Enterprise is more than the creation of entrepreneurs

With these words, Lord Young of Graffham, adviser to the Prime Minister on small business and enterprise, launches the third in a series of reports looking at how Britain can become the best place in the world to start and grow a business.

This report is aimed at 'education leaders, teachers and all those involved in policy, administration and delivery of teaching and learning in our education system.'

It is also of interest to anyone desiring a more entrepreneurial Britain.

The thrust of the report is that those in education should receive a 'lifelong experience of enterprise in education' to equip them for survival in an economic environment that has changed both 'structurally and socially' through technology.

Already 55 per cent of young people of school leaving age in the UK say they would like to start a business, according to the RBS Youth Enterprise Tracker, with 95.9 per cent of the companies in the UK now employing less than ten employees.

Lord Young's suite of recommendations include:

• A network of enterprise advisers at school for head teachers

• The extension of the Fiver scheme to reach 40,000 childen - which sees pupils receiving a £5 note and using it to generate more cash with a business for a month.

• Enterprise passport - a digital report that tracks and records enterprise experience in order to create a record of employability that's not based on academic performance

• Introduction of the Future Earnings and Employment Record to track and publish employment rates and earnings over a period of at least ten years post-completion of every further and higher education course

• Teachers to spend a week and some inset days with employers to understand more about the world of work

• Universities to have an enterprise module and develop strong enterprise societies plus a StartUp programme in Universities that hold Small Business Charter status

• All Level 3 vocational courses should include a module on working for yourself and how to start up a business.

• The introduction of an Enterprise 'E-Star' Award to assess and recognise a university's commitment to entrepreneurship.

The report is supported by the bodies that will implement change including the National Union of Teachers, OFSTED, Young Enterprise and Local Enterprise Partnerships. This bodes well for implementation of the recommendations.

The months of work dedicated to compiling this report are clear to see and the result is a piece of work that could, quite simply, deliver enterprise for all.

'My concern is to do as much for young people who leave school with low aspirations that blight the rest of their days as to broaden the horizons of those who have done well.' Lord Young of Graffham

Click here to download 'Enterprise For All'