Purpose: This paper attempts to shed light on the effect of educational programmes aimed at entrepreneurs on innovation and business success. Design/methodology/approach: We use as theoretical framework the theory of planned behaviour. We use a sample of 354 entrepreneurs from Castile and Leon, Spain. To estimate the model we use a path analysis (AMOS 7). Findings: Individuals who are concerned about further management education and entrepreneurship education show themselves to be more innovative. Moreover, indirectly, by means of the relationship between innovation and success, specific entrepreneurship education contributes to obtaining better business results. However, to have reached high levels of formal education makes entrepreneurs less conformist regarding the activity of innovation. The existence of a direct effect of innovative behaviour on business success is confirmed. Research limitations: The limitations which our study presents are principally related to the measurement of the variables. Some of the characteristics of education should be studied more deeply. Practical implications: The results obtained lead us to recommend that the educational centres and institutions which organise the programmes should give preference to specialised education and less to entrepreneurship education when seeking to reinforce the innovative spirit of the entrepreneurs. Originality/value: The debate concerning the effectiveness of entrepreneurship educational programmes is still undecided, so much so that both supporters and detractors of entrepreneurship education exist. For that reason, this paper aims to shed some light on the effects of the educational programmes aimed at the entrepreneur. (Contains 3 figures, 5 tables and 5 notes.)