Be the Future
In collaboration with the Peter Jones Foundation, we are delighted to be relaunching the social enterprise competition for learners in school or college.

Develop enterprise skills by addressing a social or environmental issue
The challenge is to create a social enterprise idea that addresses a social or environmental issue, such as poverty, climate change or inequality. We want to hear your ideas for a social enterprise that could work to resolve these issues.
The social enterprise should:
- Address a social or environmental issue
- Link to one of the UN’s sustainable development goals
- Be able to make a profit through selling a product or a service
Entries will be reviewed in relation to the following criteria:
- creativity and innovation
- viability
- sustainability and impact.
Submissions will be categorised by learners' Key Stage.
Please note, learners will have to ask their teachers/tutors to enter for them.
- Entries are closed for 2022.
What is a social enterprise?
A social enterprise is a business focused on the selling of either products or services that address social and environmental issues. They generate income, like other businesses, but will invest the majority of their profits into the cause they are aiming to address. They blend entrepreneurial skills from the private sector with values of public service.
Prize
Learners with the top entries will win an online enterprise workshop, hosted by the Peter Jones Foundation, with the opportunity to meet and hear from leading social entrepreneurs. This will be a unique learning experience for the learners behind the best social enterprise ideas and will be delivered in the Summer (2021/22) term at a time to be arranged with the winners. There will be separate workshops for the different Key Stage winners.
How to enter
In partnership with the Peter Jones Foundation
We’re delighted that the Peter Jones Foundation has agreed to work in partnership with Pearson to encourage learners across the UK to explore their entrepreneurial spirit and develop their skills to become young entrepreneurs.

"We are delighted to be running the Be The Future Challenge again with Pearson, following the success of the competition in 2020 and 2021. At the Foundation we have seen an increasing number of young entrepreneurs putting purpose at the heart of their business proposition. The social and ecological consciousness of these young entrepreneurs is inspiring. The quality and scope of the entries last year was testament to the creativity and determination of the next generation of social-impact business leaders. We cannot wait to see how this years’ entrants want to use business as a means to make the changes that they want to see in the world."
– Bill Muirhead, Managing Director, Peter Jones Foundation