Welcome to the May edition of our newsletter. News this month ranges from details of enrichment funding and implementation to consultation on post-16 performance measures, and how Arts organisations can get involved with Refugee Week in June.
Our Latest News digest this month features Education sector news:
- News of the Enrichment Expansion Programme
- School leaders sounding a warning on the tight timeframe for enrichment implementation
- PE and Sport Premium to be replaced by a new Schools Partnerships Network
- The new consultation on 16-19 performance measures
- Government response to recent consultation on post-16 pathways
- GCSE Art and Design Specification updates from AQA for 2027 which aim to make the GCSE workload more sustainable
- Born in Bradford publishes new research on dance in primary schools
- Government plans for a phone ban in all schools
We also have cultural sector news:
- Arts Council England update on funding for individuals, including arts educators
- Funding totalling nearly £130 million is awarded to 130 organisations through the Arts Everywhere Fund
- A combined education and culture brief for the Scottish government
- A new Chair for the Creative Industries Council
- How Arts organisations can respond to Refugee Week in June
And a final reminder about the National Arts and Cultural Education Awards 2026 which close for nominations on 15 June, and the European Art Explora Awards which close on 26 June.
We don’t have a Latest Thinking article this month, as we shared our 2026 Report Card and Rapid Evidence Reviews (co-commissioned with the Royal Shakespeare Company) in a special edition of our newsletter earlier in the month. You can read an in-depth article about our new research in Arts Professional here (paywall).
We do have our regular Research Spotlight article from Professor Pat Thomson, who this month reports on a valuable art-focused UK study on the impact of arts and cultural engagement on adolescent mental health. The study has important findings about the benefits of the arts as regular, ordinary and sustained provision distinct from targeted interventions, and about the power of making.
We’re planning a webinar on our Rapid Evidence Reviews so will share details soon. And we’re also looking for case studies of how colleagues are using our Arts Education Capabilities Framework – do get in touch if you are happy to share how you are integrating the Framework into your provision.
DCMS launches £16.8m Enrichment Expansion Programme
As part of the National Youth Strategy, DCMS is providing grant funding to support enrichment activities to close the participation gap between disadvantaged young people and their peers.
DCMS has set out a competitive grant-making process to identify an organisation or consortium to run its Enrichment Expansion Programme. The Programme has been created to “engender long term change in the school-provider ecosystem, for instance by brokering meaningful partnerships between schools, enrichment providers and other key stakeholders or by improving the coordination of the enrichment offer and so bring more enrichment opportunities.
Information was released about this programme on 5 May with a submission deadline of 25 May. The Programme will support the Department for Education’s Enrichment Framework to be published by DfE later this year. The objectives of the Enrichment Expansion Programme are to:
- Increase the number of young people taking up opportunities to access high-quality and varied enrichment offers, particularly for disadvantaged young people in underserved areas
- Increase coordination between schools and enrichment providers, including greater use of partnerships, adoption of best practice, and use of local and regional sources of support
- Improve pupil outcomes such as pupil wellbeing, school engagement, attainment and behaviour
- Support participating schools to meet the benchmarks outlined in the Enrichment Framework (due to be published at some point in this academic year).
Their summary states that the delivery partner/consortium will improve and enhance enrichment provision and support secondary schools to improve their offer.
They are seeking to provide the grant funding to a delivery partner who can work across the nine English regions and whose approach can be flexed to ensure its offer of support to schools, including 400 target schools that DCMS will be identifying as eligible for funding to provide an enhanced enrichment offer, with a focus on reaching disadvantaged young people. The eligible schools will represent a range of geographical contexts, including urban/rural/coastal, and represent a diverse range of students, including those with SEND or on free-school meals (FSM). This funding will support young people aged 11-16.
They intend to group schools into clusters of 5-8 according to geographic proximity to better allow effective sharing of resources. Each school will receive a small grant to cover staff costs associated with improving their enrichment offer. DCMS will release more information about the eligible schools “in due course” and will “favour applications that set out an intention to reach as many of these eligible schools as possible to drive greater impact. We will give preference to organisations whose project demonstrates better value for money by reaching a higher number of schools with a high-quality offer.”
