Education is risk averse, so is there room for entrepreneurial led innovation?

What role can entrepreneurs play in the development of the UK education system?

It’s a question raised by the launch of a new initiative aimed at encouraging entrepreneurs to come up with ideas to address what the organizers describe as the “one size fits all” approach of Great Britain. Britain in education and learning.

In the form of a £1 million prize pool, the Major educational challenge was founded to support entrepreneurs developing ideas that have the potential to help students thrive in life, rather than simply preparing them to take — and hopefully — take exams.

It’s a worthy goal, but what does entrepreneurship mean in the context of a school system that tends to resist change, and perhaps for understandable reasons?

Of course, there are already entrepreneurs active in the field of learning and development. This is especially true in the corporate world, where employers’ desire to upskill their employees while keeping budgets under control has opened up opportunities for a plethora of innovative course and training providers. Likewise, the web is flooded with education-related solutions aimed at individuals looking to improve their skills or knowledge. Language apps, for example, or Massive Open Online Courses offered by the university.

But when it comes to driving change within the core of the education system itself, things get a little trickier. An employer can try out a new online training. If it doesn’t work, little damage is done. Other options will certainly be available.

But if you start to notice the changes around the way children and young adults work and study in school, there could be long-term consequences. Caireen Goddard is Senior Director, Impact, at Big Change, the charity that organizes the Big Education Challenge. Education, she acknowledges, is “high stakes.” Changes therefore come slowly rather than in disruptive waves.

The need for change

But Goddard is eager to argue that change is necessary. “The system is too standardized,” she says. “It’s one-size-fits-all and if you don’t fit, it’s hard to be successful.”

Research from the charity shows widespread dissatisfaction among young people: 64 per cent of 18-25 year old respondents say the education system has not prepared them for life and 73 per cent say the mix of subjects is not what they needed . More than 70 percent believed an opportunity to reform education has been missed in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Surveys may not be perfect, but the answers suggest there is a demand for change. Where there may be less consensus is what form that change could take and who can make it happen.

Take on the challenge

And perhaps this is where the Big Education Challenge can help. As Goddard explains, the initiative is divided into two categories. The Groundbreaker Challenge, aimed at people aged 18 to 25 with great ideas, and the Gamechanger Challenge, which is designed to attract participants with a track record of leading impactful businesses. £700,000 will be available to the winner of the Gamechanger Challenge with the remaining £300,000 going to the Groundbreaker category.

But is education open to innovation? As Goddard recalls, the Department of Education had an innovation unit 20 years ago, but it has since been abandoned. “It’s a very risk-averse industry,” she says.

Does this mean that all the good ideas and business plans that emerge from the Challenge are likely to fall on deaf ears?

Goddard says progress can be made. She cites the example of Peace, a mental health tool funded (in the early days) by Big Change. “It gives schools insight into the well-being of their students,” she says. It is beginning to scale across schools and has received further funding from the Times Educational Supplement.

Similarly, companies that offer services – such as additional classes – outside of the core curriculum may also find appeal. Goddard points to Reviving school, which offers weekend classes to students in Manchester. It has also received funding from Big Change.

There is also room for innovation in educational areas that may not be given enough weight in the current system in the current situation. Goddard cites Oracy – education around fluent oral expression – as an example. This is an area in which another Big Change-backed venture, Vote21is active.

So there are opportunities for impact-led businesses. It is hoped that the challenge will bring more to the surface. So far there are 100 registrations for a competition that closes in February next year. But what does success look like? “If we get 15 to 20 ideas with potential from people who otherwise wouldn’t get support, that would be an incredible result,” says Goddard.