Course options
Key information
Duration: 2 years full time
Institution code: R72
Campus: Central London
UK fees*: £16,100
International/EU fees**: £26,100
The course
Entrepreneurship and Innovation with a Year in Business (MSc)
This course is designed for individuals who wish to become entrepreneurs and launch new ventures with growth potential. You will be equipped with specialist and in-depth understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation together with practical skills and will leave with a ready-to-implement business plan that has been checked by practicing entrepreneurs.
You will work on your business plan throughout the course, having a chance to refine it following feedback from academic staff and through access to an entrepreneurial mentor from the Association of Business Mentors.
Mandatory modules on this course, which is taught at our campus in central London, will introduce you to a broad range of topics and tools necessary to plan and launch a new venture and you’ll furthermore be able to focus on your personal interests or needs with the optional modules available, which include digital marketing and branding, family business, technology entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging markets. You’ll hear from visiting speakers and go on field visits to gain further knowledge and expertise from successful and highly innovative entrepreneurs and businesses.
By choosing to spend a year in business you will also be able to integrate theory and practice and gain real business experience. We provide a learning environment where students can use their experience of organisations to engage with and challenge both the theoretical and case materials and work together on new intellectual and management problems. Find out more about our Year in Business here.
On graduating you will have a critical understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation research, an appreciation of the impact of entrepreneurship and innovation and the processes and practices at every level.
As a student in the School of Business and Management you will join an intellectually stimulating, friendly and supportive environment and, through working closely with our expert and experienced academic staff, you will be in a position to realise your potential.
Reasons to choose Entrepreneurship and Innovation MSc at Royal Holloway:
- Gain real business experience by undertaking a Year in Business as part of your course.
- Gain specialised understanding of entrepreneurship, how to develop a start-up and leave with a business plan.
- Course is co-designed with an experienced panel of entrepreneurs and venture capital/angel investors.
- You'll have access to an entrepreneurial mentor and will be able to build your professional network in London's dynamic entrepreneurial eco-system.
- Understand how to respond to ethical and sustainable global challenges.
- Flexibility to tailor your studies by choosing optional modules to suit your interests.
From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.
Course structure
Core Modules
Year 1
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In this module you’ll acquire the knowledge and skills needed to facilitate the ideation process: generating, developing, refining and testing ideas. The module introduces students to frameworks that support creative problem-solving and innovation, helping individuals to move from vague concepts or challenges to concrete ideas that can be explored, prototyped, and implemented. The principles of effective product design that lead to the creation of products and services that are functional, aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, and aligned with business goals will be explored. This module introduces a variety of concepts including product specification, life cycle, market positioning, and sales and planning.
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This module introduces students to the theories and practices of venture finance and funding for start-ups with high growth potential. Emphasis is given to understanding different investment stages and the strategies used by investors to value start-ups, including the techniques used to evaluate proposals. The module examines the capital structure of start-up governance and control, exit strategies and the performance metrics used by investors. The module also explores financial planning and the need for flexibility to foster long term growth.
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This module will introduce you to critical tools and skills needed to undertake a comprehensive assessment of a new market. These frameworks will enable the students to conceptualise, structure, and segment a market. Students will develop their skills in gathering and interpreting data to understand market size, trends, competitors and customer needs. In addition, you will examine successful business models, their components and arrangement. Building on this understanding, you will learn to structure appropriate business models and evaluate their design, to ensure they are effective in satisfying market demand and delivering the product/service to customers. Subsequently, you will experiment with creating, refining, and implementing strategies that align with identified organisational goals and market demands.
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This module is designed to develop your entrepreneurial skills and capabilities through action learning seminars, interactive workshops, activities including field trips and interactions with expert external speakers. Students will be invited to evaluate their development needs at the start of the module and embark on a personal development project. This module will help you to develop key entrepreneurial skills, for example, in team working, time management, problem solving, forecasting, Excel skills, Report writing including infographics and online presentation, pitch performance, networking and negotiations.