DCMS states that the activity it funds through this grant should deliver “measurable outcomes against the benchmarks set out in the Enrichment Framework, due to be published this academic year.” An assessment panel, appointed by DCMS, will review bids from eligible organisations using the evaluation criteria.
The funding will be directed at coordination between the “vast, and often fragmented, enrichment offers that are delivered both in and out of school within areas of greatest need.” An assessment panel, appointed by DCMS, will review bids from eligible organisations using the evaluation criteria set out here.
The timeline sets out that the delivery partner will be appointed in July with schools onboarded then, and that there will be an assessment of local provision and partnership building from July to December, with mobilisation in schools happening from January 2027 and maybe earlier. All schools will begin delivery of the enrichment offer in September 2027. There will be an interim evaluation report in autumn 2028 and a final evaluation report in spring 2029, with all delivery partner activities ending in March 2029.
CLA Comment
Details of the Programme were published by DCMS on 5 May with a closing date of 25 May, leaving just 20 days for potential delivery partners to apply. In the absence of the Enrichment Framework, those applying cannot provide any information on how they would support schools to meet the enrichment benchmarks – the successful delivery partner will have to retrofit this objective into the design of the grant programme. None of this sounds ideal and the overall picture is currently quite confusing.
Many of the education policy changes introduced by the new government have been clearly set out in recent months through the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review and the government response, and in various White Papers addressing schools, post-16 education and skills and SEND. The element for which we still await details is enrichment, and there are already issues around the timing of enrichment implementation, as can be seen in the news item below.
CLA is working on producing a timeline of all government policy changes and implementation as they relate to Arts education, and it makes clear how much is happening and how confusing some of this is when it sits across more than one government department and across different pots of funding. As we’ve already reported, enrichment is being defined across five areas, one of which is arts and culture; the others are civic engagement, nature and adventure, sport and physical activities, and wider life skills.
At the heart of this are twin government ambitions, which echo our own, and which are hard to balance through investment: an enrichment entitlement for all and an emphasis on equitable access to enrichment. A focus on both priorities is going to be complex to implement when funding is in short supply,
School leaders sound warning on enrichment implementation
The Times Education Supplement (TES) has reported that there are concerns from school leaders that the timeline to introduce enrichment will leave schools with less than a term to prepare the new entitlements before Ofsted inspects them, with sector leaders warning this is a “recipe for heightening stress”.
The government has confirmed that the refreshed framework will include enrichment benchmarks but TES reports that schools are “yet to receive further information on these new entitlements – with only two months left of the school year. Policymakers have been accused of ‘keeping schools in the dark’ on this change by sector leaders, who warn that the current timeline will leave schools and trusts planning at short notice.”
Under the government’s enrichment proposals announced in November 2025, schools will be tasked with ensuring that every child has access to activities across five categories: civic engagement; arts and culture; nature and adventure; sport; and life skills. This will form what the Department for Education calls a “core enrichment entitlement”.
More than a third of secondary students currently say they do not participate in any enrichment activities in school, and a similar proportion say they do not participate in any activities outside school, according to government data.
The sector leaders who spoke to TES welcomed the government’s enrichment ambitions, but warned that schools need more support and time to implement the reforms. “These activities need funding and time to plan to maximise the benefits for pupils,” said Leora Cruddas, chief executive of Confederation of School Trusts (CST).
The DfE has not committed any overall funding for the enrichment benchmarks, but £22.5 million will be invested over three years for 400 schools in the most deprived areas of the country to meet the entitlement.
Leora Cruddas added that it is “unreasonable” to build enrichment into inspection, saying that the CST has raised this with the DfE on “several occasions. With little more than half a term left of this academic year, schools and trusts are already at advanced planning stages for the new academic year,” she said. “It is now also unreasonable to expect schools, belatedly, to plan to implement this for the new academic year.”
CLA COMMENT
Whilst it is helpful to have enrichment, including Art and culture, built into the inspection framework, it does seem that the timeframe for implementation is extremely tight – unlike many of the delivery steps of curriculum reform, which are being phased gradually over several years. And particularly in light of the fact that a third of secondary students are not currently accessing enrichment either in or out of school – according to government data from November 025.
