Explore our latest news, events, resources and opportunities.
Meet Cultural Ambition trainee alumni: Freya Chambers
Meet Freya, one of our original Cultural Ambition trainees who has gone on to study a BSc in Conservation of Museum Objects & Archaeology at Cardiff University. In this film, Freya shares insight into her experience as a trainee and the impact it’s had on her personal and professional development.
Develop your team with Arts Fundraiser Apprenticeship training through Bauer Academy – launching September 2022
In partnership with Bauer Academy, a government-approved training provider who are part of Bauer Media, this autumn sees the launch of an ‘Arts Fundraiser’ apprenticeship programme, designed to develop crucial fundraising skills in the sector.
We’ve forged a first-of-its-kind partnership between Ayrshire College and BBC Scotland
The College’s Music and Sound Production department was chosen to work exclusively in partnership with CCSkills in Scotland and BBC Music Introducing to help college students obtain meaningful work experience in the creative industries.
Changing history: Diversifying the museum workforce
Chaired by Catherine Ritman Smith, CCSkills Trustee and Head of Learning and Engagement at Young V&A, Changing History: Diversifying the museum workforce was a free online panel discussion that brought together young, diverse voices from across the sector to share their career journeys and experiences of working in museums and heritage.
Meet the Kickstarter: Izzy Barber
Founded in 2017, Melodic Distraction is an independent internet station based in Liverpool that hosts over 150 monthly shows and has recently opened a live events space. Izzy joined the team in May 2021 on a six-month Creative Kickstart placement, having discovered the opportunity through a post on Instagram.
Meet the Kickstarter: Karmal Waters
Karmal Waters is a Creative Kickstart Placement at Music Manager’s Forum (MMF), the largest representative of music management in the world. Karmal’s role as Events & Marketing Assistant has allowed him to support the promotion and delivery of their live and virtual events, with a particular highlight being the Artist and Manager Awards where he met the likes of Elton John, Grace Ladoja, Bicep, Karma Artists, Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio.
Podcast Episode 5 – Volunteering in the arts – the fine line
Volunteering is a long-established practice in many cultural organisations, and there are numerous reasons that can motivate someone to volunteer - often social or altruistic reasons. It can build confidence and introduce skills to help people make the next step into paid employment. But are organisations in the creative and cultural industries doing enough to support this type of volunteer?
Best Practice Recruitment Guide for Creative Leaders
The Best Practice Recruitment Guide for Creative Leaders has been designed to help employers reflect on how they might currently approach recruitment and offers simple steps that could help a business reach beyond the norm. We’d like to support employers to understand what diversity and inclusivity really mean, and the moral, social and legal implications of truly embracing these.
Podcast Episode 4 – What’s stopping the sector from being more diverse?
Despite being a dynamic and responsive sector in many ways, the creative and cultural industries still rate poorly for both ethnic and social diversity, even at entry-level. What is stopping the sector from better representing the wider working population and its own audiences?
A Best Practice Guide to Apprenticeships, Internships and Volunteering
Since 2008, we have led the developments of the creative apprenticeship frameworks and have seen thousands of apprentices start in the sector, supporting young people to pursue an alternative route into employment in our world leading industry.
Working with the Self-Employed: A Best Practice Guide for Businesses
Complimented by our ‘Working with Freelancers’ sector support training session, this guide provides an overview of the responsibilities and distinctions of working with freelancers and is a tool to encourage objective assessment of an organisation’s current understanding and approach when working with the self-employed.
Social mobility in the creative economy: Rebuilding and levelling up?
The research is part of a three-year programme, led by the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre, working in partnership with the Social Mobility Commission and Creative Industries Federation, exploring class in the Creative Industries.
Free sector support training in Northern Ireland
Thanks to funding from the National Lottery, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) is supporting a range of sessions and workshops for creative and cultural businesses throughout Northern Ireland, that will offer free expert advice and help a wider range of talent into the creative workforce.
