Discover! Creative Careers Week launches

This week is Discover! Creative Careers Week, a call to arms to employers and individuals across the sector to provide young people aged 11-18 with direct encounters with industry through in-person and online events at workplaces.

From 13–17 November, thousands of young people will meet professionals and hear directly about different sectors, job roles, career pathways and more, through a range of interactive activities including building tours, talks, workshops and discussions, alongside a virtual programme delivered by Speakers for Schools.

The national programme is part of Government’s pledge to build a highly-skilled, productive and inclusive workforce for the future, with its ambition to maximise growth of the creative industries by £50 billion and support a million more jobs across the UK by 2030, as outlined in the Creative Industries Sector Vision launched earlier this year.

Through year-round activities and online resources, the programme works closely with sector representatives to improve awareness and challenge misconceptions about careers in the creative industries among young people aged 11-18 and those that support their careers decisions.

Responding directly to reported concerns, it aims to remove barriers to accessing careers in the creative industries such as location limitations, lack of knowledge about the roles available and misconceptions about prospects within the sector.

With £1million invested from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), including funding from Arts Council England, and alongside in-kind support from across industry, the 2023 – 2025 programme enables long-term and targeted engagement between industry, educators, and careers professionals. The initiative, which began as a pilot launched with £2million seed funding from Government in 2018, has reached over 120,000 young people so far.

The 2023 - 2025 programme is funded by DCMS to provide focused support to schools and young people in 77 priority areas, identified as those facing the greatest disadvantage in accessing information about careers in the creative industries, with a number of  opportunities that are open to all.

Highlights during the week include:

• Create Studios in Swindon are hosting young people from local schools and colleges to meet employers and take part in animation, CGI, creative coding, digital film production, gaming and music workshops
• Over 60 young people will attend an immersive workshop at Framestore, a visual effects company in London. They will be joined by Creative Industries Minister John Whittingdale in the afternoon.
• In Birmingham, BOA Stage & Screen Production Academy have schools and colleges travelling from across the midlands to take part in creative, technical and construction careers workshops
• In Stoke on Trent, Carse & Waterman Productions will host a group for an interactive animation and visual effects (VFX) workshop.
• In Wigan, Discover! will launch a youth voice pilot at Wigan Youth Zone in partnership with Curious Minds, to hear directly from young people, leading towards more co-designed activity in future.
• The week features several opportunities for students with special educational needs (SEND) including an online workshop with Leeds Museums and Galleries reaching over 550 young people, a workplace workshop with Blue Zoo Animation with a group of 10 students, a Framestore workshop day and an online insight with Newcastle Castle.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said: “Our creative industries offer some of the most exciting and rewarding jobs you can think of. Just look at the credits at the end of a film and you will get an idea of the different types of roles that are available - and that is only scratching the surface. 

Every young person should feel like a creative career is open to them, which is why opportunities to experience our brilliant industries during Discover! Creative Careers Week are so important.

We want to build a pipeline of talent so our creative industries can grow and thrive - and there is no more exciting time for young people to consider the opportunities that a creative career has to offer."

Seetha Kumar, CEO at ScreenSkills said: “ScreenSkills is committed to removing barriers to entry and supporting people from disadvantaged and disconnected communities to have equal and fair access to training and employment opportunities. Making the creative industries the most diverse and inclusive sector is good for creativity, the economy and for the UK globally.”

Mary Rose, Discover Creative Careers Programme Lead said: “We believe there’s a career for everyone in the creative industries and it’s our mission to ensure young people from all backgrounds understand the jobs and pathways that exist. Direct encounters with industry are vital and we’re incredibly excited to see so many employers taking part in this year’s Discover! Creative Careers Week. We hope it encourages  others to get involved in the programme and demonstrate their commitment to securing a skilled and inclusive future workforce”