Student Voice: Labour Student Entrepreneurs Question Time

Ahead of our Student Entrepreneurs Question Time party conferences we interviewed a series of enterprising students/graduate entrepreneurs. We asked them about what they were looking forward to most ahead of the three party conferences.

Josh, 21, is currently studying Economics and International Business at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is currently working towards setting up an enterprise society called UniBridges. UniBridges aims to offer a variety of services to startups and established businesses as well as fulfilling students entrepreneurship aspirations. UniBridges’ long-term vision is to be the go-to when businesses are looking for students in specific fields. The aim is to provide opportunities for students in societies in the real world.

Josh said he was looking forward to being able to hear the views of panellists on issues surrounding enterprising and entrepreneurial practicing subjects at school. He’s particularly open to hearing their standpoint on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), the future of education and the correlation between education and debt.

Josh believes the government must revisit teaching methods across education levels if they are to get more young people involved in entrepreneurship. He said: “[Government have to] rethink and update teaching methods, for example I.T. teaching methods in schools across the UK are primitive, compared to the pace at which technology moves globally.”

“Computer science should have been a compulsory subject taught at GCSE 10 years ago, not new to 2013. Debt management and personal finance should be instilled from an earlier age, all skills which would arm students at a far younger age to engage with entrepreneurialism. Teach kids to be entrepreneurs as part of life skills teaching!”

Josh was in attendance at our Labour SEQT conference where he joined the discussion on enterprise/business. This week we'll be in Glasgow for the Liberal Democrat conference.

Can’t make it? Make sure you follow us @NACUE and use #SEQT to join in on the debate!

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We've achieved a great deal in a short number of years, though there's much more too do in supporting our mission of 'Powering the Enterprise Generation'.

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Powering the Enterprising Generation

Our mission is to support the development of education and student engagement throughout college and universities by championing student enterprise societies and peer-to-peer learning. NACUE started from an extraordinary movement in student entrepreneurship, providing young individuals with a platform to be experimental, creative and inspiring in their approach to enterprise and entrepreneurship, encouraging a bottom-up approach to inspiring the next generation.

Today, we see over 200 enterprise societies, powered by peer-to-peer groups, who are championing the success of young people throughout their interactive programmes by forging collaborative relationships with their institutions to provide greater experience and development opportunities for their peers. Establishing regional links with locals SME’s who are keen to open their doors to emerging talented, proactive and enthusiastic graduates perpetuates this.

Our work is dedicated to supporting the development and encouragement of entrepreneurship amongst young individuals and forms the sole purpose of NACUE. To learn more about NACUE and the services we produce, click here.

As a not-for-profit, we raise charitable donations that allow us to widen the opportunities available to young people in relation to enterprise and entrepreneurship, strengthening student engagement, the quality of education and connecting and representing student enterprise societies and student entrepreneurs worldwide.

NACUE is a charitable organisation that supports 32,000 students and young people every year. As funding becomes harder to obtain, we rely on the generous support of donors to ensure our programs can continue to change the lives and aspirations of the younger generation.

A donation of any size goes a long way to furthering our work and really is greatly appreciated. Every gift matters in aiding our mission of ‘Powering the Enterprising Generation' but we mainly rely upon the generosity of our members and alumni to do this. By making a single or regular donation you can make a big difference. To learn more about how you can donate, please follow the links below.

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Large national network

NACUE are delighted to have supported a huge number of student-led societies over the years. You can see the number of established student-led societies on an interactive map below

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Who we work with

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are at the very core of NACUE, everything we do is to better the startup and self employment ecosystem. We believe that entrepreneurs will shape the future, and we bolster this through our events, our network and our advocacy.

Students

NACUE works with students in Colleges and Universities right across the UK, helping support them in their entrepreneurial goals and connect them with like minded peers.

Educators

NACUE works collaboratively with educators and academics in supporting the development of entrepreneurial mindsets in young people.

Our events

Our events offer the young people we work with the opportunity to connect with our wider network, the experts and seasoned entrepreneurs in our community and the chance to be inspired to take the leap of faith into entrepreneurship. These events are attended by students and graduates from universities and colleges up and down the UK, as well as students from across Europe. Student Societies take centre stage at our events, alongside innovators, game changers and trail blazers of the UK startup ecosystem.

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The difference we make

Alex Deung

Society President, Entrepreneurs Durham

It has been a great pleasure working closely with NACUE. NACUE has supported me both on big and small issues within my role. Without NACUE’s support, Entrepreneurs Durham wouldn’t be where it is today.

Wendy Funnell

Head, Centre for Entrepreneurship

The pleasure of seeing young people start something from nothing and watching them as they’re growing is wonderful. If we hadn’t had NACUE, we couldn’t do a lot of what we’re doing now. I can absolutely, categorically say that.

FE Student

FE Student, Enterprise Society

I am enjoying it (the enterprise society) a lot, and it’s great to be achieving something real. So often in college we plan to the point of doing the activity but then never actually do it.