If you’ve dreamed of being in charge of your own business, then this new data might just be for you. Research has found which UK universities produce the most business founders, plus their subject choice. You may want to follow in their footsteps and pick one of the following to increase your chances of success.
Perhaps you’ve had different business or product ideas throughout your teens and want to make some a reality. Maybe you’re a natural-born leader, or you could just look really good in a suit. Well, the following universities have propelled more of their students to founding a business than any other in the UK.
Learn where and what was studied and decide if that’s the path for you. If you’re undecided on what subject is best, you can always take a uni course quiz to see what you should do.
The Universities With The Most Business Founders
By analysing business founders on LinkedIn, money.co.uk gathered this helpful data for prospective students with big aspirations.
Looking at UK universities, here are the top ten performers.
10. The University of Edinburgh – 8 per cent
Out of its 181,363 listed alumni, almost 14,000 have gone on to found their own businesses.
9. Birkbeck College – 8 per cent.
Though it has considerably fewer alumni at just below 60,000, 4,607 of them have had business success, resulting in the same percentage as Edinburgh.
8. King’s College London – 8 per cent
This Russell Group university has 203,407 alumni, with just over 16,000 having started their own businesses.
7. University College London – 9 per cent
A per cent above the previous three, UCL boasts 20,688 business founders out of its 241,122 listed alumni.
6. Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine – 9 per cent
Though not famed for the subject, it clearly has success in business. Just shy of 150,000 alumni, 13,368 now have their own businesses.
5. The University of Cambridge – 9 per cent
The second oldest university in the UK ranks fifth in this table. With a huge 359,917 alumni listed on LinkedIn, over 32,000 are business founders.
4. Goldsmiths College – 9 per cent
Considerably fewer alumni at 65,574, Goldsmiths has produced 6,039 business founders.
3. University of the Arts, London – 10 per cent
Making it into the top three, this university has over 200,000 alumni with over 20,00 starting their own businesses.
2. The University of Oxford – 10 per cent
Oxford appearing on this list isn’t a surprise to anyone. The Oxbridge university produced 27,300 business founders out of its 278,998 listed alumni.
The University With The Most Business Founders
And now, on to who clinched the top spot. You’ve probably noticed that the majority of this list are universities in London, and that’s not about to change.
The university with the most business founders is the London School of Economics and Political Science. Just nabbing first place with 11 per cent of its alumni going to start their own businesses. This works out at 29,767 out of its 268,186 listed alumni.
Now you have an idea of where you might want to study to have business success. Now, it’s just a question of what to study…
The Most Popular Subjects Studied
You may think there’s an obvious answer to what you should study to be successful in business. However, that definitely isn’t your only choice. According to the money.co.uk research, business founders have studied a wide range of university courses and had success.
Here, we have how many of the listed business founders on LinkedIn studied particular subjects.
10. Engineering (Mechanical/Electrical) – 24,194
9. Law – 27,905
8. Computer Science – 29,134
7. History – 30,672
6. Political Science – 31,265
5. Psychology – 31,846
4. Maths – 33,081
3. Marketing – 39,358
2. Economics, 53, 619
1. Business Studies (Administration/Management/Commerce) – 117, 873
Okay, so first place going to business isn’t surprising. However, you can still have plenty of success in the sector even if study something not directly related. The fact that psychology, maths and history make the list proves there isn’t just one route.
If becoming a business founder is your end goal, but studying business doesn’t appeal, you have lots of options. Plus, we have some great tips to turn a business student into a business owner to get you started.
