Tycoon is a unique national enterprise competition for students aged 6 - 18
Tycoon is open to students in primary, secondary, and further education, including those in alternative provision & SEND schools.
What We Offer
For
Students
Turn your ideas into real businesses, build enterprise skills, and compete in a dynamic, real-world business challenge.
For
Teachers
Access ready-to-use resources, structured challenges, and expert support to bring enterprise learning to life in your classroom.
For Multi Academy Trusts
We can set up a Tycoon league across your network of Academies enabling schools to compete against each other in their own league.
5 reasons to take part in Tycoon
Tycoon aims to encourage the nation’s budding entrepreneurs & help young people to develop core enterprise skills. Tycoon is a national enterprise competition for students aged 6 to 18 across key stages 1-5.
Opportunity to learn about how to start a business
The Tycoon Programme takes you on an exciting journey from coming up with a business idea through to developing a brand, trading and making a profit. Along the way, you will learn all the essential aspects of starting and running a business.
You’ll develop valuable lifelong skills, and running a business is a standout experience for any UCAS form or CV. Plus, Tycoon offers a fun, risk-free way to build real business skills, gain practical experience, and boost your confidence.
01
Learn how to pitch your business idea
Pitching is at the heart of the Tycoon experience. It’s not always easy to present your business in a compelling and succinct way but the Tycoon programme will provide you with all the tips and tricks you need so that you can pitch with confidence. Through our platform, you will be able to upload your own pitch video and develop this all-important skill.
02
Experience competition
Our innovative platform enables young entrepreneurs to see how they are faring against other Tycoon businesses in their school, across their Trust as well as nationally. This allows for competition and recognition on several different levels. As Tycoon businesses enter the trading period of the programme, our leaderboard goes live encouraging healthy competition as students enter their weekly sales and vie to be the most profitable week on week.
Ultimately, the Tycoon competition is won by the teams that not only post a profit but do an outstanding job of evaluating their business journey and we recognise these high performing teams at our annual awards ceremony hosted by Peter Jones CBE.
03
Contribute to your school, college and community
Universities as well as employers are increasingly looking at what young people do alongside their qualifications. Tycoon is a fantastic way of demonstrating enterprise, entrepreneurship and a range of stand-out skills and qualities. Almost 90% of Tycoon businesses make a profit and many of our Tycoon teams choose to give those profits to a local charity or cause they are passionate about. This is another way in which you can make a contribution to your community and make a positive difference through the programme.
04
Chance to meet Peter Jones CBE
The top two businesses from each category are invited to our annual awards ceremony where you will have the chance to meet Peter Jones CBE, one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs and star of BBC’s Dragon’s Den. We give out special awards for the most innovative business and the business that has made the greatest social impact. The awards ceremony is a celebration of our beneficiaries across our programmes, and you also will meet other finalists, and showcase your business in our Tycoon Marketplace. We hope to see you on the stage at this year’s ceremony!
