The number of start-ups launched by graduate students of English universities has soared by more than a quarter in the past three years, research finds.

The number of start-ups launched by graduate students of English universities has soared by more than a quarter in the past three years, research finds.

The survey, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education, finds each institution produced on average 28 start-ups last year – a 27 per cent increase on the average of 22 start-ups in 2007. Commissioned every two years by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, the survey covers 126 institutions across England.

It also finds the number of students studying enterprise and entrepreneurship has risen by nearly 50 per cent. Most higher education institutions are now committed to supporting entrepreneurship in their mission statements.

Council chief executive Ian Robertson notes that the increase in the number of start-ups coming out of English institutions has been achieved despite no additional public funding being allocated to business and enterpreneurship programmes.

He says: ‘There clearly remains a high dependency on public funding and with Regional Development Agency funds unlikely to be available, higher education institutions will need to seek entrepreneurial solutions to resourcing future provision if growth is to be maintained.’