Enhancing levels of innovation and entrepreneurship to grow a more competitive economy is the focus of much government effort. Universities, aware of the importance of developing entrepreneurial potential, are focusing on equipping students with the skills and understanding to contribute to business creation and to innovation within organisations they join, through the provision of transferable skills.

It is within this overall aim that this paper presents a case study of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the University of Cambridge, covering the lessons learnt so far with respect to content design for teaching the practise of entrepreneurship.

Courses are made as interactive as possible and the range and depth has been significantly increased over the past five years to meet the growing needs of students, faculty and staff both within Cambridge and elsewhere in the UK.

In essence the approach at Cambridge has been to develop the self-confidence and self-efficacy of students by enabling them to learn entrepreneurial skills and understanding, the focus being on behaviours. Through this approach the Centre has worked hard to establish a core curriculum focused on entrepreneurial processes that is “taught” by entrepreneurs on a pro bono basis. It is felt that they are best equipped to do the teaching and by providing additional ways for students to interact with entrepreneurs it is possible to inspire them towards a more positive attitude to entrepreneurship.

An example of courses and a pilot evaluation project based on measuring self-efficacy is presented. Early indications are that the focus on increased levels of self-efficacy leads to increased levels of entrepreneurial intent. How this will translate into long-term outcomes for the economy is a matter of time.

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