Overview

This an innovative course, aimed at students with a keen interest in creating their own entrepreneurial venture or project alongside academic study.
Projects might include business or social enterprise start-ups, growing a family or established business, or driving a new initiative within private or public sector employment.

With creativity and innovation at its heart, this is a course for budding entrepreneurs who want to start, develop or grow a business and strengthen their skills alongside their degree.

Course information

The course will give you the opportunity to go through the three main stages of value and venture creation: Idea generation and feasibility assessment, Planning and implementation and Scaling and growth.

You will have the opportunity for in-depth exploration of your particular interests through coursework and an enterprise research project in the final year.

There is also a sandwich year option where you can apply to study abroad at a partner university or to work in employment in the UK or abroad.

The educational aims of the BA Enterprise and Entrepreneurship are to:

• Stimulate interest and develop expertise to equip you to generate value through the creation of an entrepreneurial idea, reviewing the feasibility of this idea, formulating a viable business plan, and taking the necessary steps to set up and run a business or entrepreneurial project;
• Provide you with an educational opportunity to broaden your knowledge around the specialist subject area of your entrepreneurial idea, to support your venture and to develop a pool of transferable skills;
• Enable you to experience value creation whilst in the supportive environment of the University and make an informed decision about your future employment.

Why choose this course?

The course is focused around the concept of ‘value creation’ and the activity of transforming purposeful ideas into action, thus generating value for someone other than yourself. The value created can be social, cultural or economic.

The course is a mixture of theory and practice. We aim to teach you about the theory of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial practice and complete a research dissertation. You will also have the opportunity to be exposed to the skills and knowledge needed for entrepreneurship with guided individual and group projects, and through the analysis of real case studies. Innovatively, you will also have the opportunity to learn through your own actions on self-directed negotiated projects such as venture creation and consultancy activities.

The teaching team is made up of enthusiastic educators who are also active researchers in enterprise education and entrepreneurship-related topics. We regularly share our practice innovations and have given research presentations at conferences such as the International Entrepreneurship Educators Conference and the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference. Members of the team have contributed to national policy in enterprise and entrepreneurship education, while others have run their own businesses and bring real-life experiences to inform your learning.

Coventry University is one of a select group of universities to be awarded the prestigious Times Higher Education Entrepreneurial University of the Year Award (2011). The University was also commended in the recent Teaching Excellent Framework exercise for its outstanding focus on employability and developing entrepreneurship skills that are highly valued by employers.

International experience opportunities

The International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship has well established international networks in Europe and Africa. Further networks are under development in the Middle and Far East, and Australia.

Students may have opportunities to apply for study trips abroad, and for long-term international and multicultural engagement, for example, a 12-month study or work abroad term through the Erasmus programme. These may be subject to availability, application and additional costs.

Career prospects

The course aims to provide you with real-world experience and the necessary capabilities required in the business world. This can prepare you for a future career as a graduate entrepreneur, a business owner, or a contributor to an established business.

The ability to demonstrate business-related knowledge and skills in enterprise and entrepreneurship is increasingly sort by employers in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), large private organisations, and within the public sector.

The course’s parallel emphasis on academic skills will also provide a good platform for further study.