TO BE PUBLISHED July 2025
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This conference will examine priorities and next steps for education, training, and career development in the creative industries.
Stakeholders and policymakers will discuss the future of creative education in schools, and the way forward for improving access to art, drama and music, in light of the Curriculum and Assessment Review. Delegates will address declining participation in creative subjects across all levels, in the context of the Creative PEC report published earlier this year, Creative further education in the four UK nations, as well as last year’s The Arts In Schools: Foundations for the Future report from A New Direction.
We also expect the agenda to bring out priorities for addressing skills shortages as outlined in the initial Skills England report Driving growth and widening opportunities, which identified arts, entertainment and recreation as an industry with elevated job demands. Discussion is expected on strategies for career development and upskilling the workforce, as well as options for ensuring that the UK industry remains globally competitive as an attractive destination for international talent, with regard to aims outlined in the Government’s consultation document Invest 2035: the UK's modern industrial strategy.
The conference will also examine opportunities for increasing arts funding within schools for supporting teaching and facilities, and priorities for utilising the £3m funding to expand the Creative Careers Programme, announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget, including options for diversifying the talent pipeline, as well as implications of tax reliefs for the creative industries. We also expect wider discussion on improving diversity within the creative arts, following the Creative PEC’s findings of high socio-economic inequality in the current workforce.
Further sessions will examine the suitability of existing assessment methods for creative subjects in schools, avenues for adaptation and stakeholder perspectives, including options for recognising creativity in the Ofsted report card and adjusting the balance of content and assessment in both creative and core subjects. We expect further discussion on how to reshape the value of arts in schools, as well as on pathways into higher education, including priorities for careers advice programmes.
With the agenda currently in the drafting stage, areas for discussion include:
- the state of creative education in schools and the way forward:
- priorities for improving access to art, drama and music as outlined in the Curriculum and Assessment Review
- plans for addressing falling participation in the context of reports from the Creative PEC and A New Direction
- funding and support requirements for schools - priorities for utilising funding to expand the Creative Careers Programme - implications of tax reliefs for the creative industries
- assessing suitability of existing assessment methods and discussing stakeholder perspectives - recognising creativity in the Ofsted report card - adjusting the balance of content and assessment
- incorporating the arts as part of a holistic education - reframing the value of arts in education
- pathways into HE: raising awareness of vocational routes into employment - providing access to high quality careers guidance - priorities for career advice
- diversity: priorities for delivering a more accessible arts education - the way forward in delivering a more diverse talent pipeline - responsibilities of the creative sector in this regard
- creative education in HEIs: priorities for supporting the workforce - discussing funding concerns - strategies for fulfilling the needs of creative HE providers
- employment pipeline:
- examining the Government’s Invest 2035 aims - strategies for career development and workforce upskilling - maintaining attractiveness of the UK industry for international talent
- addressing the creative industries skills gap - discussing the Skills England report and elevated job demands in the arts