CLA will continue to report on the enrichment landscape; when the Enrichment Framework is published it will be easier to see all the new enrichment provision components in the round, and to determine whether the new plans are workable. We will also be consulting on Arts and cultural enrichment alongside our other consultation as part of our development of a Blueprint for an Arts-rich education 2.0 (to follow the Blueprint we published in 2024) – more on this soon.
PE and Sport Premium to be replaced by a new Schools Partnerships Network
The Guardian Education and the TES have reported that funding for primary school sport in England is to be cut, including the abolition of a grant designed to cement the 2012 Olympic legacy.
According to this press coverage, the Department for Education (DfE) said that the £320m fund paid directly to primary schools each year through its PE and sports premium would be scrapped and replaced by a “sport partnerships network” worth £193 million a year to cover primary and secondary schools.
The DfE stated that less than half of young people are meeting recommended daily activity levels, despite “billions of pounds” being invested through the premium since 2013, and said the network, backed by £580 million and due to be fully operational from spring 2027, will “put an end to the one-size-fits-all model”.
The announcement was met with concern from education unions, with Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, stating worries about the removal of an established funding stream to provide PE and sport in primaries “and its replacement with an initiative which – to put it mildly – is extremely complex and lacks clarity about how it will be delivered.”
Leora Cruddas, the chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said the lack of clarity was unhelpful for many schools that had already made plans for next year.
The announcement comes before schools will be inspected on their enrichment offer under Ofsted’s updated inspection framework from September (see Newsletter item above). Through the enrichment offer, schools will be expected to ensure that every child has access to activities across five categories, including sport – and Arts and culture.
The school sports partnerships were previously announced by Sir Keir Starmer in June last year, but it was not then made clear that clear at that point that the new scheme replace the sport premium.
Under the new plans, £1 billion will be spent over three years. More than half, £580 million, will be spent on the network. Another £200 million will go on capital funding, which the government said could be used to make facilities more accessible for children with SEND or to buy additional equipment. Another £100 million will be spent on “transitional support” for primary schools.
This is in addition to £166 million in the 2026-27 financial year for the second payment of the PE premium for the 2025-26 academic year and funding for school games organisations.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said school leaders will be “deeply concerned at the loss of a well-established funding stream”. He called on the government to provide more clarity on how the partnerships will work in practice and that they will reach the frontline at all locations across the country.
There will be a national delivery partner working alongside national governing bodies and the DfE says that the new partnerships network will provide both universal and targeted support to schools. Targeted support could include expert coaches, top-up swimming lessons and extracurricular opportunities, while the universal offer will include online training for all schools.
The government said the model will be tailored to local needs, such as providing cricket equipment and links with local clubs where demand exists, or pool access and specialist teaching where data shows low swimming attainment. TES has asked the DfE how schools will be selected for targeted support and what accountability there will be for organisations funded through the network.
CLA COMMENT
This development is of interest to CLA as in the past we have sought an Arts premium to mirror that for sport. We stopped asking for this from government some years ago and decided to focus instead on the elimination of systemic factors, such as the EBacc, which were undermining and eroding the Arts in schools.
It is not an ‘ask’ we have revisited in our latest consultation work in which we are focusing on the catalysts – or system shifts – that will revitalise Arts education during this education reform implementation period. In theory the new Enrichment Framework, not yet published, will place Arts and culture alongside sport and three other areas, and we are mindful of the importance of parity across the five areas.
The premium we sought in the past was remedial – designed to address a lack of strategic support for the Arts in schools during a period when government policies were was not demonstrably reflecting ambition for Arts subjects.
In theory, the new government ambition should be embracing sport and physical activities, Arts and culture, civic engagement, nature and adventure, and wider life skills – within and beyond the curriculum. We will be alert to party across all of these and to the ways in which the new ambition is threaded through the new curriculum, altered assessment, new accountability measures – and enrichment.
Dance could be a hidden casualty of this change so we would want reassurance that the new sports partnership network will actively support Dance. This announcement is part of a wider move away from all the top-up grants, of which the sports premium was one, and a move away from a one-size-fits all model. This change is definitely one to watch.