Career Spotlight: Meet the apprentices from The Scottish Crannog Centre
We recently spoke to three apprentices from The Scottish Crannog Centre, a living history museum on Loch Tay in Perthshire. You can hear directly from Digital Marketing Apprentice Toby Sloan and Visitor Services Apprentices Daisy Charles and Izzie Hanby in our podcast bonus episode and find out more about Toby and Izzie below.
A new cohort of trainees begin their cultural heritage careers across Wales as part of the Cultural Ambition programme
Now in its fourth year, the Cultural Ambition programme is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Welsh Government’s Museums, Archives and Libraries division. Since 2018, it has provided over 30 young people from Wales with skills and work experience across the Welsh cultural heritage sector through paid training.
New ‘Flexi-Job’ apprenticeships – what can they achieve for the creative and cultural sector?
The ‘flexi-job’ apprenticeships announced this week in England can offer a new route to careers in our world-leading creative industries and help arts and cultural organisations of all sizes connect with new talent. The scheme could also remove some barriers faced by those currently under-represented in the sector, boosting diversity and broadening opportunity.
Podcast bonus episode: Meet apprentices Emma and Ellen
In this bonus podcast episode we hear a discussion between two former apprentices, Emma Blake Morsi, a Multidisciplinary Arts Producer; and Ellen Johnson, a Project Officer at Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. The recording was made as part of our feature-length episode, Apprenticeships work for other sectors, do they work for ours?, listen here.
Podcast Episode 3 – Apprenticeships work for other sectors, do they work for ours?
Joining the discussion is Bendy Ashfield, Apprenticeships Manager at Royal Opera House; Jakki Jeffery, Head of Faculty, Creative Industries at Edinburgh College; Emma Blake Morsi, a Multidisciplinary Arts Producer; and Ellen Johnson, a Project Officer at Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.
Podcast Episode 2 – In a sector under pressure, will freelancers suffer or thrive?
In episode two of our brand-new podcast, we hear from Sarah Shead, Director & Creative Producer, Spin Arts Management and Prema Mehta, Freelance Lighting Designer & founder of Stage Sight, as they discuss their experiences as freelancers within the cultural sector and the impact the pandemic has had, with our host, Rob West.
A brand new museum and gallery technician apprenticeship!
Here at CCSkills we are proud to have facilitated the development of a brand new, level 3 museum and gallery technician apprenticeship. This apprenticeship will create a vocational pathway into this occupation, which people typically progress into via informal routes.
A Year of Anti-Racist Action report, 2021
The recent report by Inc Arts UK A Year of Anti-Racist Action, which explores the progression made in the arts and culture sector, makes a valuable contribution to this discussion, and its findings echo many of the challenges we’ve encountered in the sector.
In a sector under pressure, will freelancers suffer or thrive?
The creative industries thrive on innovation, versatility, and practicality. Many creative professionals operate successful portfolio and freelance careers, and for young people who aspire to a career in the sector, understanding the value of this way of working might just help some make the leap, especially if they know they can be their own boss. But we must help the next generation learn that there is a right way to do this.
Promising Futures – the Young Person’s Guarantee
Creative & Cultural Skills is supporting the Young Person’s Guarantee as part of our commitment that the creative and cultural sector will Build Back Fairer. The Guarantee aims to provide an opportunity to every 16-24-year-old in Scotland through a job, an apprenticeship, further or higher education, training programme or volunteering. Sandy Begbie CBE CEO of Scottish Financial Enterprise, has led on its development and offers more detail about why it matters and how to get involved.
Industry-led student challenge winner announced
Creative & Cultural Skills supports industry-led live briefs that give students a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in the creative sector and to put their skills to the test. They are part of our work to create fair and inclusive opportunities for young people within the creative and cultural sectors.
Podcast Episode 1 – Class prejudice in the cultural sector – has pandemic has made it worse?
With the pandemic having a disproportionately negative effect on young people trying to build careers in the creative industries, has an already-established prejudice against hiring from disadvantaged backgrounds become even worse?
Has Covid made the inequalities in cultural sector recruitment worse?
While organisations have been fighting for their survival, the hard work they’ve done towards fair access and recruitment may have fallen by the wayside. Unfortunately, this is the very time when young people aspiring to join the sector need it the most.
