Business and Enterprise Colleges (BECs) were introduced in 2002 as part of the

Specialist Schools Programme The specialist schools programme (SSP), first launched as the Technology Colleges programme and also known as the specialist schools initiative, specialist schools policy and specialist schools scheme, was a government programme in the United ...

in England. The system enabled

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s to specialise in certain fields. Schools that successfully applied to the

Specialist Schools Trust SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It p ...

and became Business and Enterprise Colleges received extra funding for applied business teaching from this joint private sector and government scheme. Business and Enterprise Colleges act as a local point of reference for other schools and businesses in the area, with an emphasis on promoting enterprise and commercial awareness within the community. Ever since the Specialist Schools Programme's discontinuation in 2011, schools can currently become BECs through the

Dedicated Schools Grant Dedicated may refer to: Music * Dedicated, a British record label whose artists included Spiritualized Albums * ''Dedicated'' (ATB album), 2002 * ''Dedicated'' (Renée Geyer album), 2007 * ''Dedicated'' (Carly Rae Jepsen album), 2019 * '' ...

or by becoming an

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

Schools' Enterprise Education Network

In his budget speech of March 2006, the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

announced that the government would be funding a network of best practice to support the delivery of Enterprise Education within the UK. This network (called the Schools'

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

Education Network (SEEN) was based on the expertise within BECs—56 hubs (one per county) were identified in May 2006. At a launch conference the hub co-ordinators were advised of the local BECs that would act as 'spokes' to support the dissemination to all state-maintained secondary schools.

References

Department for Education and SkillsSpecialist Schools Trust
2002 in education 2002 introductions Business education in England Professional education in England 2002 establishments in England {{England-poli-stub Specialist schools programme