New consultation on 16-19 performance measures
The government has launched a consultation on its proposals for 16-19 measures. Current headline accountability measures for 16-19 provision in schools and colleges only covers around 68% of students because many vocational and technical qualifications are excluded. You can see Schools Week coverage of this here. This means that data is not “equally” useful for all providers, in particular FE colleges where much activity is simply not captured in performance measures.
New performance measures are set to be created for V Levels that are broadly in line with requirements for A Levels and T Levels.
The consultation introduction states: “This consultation sets out proposals to update and improve the performance measures that we publish about 16-19 study. It fulfils commitments made in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, and the government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment review, to consult on a consistent way of measuring performance for 16-19 learners, and to revise English and maths progress measures, and qualification achievement rates, to recognise providers for the progress their students make towards a level 2.”
They are also consulting on how enrichment activities should be reflected within school and college profiles as part of a wider range of information that could be made available to parents. They are looking at these consultations in the round as supporting the development of a more coherent and balanced approach to accountability and transparency, which that encourages schools and colleges to provide a rich and broad education, where high standards and inclusion go hand in hand for every young person”.
Proposals are set out for ensuring 16-19 performance measures are consistent across provision and qualifications as the qualifications landscape continues to change and settle in, and headline 16-19 English and Maths progress measures are an important part of the consultation given the focus on improving student progress towards achieving Level 2 English and Maths at 16-19.
The government is also proposing changes to streamline the measures of retention that it publishes, making them easier for users to understand, and to ensure they accurately reflect meaningful activity for students.
The closing date for the consultation is 21 July 2026 and the link to the website can be found here.
CLA COMMENT
This is part of a flurry of consultations this year and part of a wider programme, following the recent consultation on Key Stage 4 performance measures – the Progress 8 and the targeted RISE extension which we covered in the Newsletter last month. The government is still analysing responses to the Key Stage 4 consultation and has stated that it will publish its response during the summer term.
Our priority is always that the Arts are on a par with other curriculum areas following years of downgrading through the EBacc performance measure at Key Stage 4. We will share more detail on our thoughts on this post-16 consultation in our June edition.
Consultation on post-16 pathways – government response published
In March the government published its response to the consultation on post‑16 Level 3 and below pathways. Building on the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper (published in October 2025) and the recommendations of the Curriculum and Assessment Review in November 2025, this response sets out the vision for a reformed 16-19 qualifications system in which every young person has a clear choice of pathways that support them to succeed in work and in life.
The government states that “This marks the biggest reform to vocational education in a generation. The changes announced today will transform the vocational landscape for millions of young people and ensure genuine parity of esteem between academic, vocational and technical routes – an essential part of delivering on the Prime Minister’s ambition for two‑thirds of young people to be in higher‑level learning by age 25.”
In response to the consultation, the government is committing to three major changes to post-16 pathways: the introduction of V Levels; the expansion of T Levels; and clearer Level 2 routes through new Occupational and Further Study pathways. Therse were all trailed in the Post-16 White Paper that was published in October.
The government’s full Post 16 Level 3 and Below Pathways consultation response and the Transition Plan can be found here.
The government has also launched a consultation on new Level 1 English and maths qualifications for 16–19‑year‑olds with prior GCSE attainment at grade 2 or below. These new qualifications will consolidate foundational skills and support students to achieve a GCSE grade 4/C or higher, ensuring that they only resit GCSEs when ready to make progress. You can respond to this consultation here and it closes on 2 June.
By June 2026, the government will also publish an Implementation Plan setting out further detail including:
- subject lists for phased rollout
- updated T Level development and delivery approach
- assessment and grading arrangements
- expectations for non‑qualification activities
- further details of the transition strategy.
CLA COMMENT
All the ambitions set out in last year’s Post-16 White Paper are now being developed through consultation and implementation plans. We will wait to see where Arts subjects sit in the subject lists for phased rollout. We have already seen that V Levels for Arts subjects will land later than for other subjects and won’t be ready for first teaching until September 2030, we hope that Arts subjects won’t again trail behind other subjects when the Implementation Plan is published in June.
