Labour must seize the opportunity to revitalise creative FE

As policymakers across the UK adjust to the new political landscape following the general election, there is a desire in each of the four nations to enhance economic growth. There will be a focus on supporting priority sectors with high growth potential. The creative industries are one of of these, as recognised in each of the UK nations through dedicated sector strategies.

Each places a strong emphasis on skills, given the extensive demands for a highly skilled creative workforce across the UK. Current skill reform interventions and strategies in different parts of the UK seek to strengthen pathways to the creative industries to reduce skills shortages.

As the labour market continually changes, there is significant focus on the role of further education (FE), not only to support progression routes into higher education but also to enhance opportunities to get into, and progress, in creative careers.

So, how is it faring? Research published today by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) and carried out by Work Advance aimed to find out.

Due to there being four separate skills systems in the UK, the research presents evidence on creative FE in each nation. While the policy contexts are distinct, with differences in the learning programmes and qualifications each nation delivers, we find a similar picture of the current state of FE in each.

Low and falling take-up

Despite common policy aspirations to grow lifelong learning, the research shows that creative FE has been declining in each of the UK nations over the past decade. While this is the case across the FE sector generally (in part reflecting reductions in funding), enrolments in creative subjects have been falling much more rapidly than in other subjects.

Although each nation has aimed to extend the range of work-based learning programmes such as apprenticeships, growth in these areas has been insufficient to counter the wider declines. Indeed, the take-up of creative apprenticeships remains very low in all nations.

Mixed outcomes

The research also points to a mixed picture of outcomes among creative learners pursuing different pathways. This raises the importance of continuing to enhance the quality and relevance of skills programmes over time in response to labour market changes, so that they support stronger learner destinations.

Disparities across the board

Moreover, while broadening access and enhancing the inclusiveness of learning have been common UK-wide policy intentions, the research points to limits in diversity. Creative learners tend to be less ethnically and socioeconomically diverse than the wider FE student population. Furthermore, creative FE is highly concentrated in more urban regions, with more limited provision in rural areas.

Evolution, not revolution

Several implications emerge from this research. Chiefly, it highlights the importance of sustained policy commitments to strengthen FE, and in particular industry-facing technical training for the creative industries.

Across each nation, there have been common principles and design features guiding individual skills reforms. These seek to encourage lifelong learning, greater inclusion in learning among adults as well as young people, and stronger mechanisms to enhance the responsiveness of programmes including the customisation of FE to better meet varying geographical and sector labour market needs.

While the research highlights some of the challenges in achieving these goals, this does not point to a need for wholesale change. Instead, the dramatic realignment of the political landscape presents an opportunity to take stock, refocus and look to ways to build on existing progress.

With the likely introduction of a new industrial strategy by UK Government, the dedicated sector strategies in each nation can be revisited and policy and funding priorities reviewed.

This will present opportunities to more closely reflect on sector skills interventions to support greater learner and employer engagement, including incentives, communication tools, and the design and delivery of a broader range of skills programmes co-designed with creative employers.

Differences in the existing initiatives between the home nations provide fertile ground to share insights on what’s working. There will also be benefits in ongoing research to track changes in skills needs to understand trends in creative FE and how best to respond in future.

Creative Further Education in the four UK Nations: 2024 is written by Work Advance for and published by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, which is led by Newcastle University with the Royal Society of Arts and funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Read it in full here