FSB: A golden future might not mean University.

As A-level exam results are published, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has congratulated students on their success but has also reminded them that starting their own business may be much more rewarding for them than going to University.

Only a quarter of small business owners have a degree (27.7%) with nearly half (48.4%) having GCSE or equivalent and professional qualifications instead. An eighth of entrepreneurs (12.7%) have no formal qualifications at all.

The FSB also reiterated its opposition to the Government’s target to get fifty per cent of young people into University. Such an arbitrary target does not focus on the needs of business or the economy for skilled workers in more than just academic disciplines. The FSB is concerned that the target could also be diverting potential entrepreneurs onto the wrong career path by making them see University as their only viable option.

Colin Willman, FSB Education and Skills, said:

“I congratulate all A-level students on their successes this year. They should be proud of their achievements.

“I would like to take this opportunity to remind them that many of our most successful business people never went to University. It will be suitable for some students who have passed their A-levels to go on to Higher Education but other equally successful students will already have their entrepreneurial ideas ready for action. If that is the case, it might be better for them to strike while the iron is hot rather than wait three or four years at University, by which time the chance may have passed.

“The Government’s wholly arbitrary target to get fifty per cent of our young people into University is not in the interests of the UK economy. Students who have just passed their A-levels should do what they think is in their own best interests. Setting up a successful, growing business and, over time, employing people could be much more rewarding for them and far better for Britain.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. Statistics in this press release on entrepreneurs’ education are from the FSB’s report ‘Lifting the Barriers to Growth’, which received over 19,000 responses. The report can be found at http://www.fsb.org.uk/documentstore/filedetails.asp?id=331.

2. The FSB is Britain’s biggest business organisation with over 205,000 members. It exists to protect and promote the interests of the self-employed, and all those who run their own business. More information is available at www.fsb.org.uk.

Contacts:

For interviews with FSB Chief Spokesman Stephen Alambritis or other senior FSB personnel please contact the FSB Press Office.

FSB Press Office
Matthew Knowles: 020 7592 8113 / 07917 628991

Simon Briault: 020 7592 8128 / 07917 628998

Belinda Webb: 020 7592 8121 / 07825 125 695

For regional FSB contacts please go to www.fsb.org.uk/regions