Although there is now a huge amount of ongoing consultation and change, we look forward to a more settled landscape for post-16 education after all the changes and uncertainty of recent years. As our new Report Card highlights, Arts subjects in the post-16 education landscape have been characterised by decline and instability.
At post-16 our new data reveals that we are seeing the impact of the Arts decline moving through the system, combined with the impact of qualifications instability – likely due to the impact of policy changes since 2022, together with uncertainty (before the publication of the White Paper) about which qualifications would be continued. The post-16 sector needs some welcome stability when the new qualifications landscape is in place.
GCSE Art and Design Specification updates from AQA for 2007
Information on the revised AQA GCSE Art and Design specification for first assessment in summer 2027 has been released and provides important news for GCSE Art and Design teachers.
From 2027 onwards, Component 1 will consist of one sustained project only, and the requirement for further work will be removed. All assessment will take place within that single sustained project. This means that instead of separating work into a sustained project and further work, schools and colleges will assess one coherent body of work that evidences all four Assessment Objectives (which will be equally weighted to contribute to the overall mark).
AQA has made the change as feedback has indicated that dividing time between different requirements can limit flexibility and reduce the time available. They say that the change is “designed to give that time back to you and your learners.” AQA goes on to say that it “reduces unnecessary administrative complexity while keeping rigour, clarity and fairness in marking.”
They also state that the change “offers greater clarity, flexibility in planning and delivery, and supports a more sustainable workload without compromising standards.”
CLA COMMENT
We’ve heard a great deal from Art teachers about time problems with GCSE assessment so it’s good to see an awarding body being responsive to feedback and introducing a change that should be widely welcomed by art educators and, as AQA states in its newsletter, “reflective of the profession’s collective voice”.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review only had two recommendations for changes to the Art & Design curriculum – fewer than for any other Arts subject. One was about changes to Programmes of Study and one was that the government work with Ofqual and awarding organisations to clarify the volume and range of coursework students are expected to produce for GCSE Art & Design. They had heard concerns that there was a lack of clarity about the expected volume of work in a high-stakes context and AQA has worked to address these.
The new curriculum is currently being drafted for every subject, so we await consultation on the drafts later this year, but in the meantime it is interesting to see how awarding organisations are already responding to the helpful evidence, principles and recommendations set out in the Curriculum and Assessment Review.
Born in Bradford publishes new research commissioned by Royal Ballet and Opera
Born in Bradford have published Dance into Wellbeing, their evaluation of the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) Create and Dance programme in Bradford primary schools. Born in Bradford is a research programme which aims to find out what keeps families healthy and happy by tracking the lives of more than 60,000 Bradfordians.
The research aimed to examine the impact of RBO’s Create and Dance programme on children’s wellbeing and identify broader impacts, and to evaluate the implementation within Bradford primary schools, identifying factors influencing its effectiveness.
The in-depth qualitative research identified five areas where the programme had an impact on wellbeing: confidence and joy; social connection; self-expression; learning; wider school impacts. Key findings included:
- Confidence and Joyful Participation: Observations and feedback consistently showed increased pupil confidence, engagement, and joy in participating in dance activities.
- Social Connection and Collaboration: The programme successfully fostered an inclusive environment promoting teamwork, empathy, and social connectedness. Pupils actively engaged in creative collaboration, enhancing peer relationships and emotional intelligence.
- Embodied expression: Create and Dance provided a unique outlet for creative, autonomous self-expression, allowing pupils to explore and communicate emotions and ideas through movement, enhancing their overall wellbeing.
- Enhanced learning: The programme enriched children’s broader educational experience by integrating creative learning methods into the curriculum.
- Wider implementation insights and conclusion: Teachers benefited significantly from professional development opportunities provided by RBO, leading to increased confidence in delivering dance-based curriculum activities. The adaptive and inclusive approach of Create and Dance effectively addressed varying pupil needs and school contexts, particularly in schools with diverse ethnic profiles and higher deprivation levels. The programme demonstrated substantial positive impacts on children’s wellbeing, social skills, creative expression, and overall school engagement.
The findings can be used to advocate for integrating creative health programmes into national and local strategies for child wellbeing and education.
