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Purpose: International postgraduate education in business-related subjects has grown substantially in the UK. Both MBA and specialist Masters' programmes increasingly offer entrepreneurship as a core or option. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in meeting the expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students. Design/methodology/approach: The authors explored four questions through a survey of international students participating in entrepreneurship courses in two Business Schools: What is the typical profile of the international students' prior education and work experience? What do students expect from studying an entrepreneurship PG course in the UK? What are their experiences of, and learning outcomes from, the entrepreneurship course? What benefits regarding their skills and knowledge do they perceive result from participation? Findings: The results confirm that career development is a major motivator for international study in the UK. Entrepreneurship can help to address cultural tensions between postgraduate students' expectations and their experiences of UK business education. Practical implications: Suggestions are offered for educators on the effective design and delivery of entrepreneurship for international students in the rapidly changing and competitive postgraduate market. Social implications: Cultural integration, learning effectiveness and linguistic capability need to be addressed in designing learning programmes for international students. Originality/value: The paper contributes new evidence to the debate on meeting the career expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in entrepreneurship education, especially in the light of new curricular guidance and UK government regulation. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is two-fold; first, to explore the Student Placements for Entrepreneurs in Education (SPEED) programme, which aims to help students gain real business start-up experience whilst at university and second to examine the impact of SPEED on the students. Design/methodology/approach: For the first part of the paper, the author explores the SPEED programme in the context of "experiential learning". Second, the "critical incident technique" approach is explored and found to be a suitable approach towards obtaining "real-life" insights into students' business start-up experience. Findings: The paper finds that the "experiential learning" approach and all "critical incidents" have been valuable learning experiences for the students on SPEED. SPEED has provided a platform for students to gain the experience, knowledge and confidence to either set up a business or use their new-found experiences to succeed in securing a job upon graduation. Research limitations/implications: As this programme is delivered across 13 higher education institutions in the UK, there is a need for further research on SPEED and for comparisons to be drawn for future practice. Originality/value: This paper provides an insight into student entrepreneurs within a university context, a relatively unexplored area. The results also indicate the value of "experience" and the "experiential learning" approach within an enterprise programme. (Contains 1 figure.)

Purpose – International postgraduate education in business-related subjects has grown substantially in the UK. Both MBA and specialist Masters' programmes increasingly offer entrepreneurship as a core or option. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in meeting the expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students. Design/methodology/approach – The authors explored four questions through a survey of international students participating in entrepreneurship courses in two Business Schools: What is the typical profile of the international students' prior education and work experience? What do students expect from studying an entrepreneurship PG course in the UK? What are their experiences of, and learning outcomes from, the entrepreneurship course? What benefits regarding their skills and knowledge do they perceive result from participation? Findings – The results confirm that career development is a major motivator for international study in the UK. Entrepreneurship can help to address cultural tensions between postgraduate students' expectations and their experiences of UK business education. Practical implications – Suggestions are offered for educators on the effective design and delivery of entrepreneurship for international students in the rapidly changing and competitive postgraduate market. Social implications – Cultural integration, learning effectiveness and linguistic capability need to be addressed in designing learning programmes for international students. Originality/value – The paper contributes new evidence to the debate on meeting the career expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in entrepreneurship education, especially in the light of new curricular guidance and UK government regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]