Education and Skills
Higher Education
DCMS, in partnership with Universities UK, has established a Creative Industries Higher Education Forum.
The Forum draws together members of Government, creative industries and educational establishments to advise Ministers on strategic policies relating to education and research in the UK creative industries.
The Forum has identified 3 key areas of future work: skills; knowledge transfer and clustering; and entrepreneurship. We are currently in the process of establishing sub-groups, representing both the industries and higher education, to take this work forward.
Other schemes which may be of interest to creative businesses:
Creating strong links between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and businesses is an essential part of improving our economic performance, and HEIs have an increasingly important role to play in increasing the competitiveness of regional economies.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) have published a report highlighting best practice for HEIs and business clusters. "Business Clusters in the UK: A First Assessment" report, details seven case studies – a small sample of the collaboration that is already on-going – but a clear illustration of what can be achieved. This report can be accessed at http://www.dti.gov.uk/
The Film Council is the Government's lead strategic body for film, and has responsibility for the film industry, culture and education. It has established a number of funds which aim to address education and training relevant to the industry:
- Training Fund aims to provide training opportunities to the creative and technical talent base in the UK film industry. The Film Council has prioritised two key areas for support: training for scriptwriters, script editors and development executives; and training for business executives, distributors and producers. The Training Fund invests £1 million a year into a range of initiatives through its Regional Investment Fund for England. The Film Council can be contacted at http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/
- First Light is a £1 million lottery project aimed at providing a greater focus on film and moving image production activity by young people. Its objectives include developing links between the film industry and education/youth organisations, and promoting the benefits of film making as a part of children's creative education. Further details can be found at http://www.firstlightmovies.com/
- British Film Institute is the principle organisation through which the Film Council delivers its education objective. Details about the BFI's education programme are available on www.bfi.org.uk/education
National Film and Television School is a leading international centre for professional training in the film and television industries. Its MA in Film and Television is offered in ten separate specialisations: Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Post-Production, Sound, Producing, Screen Design, Screen Music and Screenwriting and is validated by the Royal College of Art. The NFTS website http://www.nftsfilm-tv.ac.uk/ has information about full-time and short courses, recent films, latest news and more.
Skillset is the Sector Skills Council for the audio-visual industries. Working in partnership with the Film Council Skillset has a research project to inform a new skills strategy for the film industry. Further details are available from http://www.skillset.org/. Further information on Sector Skills Councils can be found at the Sector Skills Development Agency website, http://www.ssda.org.uk/
"Joinedupdesignforschools" is a pilot project funded by the Sorrell Foundation to join up designers with schools across the country to demonstrate how design and creativity can improve the quality of life and learning in schools. Its two main objectives are: to explore the potential of partnership between schools and the design community and to demonstrate the potential of good design to improve the quality of life in schools; and to look at the educational value of the process of design and how it can help inspire creativity in young people.
Seven projects across the UK were selected. The schools worked closely with their chosen design company and all 7 projects were completed. The projects range from modernising the school uniform to designing the school of the future. Further details of the initiative can be found at http://www.joinedupdesignforschools.com/
Creative Partnerships aims to provide a bridge between schools and cultural organisations, enabling pupils to have the chance to work with creative professionals and organisations to develop creative skills (dance, sing, play a music instrument, write scripts etc) and to develop an understand and critical appreciation of culture in all its forms (visiting a museum or gallery, spending a day on a film set, meeting members of an orchestra etc).
The Arts Council is developing this project on behalf of DCMS and DfES. 16 LEA level locations have been announced: Manchester/Salford, Merseyside, Tees Valley, Durham/Sunderland, Kingston Upon Hull, South Yorkshire Coalfields, Birmingham, Black Country, Nottingham, Norfolk, Bristol, Cornwall, Slough, Kent, Inner London East and Inner London South. Further details can be found at http://www.creative-partnerships.com/
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