John Wright, Director of the Bradford Institute for Health Research, stated that “The evidence is compelling: dance doesn’t just improve wellbeing, it builds community, nurtures resilience, and inspires joy”
CLA COMMENT
The evaluation states that the findings should be used to advocate for integrating creative health programmes into national and local strategies for child wellbeing and education. The findings align with CLA’s Arts Education Capabilities Framework, which highlights the ways in which arts subjects, activities and experiences, including Dance, develop seven key capabilities: agency, wellbeing, collaboration, communication, empathy, creativity and interpretation.
It is good to see this research grounded in Bradford’s primary schools. Our new Rapid Evidence Review for Dance has highlighted that many more research studies exist for Art & Design, Drama and Music than for Dance: the Rapid Evidence Reviews include 463 studies for Art, Craft and Design; 351 for Drama and 291 for Music – but just 70 for Dance. It is also good to see a focus on Dance in the primary phase.
Government plans a phone ban in all schools
As reported by the BBC, and following much recent discussion in parliament and more widely, the government has said it will introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools in England. Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith has told the House of Lords that the government would table an amendment to its landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill “creating a clear legal requirement for schools” on the matter.
Earlier this year Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson had written to schools encouraging them to follow new guidance that schools be phone-free for the entire day. The government has said it will put that guidance on a statutory footing, which means schools must pay attention to it.
The wording of the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill can be found here. Many schools already prohibit the use of phones during the day, and lawyers say this amendment will not result in “major changes” – see TES coverage here. But there will be practical realities to be addressed such as identifying spaces to store phones and monitoring compliance.
The TES article also reported comment from education bodies: “The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has said that if the guidance were to specify removal to lockers or pouches, then more funding would be required. It is seeking more clarity before issuing advice to members.”
The Confederation of School Trusts told TES that it does not yet have a stance on how schools will comply with the amendment, which still has to get through Parliament, and that more details are needed.
ASCL general secretary Pepe Di’Iasio told TES: “We think that individual school leaders are best placed to decide on the most appropriate mobile phone policy for their setting. If the government wants to go further than the commonplace ‘not seen or heard’ policy, they have to realise there will be a financial and logistical cost for schools, and put appropriate support in place.
CLA COMMENT
We have been reporting on this issue regularly this year. It is a further government step to work against online harms, reflecting the failure of big tech companies to control access for minors.
As we’re previously stated, in the government response to the Curriculum Review there was an emphasis on the need for young people to “think critically and act thoughtfully, armed with the digital, financial and media literacy they need to thrive in the modern world” so digital access and literacy have to be carefully balanced with a need for digital protection.
The Wales government has just announced that it will not be introducing a ban and that it will empower schools to make their own decision around phone access – you can see BBC coverage of this here. What do the young people in your contexts think about the ban?
Arts Council England update on funding for individuals
Developing Your Creative Practice is an Arts Council England (ACE) fund that supports individuals making a step-change in their creative practice. Ahead of the next round opening in June, ACE are sharing updated guidance and resources for Round 24 of Developing Your Creative Practice – the fund that supports individuals making a step-change in their practice.
A wide range of creative professionals and practitioners are eligible to apply, including arts and cultural educators. It’s the same programme, as before, delivering funding to individual practitioners, but with “more clarity”. The programme “encourages development by allowing individuals to learn, innovate and take creative risks.”
The website contains detailed support on how to prepare to bid, case studies and application checklists. Applications open on 4June and close on 2July 2026, with decisions due in early October 2026. The link to the website can be found here.
To see the latest from other national arts councils, the link to the Arts Council Wales update is here; Creative Scotland updates can be found here, and the latest from the Arts Council for Northern Ireland here.
CLA COMMENT
It is good to see the clear signal in the guidelines that arts and cultural educators are eligible to apply, as a key part of England’s workforce of creative professionals and practitioners.
CLA is currently consulting on the needs of the cultural sector in terms of retention, recruitment, diversity and professional development. We have already convened a roundtable with school leaders and are just starting to consider the learning workforce needs of the cultural sector. We look forward to sharing more on this soon.
