Company Programme

Company Programme gives young people a real-life opportunity to experience the world of work by setting up and running their own student company.

The programme is designed for students aged 13-19, who work in teams to build their business over 12 weeks or up to a full academic year.

Backed by £10m Product and Public Liability insurance, students make the major decisions for their company, including sourcing start-up capital, choosing director roles, launching a product or service and managing company finances.

Students are supported throughout their journey with access to our dedicated programme platform, guidance from a business volunteer and the option to open an Equals Money business current account for under 18s.

Company Programme embeds the eight essential skills into the programme experience so learners can understand, practise and evidence their development through the roles and responsibilities they take on in their company.

Each student company director role is mapped to three Skills Builder essential skills, with the relevant skill icons embedded across supporting resources including job descriptions, role introductions, introductory videos and reflection activities.

At the end of the programme, young people receive a personalised skills certificate showing their progress across the essential skills, based on their reflections from the start and end of the programme.