Entrepreneurial Education Fund 2025-2026: form and guidance

What you can apply for

The fund will support projects from £10,000 to £250,000 although projects above this may be considered on an exceptional basis.

In the application form, you will be asked to provide a detailed breakdown of all project costs, as well as details of any funding you are seeking from additional sources.

Any funding granted will not be applicable for costs incurred prior to the award.

Eligible and non-eligible spend

All proposed spend should be justified as proportionate and appropriate for successful project delivery.

Eligible spend

Eligible spend includes, but is not restricted to:

• content production (e.g. videos, toolkits, guides, and other information or learning materials)
• new staff costs (contractors, freelancers, fixed-term hires) directly attributed to project delivery and for the duration of the project only (existing staff costs are not eligible)
• providing accessibility accommodations and converting existing materials (e.g., content/website/resources) to be more inclusive and accessible
• documentation (videography, photography, and transcription services to document and share event content)
• transport costs (participant, speaker/guest mileage, bus, rail; the lowest carbon option should be chosen)
• accommodation (speaker/guest/participant where necessary and proportionate to the event and outputs of the project)
• staff training relevant to the specific entrepreneurship education project
• VAT (where organisations are not VAT registered, this is eligible and can be included in your costs against this project)
• venue and proportionate catering costs (not alcohol) for in-person events
• other costs associated with the delivery of the project that are fair, appropriate, and proportionate to the proposed outputs

Ineligible spend

Ineligible spend includes, but is not restricted to:

• existing initiatives (proposals should preferably be for new activities or significantly developed/scaled-up existing activities, not for ongoing programmes or core costs)
• existing staff costs constituting business-as-usual obligations (redeployment of staff on a full or part-time basis to deliver the specific project will be considered on a case-by-case basis)
• business-as-usual operational costs (e.g. business travel/meeting costs, general staff training/CPD)
• capital costs (purchase of facilities, equipment, hardware)
• professional service fees (accounting, legal, insurance fees incurred during business-as-usual or project delivery)
• VAT (where organisations are VAT registered, VAT is not eligible and cannot be included in your costs against this project)
• business or first-class travel
• superfluous accommodation costs (e.g. over-staying or unnecessary accommodation for the delivery of project outputs).
• as these projects will support educational activities, and to ensure that grant funds are used responsibly, this fund will not cover alcohol expenses

Awardees must retain all records, receipts, and invoices for a minimum period of three years following the close of the contract. Payment of the grant will only be made upon submission of proof of eligible expenditure. Where spend cannot be evidenced, there is a right to claw back funding.