DCMS funding for venues
130 organisations are receiving the first round of funding, totalling £130 million, from the government’s Arts Everywhere Fund. This funding for venues has been created to support the provision of welcoming, affordable spaces for communities.
The funding is being administered and delivered through Arts Council England and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the announcement can be seen here.
There are three funds in total:
- The Creative Foundations Fund has allocated £96 million to 74 arts and cultural venues to help theatres, performing arts venues, galleries and grassroots music venues address urgent infrastructure needs. Among recipients are the Lowry Centre in Salford which has been awarded £8.5 million to upgrade critical infrastructure. Theatre Royal Stratford East in London has secured £1.75 million to upgrade its building and essential systems, ensuring the theatre remains safe, accessible and welcoming for local people.
- The Museum Estate and Development Fund has allocated a share of £25.5 million to support 28 museums to undertake vital infrastructure works, and improve the visitor experience. Among recipients is the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley which has been awarded £454,159 to safeguard key historic buildings.
- The Libraries Improvement Fund has allocated a share of £6.3 million to 28 library services to help upgrade buildings and technology to better meet the needs of the community.
Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy said “Arts and culture aren’t a luxury for a privileged few. They are for everyone, everywhere. They bring people together, open doors, and support our shared sense of belonging. That’s the role they can play as we build a stronger future for our country.”
This link to ACE’s latest update gives full information on the three strands of funding and the successful bidders.
CLA COMMENT
We hope that learning spaces are forming part of some of these capital funding awards, alongside other infrastructure elements. It is hard to run a successful learning, participation and community engagement programme without a dedicated learning space for school, family and community groups that adheres to best practice guidance, and space provision sits alongside learning team investment as vital if cultural organisations can be response to the needs of the schools, children and young people communities.
We look forward to hearing how the funds are being directed towards provision that is designed to welcome young visitors in particular.
Combined education and culture brief for the Scottish government
Scotland’s First Minister has appointed Màiri McAllan as the first Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic in a new slimmed-down cabinet, uniting the education and culture briefs.
Arts Professional has reported on optimism around the change from within in the cultural sector in Scotland, where the potential for much closer connectivity between culture and education has been broadly welcomed.
CLA COMMENT
This is an interesting development and CLA will be keen to see how this plays out in terms of aligning formal education with workforce skills that are vital for its creative economy and the economy more widely.
In England, the government response to the Hodge Review of Arts Council England – which funds many Arts organisations to deliver education programmes – referenced strategic alignment to a national mission around Arts education and enrichment. As a result, there is to be an advisory group set up between DfE and DCMS to guide departmental collaboration on Arts education strategy. We look forward to hearing more about this group.
Creative Industries Council to be led by outgoing BBC Director
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced that Tim Davie is to succeed the current industry co-chair Sir Peter Bazalgette from 1 August. He will co-chair with Baroness Shriti Vadera until she steps down at the end of the year. You can see details here. The Council is a forum that brings industry and the government together to ensure the continued success of the UK’s creative economy. It aims to unite the sector and give them a clearer voice when advocating to the government.
Davie will lead the council alongside co-chairs Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Business Secretary Peter Kyle. Under Davie, the council will continue to focus on Creative Industries Sector Plan priorities, including innovation, access to finance, workforce, trade and investment.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said, “Our creative industries are world-leading, and Tim’s strong experience will enhance the UK’s position as a global creative superpower and help drive the sector into the future.”
With creative industries identified as a key growth sector in the Modern Industrial Strategy, the government wants to deliver long-term growth and opportunities that supports skilled jobs and raises living standards across the UK.
Davie had been serving as the director-general of the BBC since 2020, after joining the organisation as the director of marketing, communications and audiences in 2005. He has also served as the corporation’s director of audio and music, on the BBC’s executive board and chief executive of BBC Studios, among other roles. Davie was also a trustee of both Tate and the Royal Television Society.
The creative industries are worth £145.8 billion to the UK economy, and have been identified as one of the government’s priority growth sectors.
