1,000 students have now received business innovation skills training thanks to SETsquared’s Intrapreneurial Knowledge Exchange Enterprise Pathway, IKEEP.

The programme provides students across all disciplines and degree levels, with a hands-on opportunity to be ‘intrapreneurs’, and work on a ‘real-world’ innovative idea or project to improve a product, process or proposition within an established company.

Through a mixture of self-led online learning and interactive live sessions, students learn key skills in areas such as business models, critical thinking, effective communication, and problem solving, to help them develop employability skills and business acumen.

IKEEP not only encourages students to discover their inner ‘intrapreneur’ and think more innovatively about the world around them, but it also provides a boost to their CVs. Many students also report greater self-confidence on completion of the learning and the inspiration to explore their own business ventures.

Students that successfully complete the IKEEP training are rewarded with a digital skills badge to display on their LinkedIn profile, showcasing their new expertise to future employers.

Mohammad Ali Imran is a Bsc Management student from the University of Bath and is the 1000th student to have been trained by IKEEP, he said: “I’m so pleased to be the 1000th student trained by IKEEP as it was a great programme to get involved with. What I really liked about the training was the way it covered such a wide range of topics in a straight-forward, yet informative and interesting way. My favourite topics were how to be intrapreneurial and how to become a leader.”

“In fact, IKEEP has influenced my career plans, helping me realise what type of company I want to join. Thanks to IKEEP I have discovered that I want to work for a company that promotes and supports innovation, and I’m very glad I took part as it taught me many new skills and improved my CV. Don’t miss the opportunity to take part in the IKEEP programme.”

After completing the initial training, students can progress on to complete a short project placement with a business to put their new skills in practice. Working remotely as an interdisciplinary team of three, students provide extra resource and inject new perspectives into a business for up to four weeks on a flexible, part-time basis. Past projects have included market or competitor research, business model analysis, and technical development and integration of new product ideas.

Joe Pearce, Head of Business Support at the University of Exeter which has led IKEEP for SETsquared, said: “We’re thrilled to have smashed through our initial target of training 800 students almost a year early, to now having delivered this programme to 1,000 and this number will continue to rise significantly. IKEEP represents an amazing value-add to a student’s time at university and will really make their CV stand out from a crowd which is much needed in the current tough graduate jobs market.

“What makes IKEEP unique is that it’s a win-win for both students and businesses. Students bring their new expertise and fresh perspectives to a business in need of extra resource to finish a project and in turn the business gives the student teams industry experience to boost their CVs that would otherwise be much harder to acquire.”

Students: To find out more about IKEEP and register your place, visit SETsquared.co.uk/ikeepstudent.

Any businesses interested in submitting a project for the IKEEP programme can find out more at SETsquared.co.uk/ikeepbusiness or email Danielle Wickstead via IKEEP@bath.ac.uk.

1,000 students benefit from CV boosting business training through SETsquared’s IKEEP Programme