The Ogilvie Entrepreneur Programme
Build real businesses while you study. Graduate with your own business already operating.
Our flagship undergraduate programme
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Commences September 2027
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Applications open October 2026
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Register your interest today
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Our flagship undergraduate programme --- Commences September 2027 --- Applications open October 2026 --- Register your interest today ---
Qualification:
The Ogilvie Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship
Graduate with your own real business already operating.
Duration:
Four academic years.
Three years building businesses.
One year running your own business with mentoring and support.
Founding Cohort:
September 2027 – June 2031
Applications open in October 2026.
Investment:
£18,000 per academic year, including VAT
Flexible payment plans available.
Entry Requirements:
We're not looking for students with the best grades. We are looking for enthusiastic people with curiosity, commitment and the ambition to work hard and build a business.
Graduate Owning a Real Business
Imagine graduating with more than knowledge.
Imagine graduating with customers.
Revenue.
Confidence.
Experience.
A business that's already trading.
That is the vision behind The Ogilvie Entrepreneur Programme at The Ogilvie Business School.
Over four years, students don't simply study business.
They learn through real entrepreneurship.
From launching ventures and serving real customers to managing cash flow, solving problems and leading teams, every year builds practical experience alongside commercial understanding.
By graduation, every student will have spent four years learning by doing.
Our Approach
Business isn't learned from case studies alone. It is learned by making decisions. Working with customers. Making mistakes. Improving. Building something that matters.
Throughout this programme, students will create and operate real businesses, supported by experienced entrepreneurs, executives and business leaders.
Every project has real customers. Real money. Real deadlines. Real responsibility. Real consequences. Because that's how confidence is built, and how education can provide the most value.
Four Years. Four Stages.
Each year builds on the last, taking students from learning the fundamentals of business through to launching, operating and leading a business of their own.
Year One - Building Communities
Students begin by learning how businesses create value through people. Working together, they'll build and operate an online community before planning, marketing and delivering a public event.
The first year develops the commercial and interpersonal skills that underpin every successful business. Students learn how to work as a team, understand customers, communicate effectively and deliver projects from concept to completion.
Key areas of study include:
Communication and presentation
Marketing and brand awareness
Customer service and customer experience
Community building
Event planning and delivery
Sales and commercial awareness
Budgeting and financial planning
Teamwork and leadership
Project management
Year Two - Building Products
The second year introduces product-based businesses. Students will source, design, create or improve products before bringing them to market, developing an understanding of how products move from an initial idea through to paying customers.
Alongside building and selling products, students develop a practical understanding of the commercial and operational decisions required to run successful organisations.
Key areas of study include:
Product design and development
Purchasing and supplier management
Supply chains and logistics
Inventory management
Pricing and profitability
Working capital and cash flow
Manufacturing and operations
Funding business growth
Commercial finance
Year Three - Building Your Own Business
Having experienced both service and product businesses, students decide what kind of business they want to create. Working individually or in teams, they develop, launch and begin operating a business aligned with their own ambitions.
The focus shifts from learning individual business functions to bringing everything together. Students begin making real commercial decisions while developing the confidence and judgement required to lead a growing business.
Key areas of study include:
Business planning and strategy
Branding and market positioning
Sales and marketing
Financial management and funding
Legal structures and compliance
Tax, insurance and risk management
Building systems and processes
Leadership and decision-making
Launching and operating a business
Year Four - Running Your Business
The final year supports students as they transition from launching a business to leading one. Alongside one-to-one mentoring and regular business reviews, students continue developing their businesses while strengthening the knowledge needed to build sustainable organisations.
Teaching focuses on the responsibilities of business ownership, helping students develop the judgement, governance and leadership capability required for long-term success.
Key areas of study include:
Business mentoring and coaching
Governance and the role of directors
Leadership and organisational culture
Financial oversight and performance management
Growth planning and business strategy
Risk management and decision-making
Recruitment and people leadership
Building advisory boards and professional networks
Long-term business development
What You'll Learn
Alongside building businesses, students develop practical capability across:
Leadership
Finance
Marketing
Sales
Strategy
Operations
Commercial awareness
Pressurised decision-making
Innovation
Communication
Negotiation
Business psychology
Governance
Ethics and legal duties
Investor pitching
Problem solving
Personal resilience
Real Businesses. Real Money.
This isn't a classroom or business simulation.
Students work with real customers. Real suppliers. Real budgets. Real deadlines. Real businesses.
Where student ventures generate profits during the programme, students may have the opportunity to share in those profits.
The programme has been designed to create genuine commercial experience, helping students understand not only how businesses operate, but also how value is created, reinvested and shared.
Who Is It For?
The Ogilvie Entrepreneur Programme is designed for ambitious people who want to create something of their own. We are looking for people who want to create, improve and build something of value.
Whether your ambition is to build a technology company, creative business, manufacturing business, consultancy, retail brand or social enterprise, the programme provides practical experience that can be applied across every sector.
Applicants should normally have completed secondary education to a standard that would prepare them for undergraduate study.
Academic achievement is one part of our admissions process, but it is only one consideration. We are equally interested in curiosity, commitment, a willingness to learn and the ambition to build a business.
Programme Information
First Cohort Commences: September 2027
Duration: Four years
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Delivery: Full-time, in person
Applications will open during October 2026
Register Your Interest
Applications for the founding cohort will open in October 2026.
If you'd like to be among the first to receive new information about the programme, application dates, open events and behind-the-scenes updates as the programme develops, we'd love to hear from you. We'll only contact you with genuine updates about the programme.