CLA COMMENT
Following the publication of our 2026 Report Card and the Rapid Evidence Reviews for Arts subjects co-commissioned with the Royal Shakespeare Company, CLA is in a position to provide the Creative Industries Council witha wealth of information and evidence on what is happening in cultural education – which is of course is vital for the health of the future creative industries and economy in the UK.
It is particularly helpful to have the new analysis in our Report Card on take-up of Arts subjects by ethnicity. As we state in the Arts in Schools: Foundations for the Future report, You “don’t get creative industries without a trained workforce – and if you do, it’s unlikely to be diverse.”
Research building on work by Dave O’Brien and others on class inequalities in the creative industries reveals that the inequalities are rooted in imbalances with regard to the “value of, and access to, arts and culture in education in England”.
Outgoing Chair of the Creative Industries Council, Baroness Vadera, is also Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company, so understands how Arts organisations function within the Arts education ecology, so it will be good for Davie to indicate that he shares a similar understanding.
Refugee week: June 15-21
Refugee week describes itself as “The world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary”.
Arts and culture make up a huge part of the celebrations and this year the organisers have produced a letter specifically to arts and cultural organisations to support the week.
This year marks 75 years since the 1951 Refugee Convention provided the internationally recognised definition of a refugee and outlined the legal protection, rights and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive in order to provide them with protection, dignity and hope.
Organisers state that “Now more than ever, art and culture matter. Creativity helps us recognise our shared humanity, imagine better futures and create spaces of welcome and belonging. Cultural organisations play a vital role in bringing people together and helping shift harmful narratives.”
Refugee Week is made possible by thousands of organisations, including leading museums, galleries, theatres, libraries and grassroots spaces. Previous cultural partners have been: Southbank Centre • BFI • BAFTA • BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art • V&A • British Library • Barbican • Tate • British Museum • Roundhouse • Shakespeare’s Globe • HOME Manchester • Arnolfini • Gloucester Guildhall • Migration Museum • Imperial War Museum • Horniman Museum & Gardens • Royal Museums Greenwich • Dance East • Create Studios Swindon • Doncaster Museum • Hastings Museum & Art Gallery • Royal Docks • Museum of the Home • De La Warr Pavilion • MAC Birmingham • Nottingham Contemporary • National Museum Wales – and many others.
All the information and resources you need to support the week and get involved can be found here.
CLA COMMENT
Refugee week is a brilliant example of positive arts-based activism and reminds us of UNESCO’s point in its International Commission on the Futures of Education (quoted in the 2023 Arts in Schools report): “Curricula that invite creative expression through the arts have tremendous future-shaping potential. Artmaking provides new languages and means through which to make sense of the world, engage in cultural critique, and take political action.”
It also reminds us that empathy is one of the seven capabilities set out in our Arts Education Capabilities Framework, spanning:
- Compassion: sensitivity to the feelings, characteristics and circumstances of others
- Open-mindedness: understanding of the viewpoints of others
- Understanding and appreciation of difference(s): understanding of the circumstances and characteristics of others.
Open for entries: National Arts and Cultural Education Awards 2026
A reminder that Nominations are now open for the 2026 National Arts and Cultural Education Awards. The awards which are managed and led by Curious Minds shine a light on best practice and innovation in the field of cultural and creative learning, wherever it is happening across the country. There are 10 Award categories in 2026:
- The Arts Leadership in Education Award
- The Inspirational Local Partnership Award
- The Innovators in Engagement Award
- The Mighty Roots Award
- The Fearless Freelancer Award
- The One to Watch Award
- The Young Arts Activism Award
- The Spark the Change Award
- The Power in Practice Award
- The Changemaker Award
Further information on the categories and how to nominate can be found here. The deadline for nominations is midday (12:00pm) on Monday 15 June 2026 so get your nominations in soon!
The 2026 Art Explora Académie des beaux-arts European Award
And a final reminder about the Awards organised by Art Explora, an international foundation based in Paris, in partnership with the Académie des beaux-arts, which are open to all non-profit European cultural organisations, from all artistic sectors, including in the UK.
The Award supports innovative practices in audience access, participation and engagement that can be shared across Europe. The total amount of the European Award is €180,000, divided into five Awards.
The deadline for submission is 26 June 2026 and all the information you need to apply can be found here.
