Qualification development

Our Creative Blueprint research (www.ccskills.org.uk) has consistently shown that those working with children and young people need better and more widely accessible support for their particular role. This project arises from both that finding and from the results of an audit of the training currently available for creative practitioners working with children and young people. This audit was commissioned by Arts Council England and carried out over the summer and autumn of 2010, and can be downloaded at www.ccskills.org.uk. An industry survey carried out as part of this audit found that only 5% of respondents thought that provision in this area is adequate at present, and that over half would welcome a nationally standardised training offer.


This qualifications development project aligns with Arts Council England’s strategic framework ‘Achieving Great Art for Everyone’ and is directly related to the priority to raise the standard of work being produced for, by and with children and young people. In the pursuit of this aim, this project joins Arts Council England’s Artsmark programme and Quality Outcomes Framework.

The project is a timely development, given Darren Henley’s recent recommendation that a new qualification should be developed for music educators to professionalise and acknowledge their role in and out of school. Our view, backed up by our industry research, is that this applies to all creative practitioners working with children and young people.

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