As part of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC's) research agenda around the value of creative education, we consulted our Industry Champions on their experience of recruiting talent from post-18 Higher and Further Education. 

Our Industry Champions are trusted and respected practitioners, drawn from all parts of the creative industries and from across the UK. They have deep knowledge of industry practice and a desire to inform academic research that leads to better policies for the creative industries.

We convened an Industry Panel which brought together some of the Industry Champions to work through the issues relating to recruitment of talent from post-18 Higher and Further Education. The panellists, working in industries as diverse as publishing, technology, design, craft, advertising, film and visual effects, met on July 16, and the Panel was chaired by Caroline Julian, Director of Policy and Programmes at the Creative Industries Federation. Panellists were asked to speak frankly about the reality of the situation within their sectors, including about areas where they believed there was a need for change. 'Insights from our Industry Champions: The Value of Creative Higher and Further Education' records the key points discussed at that meeting. 

The purpose of the Panel was that its outcomes be used alongside research from the PEC and insights gathered from other key stakeholders to feed into relevant policy commissions, the Department for Education and All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs). Examples include Yvette Cooper’s Commission for Workers and Technology, Estelle Morris’s Lifelong Learning Commission and the APPG for students, chaired by Paul Blomfield MP. In addition, the Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Gavin Williamson MP has recently written to the Office for Students (OfS) voicing concerns about students getting ‘value for money’. It will therefore be important to feed the outcomes of this Panel and additional research from the PEC into both his ministerial team and the OfS. In addition, there are direct implications for the PEC itself, as well as for industry, that emerged.

Published 2nd October 2019

Please reference this paper as:

Easton, E (2019) The value of creative higher and further education. London: Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre. Available from: https://www.pec.ac.uk/policy-briefings/insights-from-our-industry-champions-the-value-of-creative-higher-and-further-education