Young Enterprise Scotland (YE Scotland) is a registered charity and has been working to support young people in Scotland for over 40 years. YE Scotland run a variety of enterprise and entrepreneurship programmes for young people aged 5 to 30 in primary and secondary schools, FE colleges, universities, prisons, secure and residential units and with community groups.
Strathclyde Business School are delighted to support the YE Scotland Company Programme, which has been designed to offer a realistic business experience to S5 and S6 secondary school students. By starting up their own companies they will develop their practical skills and their understanding of the world of business throughout this year long entrepreneurial experience.
The Examination
Programme participants can take the University of Strathclyde Business School and the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship examination. The reflective exam is graded to the same quality standards of all its other courses.
The examination seeks to highlight and provide:
- The extent of individual commitment, engagement and effort
- The benefits of the practical business experience and understanding
- Evidence of ability to reflect and learn from the experience
- A certified qualification for application forms and CVs.
- A valuable talking point at interviews
A copy of the most recent examination paper is available on this web site.
Structure
The questions ask about candidates' experiences in their own Young Enterprise company, not to assess theoretical knowledge.
Candidates are required to answer two compulsory questions, and any two selected from four other questions. All questions carry equal marks.
Throughout the Programme students will have been introduced to all the key business disciplines and questions focus on:
- Role and contribution of student
- Business planning and performance
- Finance, company management and compliance
- Leadership, human resources and networking
- Marketing, promotion and influencing for sales
- Ideas generation and innovation
Grading
Candidates may pass or gain a credit or distinction. Certificates are not awarded to ungraded candidates. The exam does not carry any UCAS points.
Dates
The examination will be taken during a two-week period usually between February and March, all students in a company must sit it at the same time. Each individual school monitors their exam and in the current challenging climate we will trust the teaching staff to organise and invigilate as they see appropriate.
2024 Dates:
Exam Period - Monday 19th February – Friday 1st March 2024
Results Due - Week beginning 6th May 2024
Eligible candidates
The examination is exclusively for current members of registered Young Enterprise Scotland companies eligible for an Achiever Certificate (over 1100 candidates from schools throughout Scotland sat the examination in 2018). All current members of registered Young Enterprise Scotland companies are automatically enrolled for the examination.
Fees
The fee is £10 per candidate, since the Strathclyde Business School are sponsoring the examination and only charging part of the cost. Some Local Area Teams (LATs) may be paying all or part of the fee. You should decide whether each student should pay the balance or whether your company, provided it is sufficiently profitable, should pay any fees. You may alternatively find some organisation willing to sponsor the fees.
Documentation
The Centre Lead (Educator) will be sent an examination pack before the exam date - the pack includes the exam paper, return sheets and invigilator instructions.
Possible action required
- check that the list of students on your company registration is still up to date, with correctly spelt student names
- set up reflective group discussions before the examination to encourage more thoughtful answers. A meeting for a discussion of the paper a week or so after taking it would encourage further learning
- look out for email correspondence from Strathclyde Business School, confirming the exam arrangements in mid to late January
