United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Entrepreneurship in the UK has long been a vibrant and thriving sector. The country has a favourable business environment, a strong support system, and a culture that encourages innovation and enterprise. Our longest and most established work has been in the UK.
Entrepreneurship also comes with challenges, such as finding the right talent, and navigating market dynamics. The work UK universities undertake continues to ensure that the UK remains a good place start and grow businesses.
Our work in the UK takes many forms including:
- Supporting the development of policy and understanding including our work on national and local impact of higher education, and our higher education enterprise annual stocktake
- Promotion of enterprise and entrepreneurship, increasing the profile both in the UK and across the globe including awarding the Outstanding Entrepreneurial University of the Year, in partnership with the Times Higher
- Professional development and training, and building entrepreneurial leadership skills our Entrepreneurial Leadership programmes have engaged over 300 people across 20 countries
Connect to Innovate:
This year NCEE will be 20 years old, and it is time for us to revisit our pledge to support universities to be more enterprising and entrepreneurial. With Enterprise for Life and X-Forces Enterprise, we have launched our campaign to create a more entrepreneurial UK.
Working with universities and industry and our strategic partners – the Federation of Small Businesses and Universities UK – we will revitalise entrepreneurship in the UK. We will support universities and industry to work together to create a step change in entrepreneurship in the UK, and how universities and business partner together.
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Our work in the UK takes many forms including:
- Supporting the development of policy and understanding including our work on national and local impact of higher education, and our higher education enterprise annual stocktake
- Promotion of enterprise and entrepreneurship, increasing the profile both in the UK and across the globe including awarding the Outstanding Entrepreneurial University of the Year, in partnership with the Times Higher
- Professional development and training, and building entrepreneurial leadership skills our Entrepreneurial Leadership programmes have engaged over 300 people across 20 countries
News and updates

Leading Change, Culture and People in Higher Education
It does not need saying, but there’s a lot of change. Universities are responding to shifting funding models, regulatory complexity, evolving student expectations, technological developments, and expanding civic and economic roles – often all at once.

Women and Equalities Committee Report on Female Entrepreneurship
The National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education welcomes the publication of the Women and Equalities Committee’s Female Entrepreneurship report and strongly supports its call for a bold, coordinated and well-resourced national approach to unlocking the economic potential of women entrepreneurs across the UK.

Imperial College London: UK Times Higher Outstanding Entrepreneurial University of the Year 2025
Congratulations to Imperial College London for winning UK Times Higher Outstanding Entrepreneurial University of the Year 2025.

University of Bristol receives NCEE Entrepreneurial Award
The National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE) is delighted to announce that the University of Bristol’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has been awarded the NCEE Entrepreneurial Award, achieving the highest possible three-year accreditation.

Imperial College London: From West London to the World
Our new article series explores the secrets behind the success of the 2025 Times Higher Education Outstanding Entrepreneurial University Award finalists, sponsored by NCEE. In our sixth profile, we visit Imperial College London.

Cranfield University: the ‘quiet achiever’ of its region
Our new article series explores the secrets behind the success of the 2025 Times Higher Education Outstanding Entrepreneurial University Award finalists, sponsored by NCEE. In our fifth profile, we visit Cranfield University.












