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The Business Proposal Project is the culmination of the MSc course where students produce a practical and outcome oriented business proposal. The overall objective of this module is that students on completion of their studies will have a fully developed and implementable business proposal that has been developed under supervision and vetted by both industry and academic experts. This module is supported by all the mandatory modules in the Autumn Term and the Skills Spine module “ESND” that runs over both the terms, which provides the necessary scaffolding through summative and formative feedback including a detailed presentation pitch to develop a detailed business proposal and also to reflect on their skills development. This BPP module also has in built supervisory support while the students complete the proposal.
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This module will describe the key principles of academic integrity, focusing on university assignments. Plagiarism, collusion and commissioning will be described as activities that undermine academic integrity, and the possible consequences of engaging in such activities will be described. Activities, with feedback, will provide you with opportunities to reflect and develop your understanding of academic integrity principles.
Year 2
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This year will be spent on a work placement. You will be supported by the School of Management and the Royal Holloway Careers and Employability Service to find a suitable placement. However, Royal Holloway cannot guarantee that all students who are accepted onto this degree programme will secure a placement, and the ultimate responsibility lies with yourself. This year forms an integral part of the degree programme and you will be asked to complete assessed work. The mark for this work will count towards your final degree classification.
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In this capstone module you will be given a topic, drawn from current issues faced by businesses, and you will be expected to identify and select an organisational or industry context. You will expected to undertake a substantial review of secondary sources, comprising both academic journals and industry publications. Using relevant market research techniques, you will undertake a substantive and unique primary research study, providing a critical analysis with key insights. You will be asked to make justified and feasible managerial suggestions, prepare an executive summary, and deliver a presentation to communicate your findings.
Optional Modules
There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.
Year 1
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In this module, you will critically analyse and gain systematic understanding of subject specific knowledge, theories, concepts, and frames that underlie corporate entrepreneurship and its relationship with innovation. In particular, the role and importance of management tools and techniques; strategy and competitive advantage; creativity and innovation will be explored. Digital tools to search, analyse and manage information responsibly will incorporated and you will learn to perform professionally as an entrepreneur and to influence effective teamwork.
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This module explores the management processes of family businesses, reflecting both small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs and large multinationals-conglomerates. The module aims to explain the particularities of family businesses as a distinct type of organisational entity-especially, family-run businesses that are SMEs. The module provides students with the necessary knowledge and skills to negotiate with family businesses and deal with the challenges that family businesses face. Important topics represent the prevalence and economic contribution of family firms, as well as governance, strategic management, succession, change and transgenerational value creation, relationships and conflict in the family business.
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This module develops an understanding of the key skills required for identifying entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging markets. The characteristics of emerging markets are explored before introducing frameworks for considering drivers and challenges of entrepreneurial behaviour in seeking market entry.
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This module will use the principles of Design Thinking to consider how digital customer journeys are designed and delivered. Students will learn how to develop salient consumer insights to be able to explain multi-touch point customer experiences. Using the principles of agile design, students will learn how to develop emotionally engaging customer personas and use them to design extraordinary experiences. The module will consider how develop effective email and social customer relationship management engagement.
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This course aims to provide students with an overview of the art and discipline of digital brand storytelling across social media and online platforms. Students will learn how to harness the power of storytelling to build brands across digital platforms thus forging relationships with consumers and driving revenue.
The first part of the course will introduce students to the concept of storytelling as adopted by organizations to build relationships with the brand. Taking a historical view, students will recognize how the growth of social media and digital platforms has taken the role of digital storyteller to new heights, helping organizations to drive their brand value proposition.
Students will learn how narratives and content creation as originating from consumers outweigh the impact of firm-oriented narratives. They will be introduced to brand personas and brand narratives, as strategic tools adopted by business leaders in storytelling and in so doing will also address the issue of authenticity. The course will examine the science behind stories, exploring a number of different tried and tested storytelling frameworks for digital story building, including the story (narrative) arc, and Gustav Freytag’s pyramid. Students will be expected to critically assess the pros and cons of each and to identify which frameworks are most effective in constructing stories, which maximize impact on consumer-brand relationships.
Finally, taking a case study analysis approach, the course will unpack a series of real-world digital brand stories including for e.g. Burberry, Airbnb and Naked Wines. Focus will also be on the inspiring, higher purpose, social stories which have emerged from brands such as TOMS, Dove and Lifebuoy. Students will learn how to create storyboards and to undertake a story brand audit, critically examining how real brands have utilized multiple digital platforms to tell and sell their stories.
Teaching & assessment
The modules are interactive, usually offering a lecture-style background of key theories and principles in the first part, and more practical activities, exercises and group discussions in the second part of the lectures. Guest lectures are invited in different classes to give students a real-world experience on entrepreneurship. Participation from students in the classroom is a key principle for learning.
Outside the classroom, in the Autumn Term we organise a field trip to an entrepreneurship hub, and in the Spring term we organise a field trip to a small business. These provide more opportunities to visit and learn from real entrepreneurs in their environment, giving more opportunities to advance their ideas after their studies. In addition, entrepreneurship activities from student societies on campus could be integrated in the teaching process to bridge theory and practice.
Assessment
Assessment is carried out by a variety of methods. In the classroom, you will engage in a number of activities, simulations, case-study discussions and presentations where you will receive instant feedback from your lecturers.
Formal assessments include coursework in the form of individual or group assignments, but also presentations, posters, or digital media content creation depending on the course. Examinations are towards the May exam period and in-class test could take place during the last weeks of each course.
After the teaching term, students will be allocated a supervisor that will guide them through an Independent Business Research Project. The year-in-business students will be allocated a mentor that will follow their progress and work, assisting them in keeping a log and writing a similar final project. This final project gives an opportunity to test learn concepts and ideas in practice in a real business context via research and analysis.
Entry requirements
2:2
International & EU requirements
English language requirements
- IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 6.0.
- Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 61. No other subscore lower than 54.
- Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
- Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.
- TOEFL iBT: 88 overall with Reading 22 Listening 20 Speaking 22 Writing 24.
- Duolingo: 120 overall and no sub-score below 115.
Your future career
On graduating with a Masters degree Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Royal Holloway you will be highly employable and have a variety of career paths available, including: product development/research, business planning, growth and operations/strategic management in existing businesses, creating new businesses, providing business support and advice or specialising in entrepreneurship policy, research and education. By spending a year in business you will have the experience that employees value, as well as having created valuable business connections. You will also have a solid foundation to continue PhD studies.
“My degree has given me a solid theoretical framework with practical skills and the confidence to be my own boss” - Kola Akinola, Founder of Travelsoul and Co-founder of Savvykids, (MSc Entrepreneurship)
Postgraduate students from our School of Business and Management have gone on to roles in a variety of companies including Amazon, Tesco, Accenture, Ogilvy, KPMG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bloomberg LP, Ocado Group, HSBC, Fuji film, Huawei, Deutsche Bahn and Qatar Airways.
Fees, funding & scholarships
Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £16,100
The fee for your year in industry will be 20% of the course fee for that academic year.
EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £26,100
The fee for your year in industry will be 20% of the course fee for that academic year.
Other essential costs***: There are no single associated costs greater than £50 per item on this course.
How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries.
* and ** These tuition fees apply to students enrolled on a full-time basis in the academic year 2025/26. Students studying on the standard part-time course structure over two years are charged 50% of the full-time applicable fee for each study year.
Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase all postgraduate tuition fees annually. For further information, see fees and funding ,and terms and conditions.
** This figure is the fee for EU and international students starting a degree in the academic year 2025/26. Find out more
*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2025/26 academic year, and are included as a guide. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included.
