The Youth Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Strategy for Wales (YES)

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The Youth Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) for Wales is a comprehensive initiative designed to foster entrepreneurial skills and attitudes among young people aged 5 to 25 across Wales.
What are the main aims and objectives?

The core vision of YES is to develop and nurture self-sufficient, entrepreneurial young people in all communities across Wales. The strategy seeks to integrate entrepreneurship into the lives of young people, making it a viable and attractive career path. Beyond the goal of encouraging young people to start businesses the strategy also aims to foster entrepreneurial thinking that can be applied in various employment sectors. By nurturing entrepreneurial talent among young people, the strategy aims to contribute to the overall economic and social success of Wales. This includes creating jobs, fostering innovation, and driving economic growth.

How does the program work?

The Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) for Wales employs a comprehensive framework designed to foster entrepreneurship among young people across Wales. The strategy is structured around three main delivery themes: Engaging, Empowering, and Equipping

Engaging

The first theme focuses on promoting the value of entrepreneurship to create opportunities and develop young people. This includes:

  • Delivering an entrepreneurship champion in every Further and Higher Education Institution to provide a cohesive approach to entrepreneurship
  • Raising awareness about entrepreneurship through campaigns like Big Ideas Wales.
  • Organizing high-profile events such as Global Entrepreneurship Week.
  • Delivering inspirational workshops by Dynamo Role Models to motivate young people about entrepreneurship
  • Giving young people direct contact with entrepreneurs through the Dynamo Role Models program which puts real life entrepreneurs in Schools, Further and Higher Education classrooms. 
  • Providing entrepreneurial skills training for young people who are not in education, employment or training 
  • Encouraging businesses to engage with academia to commercialize research and transfer knowledge through Expertise Wales

Empowering

The second theme aims to provide young people with entrepreneurial learning opportunities by:

  • Revising the school curriculum to focus on skills and to facilitate the integration of entrepreneurship
  • Including entrepreneurship within the ESTYN inspection framework for schools and other learning settings.
  • Developing and disseminating entrepreneurial learning resources such as the Dynamo Curriculum Material
  • Delivering training for teachers and lecturers

Equipping

The third theme supports young people in creating and growing businesses through:

  • Providing practical support and advice for starting businesses, including financial bursaries and mentoring programs.
  • Supporting graduate business start-ups through initiatives like the Third Mission Fund and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
  • Providing work experience through GO Wales which provides students the opportunity to gain paid, project-based work-experience with SMEs and GO Wales Freelance which offers a tailor-made program of support for students to become freelancers 
What is the overall cost?

There is no available information on the cost of the Youth Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) for Wales.

How was it implemented?

During the early 2000s, Wales experienced a period characterized by low economic activity, a predominance of businesses in sectors with low added value, and a scarcity of enterprises within the knowledge economy. To tackle these issues and others, the Welsh Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES Strategy) was formulated in 2004, drawing on extensive consultations with various stakeholders and updated in 2010. Supported by Welsh Government funding, the strategy engages a diverse array of local participants, including youth groups, businesses, schools, and higher education institutions. In 2017, the advocacy for youth entrepreneurship was integrated into the broader Prosperity for All – Economic Action Plan 2017-2021. According to stakeholders, this integration did not impede the implementation of youth entrepreneurship initiatives; rather, it appears to have bolstered them.

What impact has been measured?

The YES Strategy has notably shifted young people's perspectives towards entrepreneurship and increased their participation in early-stage entrepreneurial ventures. It has elevated the survival rate of graduate startups beyond the three-year mark to surpass the UK average (in 2014: 10.9% in Wales compared to 5% in the UK), led to a 13% rise in 16-18-year-olds recognizing self-employment as a viable career choice (from a baseline of 75% to 88% in 2015), and increased the proportion of young individuals aspiring to be their own boss to 56% (up from 50%). 

The updated action plan published in 2010 also notes successes of the 2004 plan including:

  • Engaging 3,600 young people per annum through Global Entrepreneurship Week
  • Delivering 2,100 inspiration workshops per year by Dynamo Role Models which reaches over 42,000 young people
  • Training 2,000 teachers and lecturers 
  • 16,000 Further and Higher Education students engaged in activities facilitated by Entrepreneurship Champions
  • 1,200 graduates supported to start their own business
  • 619 graduate bursaries awarded
What lessons can be learned?

The Welsh curriculum has been systematically revised to incorporate entrepreneurship education, reflecting a strategic emphasis on developing entrepreneurial skills and attitudes among students. This integration is evident in several key areas of the curriculum and educational policy.

Curriculum Frameworks and Qualifications:

  • Entrepreneurship has been embedded into the "Careers and the World of Work" framework, which is targeted at students aged 11 to 19. This framework ensures that entrepreneurship is a prominent feature of career education in Wales
  • The Welsh Baccalaureate, an innovative qualification for students aged 14-19 in secondary schools and Further Education Institutions, places entrepreneurship at its core. This qualification encourages students to develop and apply entrepreneurial skills in various contexts

Curriculum Content and Delivery:

  • Changes to the school curriculum have been made to focus more on skills that facilitate the integration of entrepreneurship. This includes the development of Dynamo Curriculum Material for students and training for teachers to effectively deliver entrepreneurial education
  • Entrepreneurship education is also integral to Learning Pathways 14-19, making learning relevant to the world of work. This approach provides young people with opportunities to develop their entrepreneurial skills and explore business and work environments

Professional Development and Resources:

  • Continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers includes training that emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship education. This training helps teachers integrate entrepreneurial concepts into their teaching practices effectively
  • Online guidance and resources are provided to schools and Further Education Institutions to support the teaching and progression of entrepreneurship education

Experiential Learning and Engagement with Business:

  • The curriculum encourages experiential learning opportunities where students can engage directly with businesses and develop practical entrepreneurial skills. This includes activities like setting up and running mini-businesses and interacting with local entrepreneurs and business leaders

CURATED BY

Tom Hancock

Research Associate
Global Entrepreneurship Network
United Kingdom