Start a School

We believe that there are potential social entrepreneurs in every community.  We want to help them flourish by increasing the availability of the SSE programme across the UK and to achieve this the SSE is interested in talking to other organisations who may be interested in establishing an Associate School in their area.

Our approach to replication

The School for Social Entrepreneurs School's Network works as a social franchise: local independent, community-led agencies are licensed to create and run programmes with the SSE’s help on design, learning and quality.

The same characteristics that we seek in our students (engaged with community, entrepreneurial, experienced, committed etc.) are those that we seek in our local and regional partners. The core services provided to the Network include a quality system, best practice guide, branding (literature and materials), web, policy work, media and PR, and internal/external evaluation.

What is a social franchise?

Social Franchising is a way in which the SSE systematically replicates the social impact of what we do, namely, to increase the support to social entrepreneurs through our action learning programmes.

What does the network look like?

Our network of schools have been running learning programmes for over 13 years with over 850 SSE Fellows having gone through the learning programme in the UK and internationally (Sydney & Melbourne, Australia and Ontario, Canada). There are programmes actively running in 13 locations network-wide.

We operate as social franchise, providing a best practice and quality system working with local partners to achieve maximum social benefit.

What we look for in our partners

We look for partner organisations that have a commitment to the SSE’s belief that individuals are the catalyst for change and that social entrepreneurship is a powerful driver in creating and sustaining positive social change. The organisation will have a track record within a region and an entrepreneurial outlook.

Partners need to be involved in the regeneration of communities that suffer multiple deprivation. They need to be well networked in their proposed area of operation, with links in the community, in local government and statutory regeneration agencies and in business.

How are the schools funded?

There is no set model to how schools are funded. New school funding usually involves a larger investment initially from one of the below and maybe be funded by a mixture of these later on

• Trusts & Foundations
• Local government
• Regional government
• European funding (ESF, ERDF)
• Philanthropists/ community foundations
• Business
• Student fees
• Housing Associations
• Other agencies (NDC's, regeneration agencies, support agencies)

I think our area needs a School for Social Entrepreneurs but I don't think my organisation is best placed to be the partner, what can I do?

Your organisation may be in a position to pull together other similar networks of organisations to gather interest in a new school and potential recruit an organisation or form a team to lead the school.

How can I find out more?

To find out more about the Franchise Partner Criteria and Application process, please download our Application Pack or contact SSE Central on 020 7089 9120