Industries in the Creative Sector: Businesses' Viewpoints on Training Programs: 2025 Vision

Industries in the Creative Sector: Businesses' Viewpoints on Training Programs: 2025 Vision

The growth of the creative industries over the past decade, driven by rapid technological change and structural shifts like an ageing population, presents an opportunity for policy makers to explore how to better leverage employer investment in skills. A report titled "Creative Industries Employers' Perspectives on Skills Initiatives: 2025" outlines several policy considerations for strengthening employer engagement in skills programs within the creative industries.

Policy Considerations for the Creative Industries

The report highlights several key policy considerations to strengthen employer engagement in skills programs within the creative industries. These include:

1. Developing flexible and portable apprenticeship models to accommodate the project-based, freelance nature of creative work, which has seen low uptake (2.1% of all starts) due to delivery costs for small firms, inflexible duration requirements, and limited specialist training providers tailored to the sector.
2. Enhancing employer involvement in designing training pathways to align better with real-world creative industry demands, including more adaptable scheduling and coordination for industry placements like T Levels, which have encountered difficulties due to the flexible and project-driven workflow typical in creative jobs.
3. Supporting employer engagement through targeted programs like the Creative Careers Programme, which offers young people direct exposure to creative workplaces and career pathways, thereby fostering closer ties between employers and potential entrants to the sector.
4. Addressing cost and resource barriers faced by small and medium creative firms, which often limit their ability to participate in or host training and apprenticeships. Policy can aim to reduce financial burden through funding support, shared resources, or partnerships with training providers.
5. Expanding the market of specialised training providers with sector expertise to increase the quality and relevance of skills development in creative fields.
6. Encouraging greater recognition of the sector’s high reliance on higher education qualifications (with an estimated 69% holding degree-level or equivalent), integrating formal education more closely with employer-led upskilling and on-the-job training.
7. Promoting digital and creative skills that align with evolving industry demands, including creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration — the "four Cs" that employers increasingly value, alongside technical and data literacy skills relevant for innovation in creative settings.

These considerations reflect a multi-faceted approach to policy-making that emphasizes flexibility, employer collaboration, specialized provision, and financial support to build effective skills initiatives that meet the unique needs of the creative industries workforce.

Other Key Findings

• Creative industries employers are more likely to recruit graduates to their first job compared with school or college leavers.
• The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out a commitment to creating a "high quality, responsive, inclusive and targeted" skills system for the creative industries.
• Better partnerships between industry and training providers can help embed expertise within the skills and training system.
• Co-design of skills programmes is essential to ensure they meet industry requirements and give learners preparation for work.
• Government-backed surveys can help policy makers understand where employers are on their engagement journey.
• Creative industries firms are less likely to offer employment after a placement compared with all sectors.
• Industry bodies can develop and pilot sector-specific initiatives at the local level.
• Creative industries employers report that 21% of graduates recruited are not prepared for their role, which is higher than 14% of employers across all industries.
• Creative industries engagement with apprenticeships remains low and less sustained over time.
• Employer engagement in skills programmes remains limited in scope and consistency.
• In England, Local Skills Improvement Plans can serve to further develop existing initiatives like the British Film Institute's Skills Clusters.
• Awareness of skills interventions and qualifications among creative industries employers remains variable.
• The Government's new Industrial Strategy aims to boost opportunity, support economic growth, and ensure a strong pipeline of talent for priority sectors like the creative industries.
• The research summarised in the policy brief focuses on creative employers' experiences of skills initiatives that are sector-focused and work-based.
• The creative industries can broaden access to job opportunities by expanding vocational and technical pathways for learners.
• Creative industries employers primarily use apprenticeships to recruit new staff, not train existing employees.
• Most creative firms rely on recruitment of workers in middle age (25-49 years old).
• Awareness of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) is very low across the creative industries and wider economy.
• The Government's devolution agenda creates opportunities for national and local governments to coordinate efforts and trial tailored skills interventions.
• Fewer creative industries employers provide accredited training linked to formal qualifications compared with UK employers overall.
• Creative industries employers are more likely to say that capacity (in terms of time and resources) is the main reason for not offering a placement.
• The creative industries recruit young people (under 25) and older people (50+) at a lower rate compared to other sectors.
• Only a minority of creative industries employers had recruited education leavers in the past 2 - 3 years.

1. The report suggests developing flexible and portable apprenticeship models to address the low uptake in the creative industries, considering the project-based and freelance nature of creative work.
2. To align training programs better with the demands of the creative industry, employers should be encouraged to collaborate in the design of training pathways, including more adaptable scheduling and industry placements.
3. Policy considerations also suggest supporting employer engagement through targeted programs, such as the Creative Careers Programme, which provides young people with exposure to creative workplaces and career pathways.
4. The report calls for addressing cost and resource barriers faced by small and medium creative firms, which often impede their ability to participate in or host training and apprenticeships.
5. To increase the quality and relevance of skills development in creative fields, there is a need to expand the market of specialized training providers with sector expertise.
6. Emphasis should be given to integrating formal education more closely with employer-led upskilling and on-the-job training, recognizing the sector's high reliance on higher education qualifications.
7. In light of evolving industry demands, there is a need to promote digital and creative skills, including creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration – the "four Cs" – as well as technical and data literacy skills for innovation in creative settings.
8. The report highlights the need for flexible, employer collaboration, specialized provision, and financial support to develop effective skills initiatives that meet the unique needs of the creative industries workforce.
9. The report underscores the importance of research, as it focuses on creative employers' experiences of skills initiatives that are sector-focused and work-based, thereby informing future policy and intervention strategies in the creative industries.

Read also: