Top universities in the UK for a masters in entrepreneurship

Building a business from the ground up might seem like a pipe dream for some. But entrepreneurship isn’t only a field for business graduates or those with similar education backgrounds.

Many of the world’s successful companies were the result of the sweat and blood of graduates and professionals from all walks of life and various educational backgrounds. Examples are abound – Yahoo! was founded by engineering graduates while Alibaba was founded by Jack Ma, an English graduate.

A masters in entrepreneurship can equip professionals with an arsenal of skills that are applicable across a wide range of fields. The UK is a bastion for education – and home to some of the world’s top universities that offer programmes in the field. Here are five universities in the UK worth considering.

These universities are part of the top 100 universities featured in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020. The rankings include almost 1,400 universities across 92 countries, standing as the largest and most diverse university rankings ever to date, notes THE.

University of Edinburgh

Ranked 30 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020, Edinburgh is undoubtedly a solid choice for prospective international students. Its Business School boasts of a triple accreditation from coveted international accreditations: AACSB, EQUIS, and the AMBA. 

Its Masters in Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme is a year long and prepares students for a wide range of careers in business including business development and running a start-up.

Students will study six core courses in their first semester, and choose courses depending on their interests and career aspirations in their second semester. The programme culminates with a dissertation. Students will have the option to pursue a research dissertation or to engage in a business-focused dissertation such as a business plan or business project.

King’s College London

The university’s MSc Strategic Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme aims to provide students with the tools and techniques to understand and manage entrepreneurship and innovation and to lead innovative teams and organisations around the world.

Students will discover key issues of innovative entrepreneurship, from how companies identify and exploit both market and technological opportunities, to how they grow and secure finance. 

Students will also gain an understanding of how both small and large entrepreneurial companies can be organised to take advantage of multiple sources of innovation to compete in dynamic environments.

Studying at King’s College entails learning from staff who are recognised leaders in their fields and have developed unique and stimulating modules for their entrepreneurship programme. The university boasts of strong links with incubators, experienced entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists, who will provide students with novel insights on the subject.

King’s is also ranked fourth in the UK for employability, in the Times Higher Education Global Employability University Rankings 2019.

University of Manchester

Manchester is ranked fifth in the UK for employability, according to the Times Higher Education Global Employability University Rankings 2019.

Their MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship programme can be completed within one year on a full-time basis, or 24 months part-time. 

Students will learn how to successfully manage both technology and organisational innovation, gain understanding of how the innovation process works, how companies organise to take advantage of internal and external sources of innovation, how to carry out technology investment appraisal and forecast future innovation trends and focus on developing analytical and critical skills, research training, personal communication skills, and effective team-working, among others.

University of Warwick

Warwick is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in the THE World University Rankings 2020.

The university’s MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a practical course that is designed for entrepreneurs. It will teach students to apply best practice approaches to business proposals to maximise their chances of success.

The course covers areas such as generating new business ideas, developing and refining ideas, and designing the infrastructure, right through to launching the business. Students will also focus on how innovation can be exploited in technological and business contexts, to increase success for new product or services based businesses. 

The dissertation will also prompt students to rigorously develop their business idea to ensure students will be in a strong position to launch their own business.

University of Bristol

Another top 100 university is Bristol. It’s MSc Management (Entrepreneurship) programme is an intensive one-year programme that offers students a unique opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of small business enterprise and entrepreneurship, while gaining a thorough grounding in the core theories and concepts that are central to a career in management today. 

The programme starts by exposing students to management theory across a range of core disciplines, including finance and accounting, organisational behaviour and strategic management. 

Students will  gain a deeper insight into entrepreneurship in their second semester, while the dissertation provides students an opportunity for independent research and in-depth investigation into a particular aspect of entrepreneurship.