National Apprentice Challenge is an award-winning enterprise competition for ambitious students.  For two weeks, teams of four students will go through practical business tasks, develop their entrepreneurial mindset and improve their employability skills. During the competition, students will focus on idea generation, business strategy, product development, pitching, marketing and business planning. In order to offer them a reality-based experience, the students will design & promote a product to a real audience, pitch & receive feedback from real investors and apply their strategic thinking by running a virtual business. Inspired by The Apprentice TV Show and Lord Young’s “Enterprise for All” Report, NAC aims to empowerstudents to engage with entrepreneurship in a practical way and learn-by-doing.

Implementation:

National Apprentice Challenge is a national programme comprised of 3 stages:

1.Selection of students (though online applications or university-wide selection depending on the number of team who apply)

Teams of 4 students apply on www.theapprenticechallenge.com (until 4th of March).

2. National Apprentice Challenge Semi-Finals: 21st – 22nd of March, Birmingham

The selected students compete in practical business challenges during an all-inclusive residential programme. They will focus on idea generation, market research, product development, marketing, business planning, pitching, business strategy and run a virtual business.

3. National Apprentice Challenge Grand Final: 9th – 10th – 11th of June, Bulgaria

The top 3 teams qualify for an intensive Final in Bulgaria where they will focus in more depth on business planning, product development and pitching for investment. All the expenses for international flights, accommodation and meals are covered by us. The winning team will return with a National Title, an opportunity to work with our partners & potentially £100,000 investment.

If you have any questions, please email  enterpriseevents@surrey.ac.uk