Creating opportunities for those looking to start or further their careers in children’s TV helped the Children’s TV Skills Fund shape investment to meet the needs of the workforce in 2025.
Inspired by the need to respond to the direct needs of the industry, the Fund created a digital suggestion box for the Children’s Media Conference in July, allowing those from across all levels of the industry to have their say on what support they would like to see made available and share their experiences of the industry.
Responders were invited to highlight particular training needs, industry trends or challenges they would like to be explored. Their answers will help inform how the Skills Fund supports the workforce in this sector progress their careers.
In a move that supported greater flexibility for those looking to join the industry, in 2024/25 the Fund partnered with the Animation Skills Fund for the first time on flagship new entrant initiative, DreamBIG!. The programme provides a foot in the door for those looking to make their start in animation and live action children’s TV, offering placements at production companies and animation studios specialising in making content for children and young audiences. Successful candidates receive a 3-6 month paid placement in trainee production roles alongside training and support from thinkBIGGER!.
Following on from the success of last year's pilot scheme, the Children’s TV Skills Fund, Film Skills Fund and High-end TV Skills Fund continued to deliver a single ScreenSkills Trainee Finder programme, creating access to a range of training opportunities to new entrants across the UK. Over 2,700 people applied to take part, with interviews to form the new cohort taking place in February 2026.
Eline van der Velden is a member of the Children’s TV Skills Council and the founder of Particle6, a production company at the forefront of using technological advances within production. She worked with the Fund to offer placements to candidates on DreamBIG!, and told us how those placements have turned into permanent positions.
“We took part in the Dream Big programme last year and we got a wonderful employee called Louise. We also got another one through another placement who is brilliant development producer. I find the people I get through ScreenSkills incredible. What's great about the placement is they do the training and then they subsidise the placement for a bit. So as an employer, you're incentivized to take someone on. The relationship just develops very naturally and they naturally become an employee over time. It works for both parties so well because they get training, which helps them, and it helps us as employers that they get training and you don't have to think about it.”
The Get the Knowledge training series provided valuable learning opportunities for experienced professionals as well as those who haven’t worked with children before. A two-part working with under 18s course, led by industry leading experts on child content, welfare and compliance, offered essentials including how best to work with chaperones, policing crew behaviour, licencing and best working practices.
Over the course of the year, 291 people took part in a Get the Knowledge course, learning skills to work with, and develop content for, the under 18s.
The ScreenSkills website hosted a new set of free online resources designed to information to employers and individuals about the skills, responsibilities and tasks required for a wide range of roles and departments within children's TV productions. These checklists break down job roles which have specific or additional responsibilities related to working with under-18’s and provide a clear overview of the production process for children's TV.