What we learn about inclusive practice goes beyond our sector
Fair access to careers in the cultural sector is something we have been working tirelessly to champion. Our sector is still rife with unpaid internships and recruitment strategies that require higher-education qualifications for entry-level work - and we're not the only one.
Podcast Launch Episode – Build Back Fairer
Joining the discussion is Catherine Ritman-Smith Head of Learning and Engagement, Young V&A and Alex Porter-Smith Co-founder & Head of Production at High Tide Media. During this 40-minute preview episode, they cover a range of topics from how the pandemic has highlighted some of the inequalities in society, how the cultural sector has adapted, the impact on freelancers, and much more.
Our ground-breaking careers work has reached over 120,000 young people in the last twelve months
Led by the creative industries and delivered alongside our partners in England and Wales, the Discover! Creative Careers Week / Darganfod! Wythnos Gyrfaoedd Creadigol and Creative Careers Programme Cymru / Rhaglen Gyrfaoedd Creadigol Cymru (CCP Cymru) has reached over 120,000 young people in the last twelve months, despite Covid-19 restrictions.
Three Tips from BBC Introducing: How To Get Started In Music Radio
On Friday 19th March 2021. CCSkills was very pleased to host 120 students and staff from across the UK on courses ranging from music performance, music technology, events management, and media production. This article shares the top three takeaways from the event.
Creative Careers Programme and Discover! Week wins CDI’s UK Career Development Award!
The Creative Careers programme, including Discover! Creative Careers week, was born out of a desire to bust some pretty damaging myths about careers in the creative industries – notably the idea that creative careers are somehow ‘lesser’ jobs, that they are not well paid or that they are only appropriate for certain groups of people.
TV Presenter Jay Blades and Broadcaster Mim Shaikh join Discover! Creative Careers Week 2021
Even in the most challenging of times, the creative industries has put itself at the heart of helping the next generation learn about the myriad skills that are needed to help the sector operate. We need them to help us rebuild our sector post-Covid, making us stronger, fairer and even more impactful than before.
National Apprenticeship Week 2021
Creative & Cultural Skills has been involved in apprenticeships since 2008, when we first supported the development of the creative apprenticeship frameworks for the industry. Since then we’ve seen thousands of apprentices start in the sector, supporting young people to pursue an alternative route into employment in our world leading industry.
When we build back our sector – will it be progress or regress?
With uncertainly and job losses cutting through the cultural sector, just getting to the next quarter seems a challenge. But we also need to look to the future and consider how we will build back our industries – not just better, but fairer and more inclusive than ever before.
Digital Discover! Creative Careers Week
Celebrating the launch of Digital Discover! Creative Careers Week 2020, part of Creative Careers Programme Cymru. A programme of content that will support a diverse range of young people to learn about real jobs from those that do them, led by the creative industries.
Think piece: We can’t rebuild if we’re not valued
The creative sector is serious business. Before the Covid-19 crisis, its value to the UK was more than £111bn a year, the second largest contributor to the economy, and it was the country’s fastest growing sector – to say nothing of the years of dedication and training required by practitioners to excel in careers of choice.
Creative & Cultural Skills Announces Jane Ide As New Chief Executive
Jane is based in Derbyshire and joins us from NAVCA, the national membership body for voluntary and community sector support and development organisations. She is an established CEO with experience of working collaboratively in complex environments and an extensive background in communications, stakeholder engagement at ministerial, national and regional levels and reputational management.
The Chancellor today announced a £2bn ‘kickstart scheme’ to create more jobs for young people
Those aged 16-24, claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment, will be eligible. Funding available for each six-month job placement will cover 100% of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week – and employers will be able to top this wage up. It is intended to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people.
Building a Creative Nation – Current and Future Skills Needs
The creative and cultural industries are one of the mainsprings of the British economy, yet despite its strong position, the creative and cultural sector is facing a number of skills challenges, which could threaten its continued growth and prosperity. This report explores the skills that are key to sustaining this growth, and addressing current gaps and shortages is a priority to ensure the sector continues to thrive.