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WikiLeaks: Richard Branson says 'overeducated' British students are unprepared for business world

Richard Branson has criticised the British education system for "overeducating" students and failing to prepare them for the business world, according to leaked diplomatic cables.



Branson is by no means the only successful businessman to choose experience over education Photo: GETTY

By Laura Roberts 7:30AM GMT 21 Dec 2010

The entrepreneur made the comments at a business lunch in Beijing, according to a confidential US diplomat's report.

Chinese businessmen at the event titled What Makes a Good Entrepreneur, held in January 2008, complained that their British counterparts were "overeducated, too conservative, lacking passion for entrepreneurship and too afraid of failure".

The US ambassador Clark Randt reported in a cable published on the WikiLeaks website that: "British billionaire Richard Branson agreed that British entrepreneurs are overeducated and that schooling does not prepare one for entering the business world."

The Chinese reportedly agreed that their own school system had the same problem.

The Virgin tycoon, who is dyslexic and left school at the age of 15, has previously said that he gained valuable business experience while his peers were at university.

He told a student website: "Obtaining a diploma is only a first step, and in no way guarantees success."

However, Branson admitted that his success story was a "personal one" and that a diploma "can be very useful since it shows that you have gained the skills and other building blocks required to start your career".

Branson is by no means the only successful businessman to choose experience over education. Simon Cowell, the television and music mogul, left school at 16 to pursue his media career.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, dropped out of Harvard University to set up his company full-time.