad skill development with support for venture creation, and maintaining EE’s distinctiveness and legitimacy within a pressured UK HE environment.