This module has five blocks, which will give you a strong foundation in entrepreneurship, including practical skills and specialist knowledge, combined with a broader appreciation of entrepreneurship and innovation in a variety of contexts.
Block 1: Introducing innovation and entrepreneurship
The first block provides you with the essential foundations for studying this module. It is designed to give you an opportunity to start exploring the often surprising world of innovation and entrepreneurship, appreciate the many different types and varieties to be found, and learn some of the core terminology, theories and concepts. You’ll be introduced to real-world examples, including successful and unsuccessful ventures so that you can start making useful connections between research and practice.
Block 2: Developing ideas for opportunities
Block 2 equips you with the essential knowledge and skills to develop innovative ideas and create a viable business opportunity. You’ll become familiar with specialised terminology such as trust, risk, legitimacy, negotiation skills, networking, resource strategies for accessing finance, design thinking, problem-solving and creativity. Additionally, by listening to some entrepreneurs and looking at national and international businesses, you’ll gain insights on establishing new ventures successfully.
Block 3: Context matters
In this block, you'll examine how different contextual variables, at micro, meso and macro levels, affect entrepreneurship and innovation. You’ll be introduced to a number of concepts and ideas around different contexts. From working on case studies and real-world examples featuring both successful and unsuccessful ventures you'll gain an appreciation of how innovation and entrepreneurship are influenced by a wide variety of contextual factors.
Block 4: New Venture Challenge
Block 4 gives you the ability to develop a business idea and create a viable start-up proposal. You’ll be able to identify and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities and determine their feasibility. This block promotes collaborative working as you’ll be working in small teams, which enhances your time management, networking and negotiation skills. You’ll work on your own pitch for presenting business ideas. Reflection is one of the key competencies that entrepreneurs should have, and you can develop this competency by reflecting on your learning from various activities in the New Venture Challenge.
Block 5: Reflection and integration
The final block is an opportunity to revisit and reflect on your experiences of learning from across the module to develop a deeper understanding of the topics covered. The activities will help you integrate and make connections between the skills, knowledge, and understanding you developed in earlier parts of the module and how your learning might positively affect your future career. You'll learn about the importance of entrepreneurial values and be introduced to various platforms that you can use to develop an entrepreneurial career if you wish to do so. You’ll also receive advice on preparing the end-of-module assessment.
By completing this module, you’ll be able to:
More broadly, you’ll develop essential entrepreneurial competencies and employability skills, including creativity, communication, negotiation, collaboration, networking, team building, initiative, self-management, resilience, and sectoral awareness. You'll also develop numeracy skills and digital literacy.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
You will also receive a module reader that includes an extended exposition and explanation of innovation and entrepreneurship concepts, as well as case-based illustrations.
Your learning will be further supported by:
B209 is an option module in our:
Entrepreneurship and innovation starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2032.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
| Start | End | Register by | England fee |
|---|
| No current presentation |
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your income is not more than £25,000 or you receive a qualifying benefit, you might be eligible for help with some of these costs after your module has started.
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your personal income is £25,000 or less, or you’re on certain benefits, you could qualify for a grant and OU top-up funding to cover 100% of your course fees. Apply online at the same time as you register on your module.
For more information on how to apply, visit our Part-Time Fee Grants for students in Scotland page.
The Open University Student Budget Accounts Ltd (OUSBA) offers a convenient 'pay as you go' option to pay your OU fees, which is a secure, quick and easy way to pay. Please note that The Open University works exclusively with OUSBA and is not able to offer you credit facilities from any other provider. All credit is subject to status and proof that you can afford the repayments.
You pay the OU through OUSBA in one of the following ways:
Joint loan applications
If you feel you would be unable to obtain an OUSBA loan on your own due to credit history or affordability issues, OUSBA offers the option to apply for a joint loan application with a third party. For example, your husband, wife, partner, parent, sibling or friend. In such cases, OUSBA will be required to carry out additional affordability checks separately and/or collectively for both joint applicants who will be jointly and severally liable for loan repayments.
As additional affordability checks are required when processing joint loan applications, unfortunately, an instant decision cannot be given. On average, the processing time for a joint loan application is five working days from receipt of the required documentation.
Read more about Open University Student Budget Accounts (OUSBA).
Studying with The Open University can boost your employability. OU courses are recognised and respected by employers for their excellence and the commitment they take to complete. They also value the skills that students learn and can apply in the workplace.
Over 30,000 employers have used the OU to develop staff so far. If the module you’ve chosen is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could approach your employer to see if they will sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees.
You can pay part or all of your tuition fees upfront with a debit or credit card when you register for each module.
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may wish to pay part of your tuition fee with a debit card and pay the remainder in instalments through an Open University Student Budget Account (OUSBA).
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may get support from your employer to pay part of your tuition fee and pay the remainder by credit or debit card.
For more information about combining payment options, contact an adviser.
Please note: your permanent address/domicile will affect your fee status and, therefore, the fees you are charged and any financial support available to you. The fee information provided here is valid for modules starting before 31 July 2026. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
