Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Accepted
Insufficient support and opportunities exist for female founders outside the ‘Golden Triangle’.
Conclusion
There is a lack of pitch events, accelerators, networks and mentorship opportunities for female founders. Many that do exist tend to be focused on the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Cambridge, Oxford and London, limiting the growth potential of businesses in other regions. This disproportionately affects women, who are more likely to start businesses outside this hub. Without a deliberate shift in focus, the UK risks entrenching geographic and gender inequalities in entrepreneurship and missing out on the full economic potential of its diverse regions. (Conclusion, Paragraph 108)
Government Response Summary
The government has committed to strengthening financial education in the curriculum, with revised content to be taught from September 2028, to increase financial confidence in girls and enhance future female entrepreneurship.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
As part of the response to the Curriculum and Assessment (CAR) Review’s final report,18 published on 5 November, the Government has made a commitment to strengthen pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship, with digital resources to support teaching. From budgeting to understanding credit, through our revised curriculum all children will learn about the fundamentals of money, ensuring every pupil develops the skills needed to succeed in the modern world, including entrepreneurial skills. The Department for Education (DfE) will engage with sector experts and young people in working out how best to reflect proposed new financial education content in the updated curriculum and ensure that it can be delivered successfully. We will also consider what additional resources will be required. There will be public consultation on updated curriculum Programmes of Study in 2026, to seek views on the content before they are finalised. We intend to publish the revised financial education curriculum content by 2027, with a view to it being taught from September 2028. As part of this work, we will liaise with stakeholders and colleagues within DfE and beyond to consider how to increase the financial confidence of girls and in doing so help to enhance female entrepreneurship in the future. The Department for Education works with partners such as the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) on this agenda. For example, CEC has an Employer Advisory Group that champions entrepreneurial skills and ensures a focus across the national careers system. In addition, the department works closely with MaPs to monitor the evidence for financial education and to progress towards the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing national goal, which seeks to ensure that two million more children and young people receive a meaningful financial education by 2030.