In the recent report An Education System Fit for an Entrepreneur, Anne Marie Morris MP acknowledges both the crucial role that new businesses – and by proxy, entrepreneurs – play in the UK’s economy, and the need for an educational system to support that. As she puts it:

New small start‐up businesses are the lifeblood of our society – and most importantly our economy. I recently met a 9 year old who had just set up his own businesses. He said: “teachers just don’t get it”.

Speaking on behalf of the writers of the report, influential UK enterprise educator Professor Andy Penaluna also commented on the necessity of providing ‘meaningful education that matches the needs of an innovative and entrepreneurial society’. Indeed, Professor Penaluna has also contributed to a piece of research that may prove key to improvements across the educational curriculum: the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework.

THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK: A BRIEF INTRO

Launched by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (on behalf of the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion), the Entrepreneurship Competence (EntreComp) Framework seeks to establish a bridge between education and work, with the aim of creating a useful point of reference for any enterprise that wishes to nurture entrepreneurial learning. Both a source of inspiration and a reflection of the growing need to formalise entrepreneurship (developing a framework to encapsulate it as a competence, and describing the knowledge, skills and attitudes that contribute to such), EntreComp could be used to enhance or adapt the current curriculum model, or even be used as a tool for self-assessment by budding entrepreneurs.

The EntreComp has been developed via a mixed-methods approach, encompassing case study analysis, desk research, comprehensive reviews of a wide sphere of literature, and consultations with numerous stake-holders.

WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

Broadly speaking, the EntreComp defines entrepreneurship as a broad-based or ‘transversal’ skillset: a multi-faceted competence with a variety of applications (from commercial applications – such as starting a new business – to social practices). It notes the value of entrepreneurship in a wide range of forms: group to individual; digital to green; and in private, public or third sectors.

This concept is then distilled into three main competence areas – ‘Ideas and opportunities’; ‘Resources’; and ‘Into action’. Within that, there are five further competences relating to each of the three areas, which are developed alongside a complex progression model and supported by a list of over 400 learning outcomes. It’s a fascinating, comprehensive resource, and potentially the most groundbreaking piece of research that the UK enterprise education system has ever seen.

DO WE REALLY NEED SUCH A FRAMEWORK?

At Crowdfund Campus we think the answer is a big, big, yes: we feel that a single, structured approach to entrepreneurship education across Europe is sorely needed in order to harness the huge potential of the enterprising talent coming in and out of universities. We welcome the recommendations made in the EntreComp, and as such, we are making this framework central to the tools and guidance that we provide to university educators.

If you’re looking for inspiration, please do check out the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework report in full. Alternatively, don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your budding business idea or enterprise education requirements directly – our accessible, innovative crowdfunding platform is here to help you take it to the next level.