Creative economy skills shortage looms, report warns

There is UK-wide evidence of a sharp decline in creative further education participation that could lead to skill shortages in the creative industries, findings in a new report from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) reveal.

The Creative Further Education in the four UK nations: 2024 report is billed as the first to review student participation in creative further education across all four UK nations. Creative further education is defined as any after secondary education that is not higher education delivered by institutions such as universities and covers academic, technical and vocational education and training.

Creative PEC’s report found further education is on a downward trajectory across all subjects, in part due to reductions in funding, but is declining more rapidly in creative subjects than others. Between 2014/15 and 2022/23, creative further education enrolments fell by 57%, compared with 31% across all subjects.

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The issue is pronounced across all four UK nations. There has been a reduction of 220,000 enrolments in creative further education in England over the last decade, 4,500 fewer full-time equivalent creative students in Scotland, 65,000 fewer creative further education learning activities in Wales and in Northern Ireland, nearly 6,000 fewer regulated creative enrolments in the last five years.

Meanwhile, despite recent focus from policymakers across the UK, apprenticeship take-up remains very low in the creative industries across all four nations.

The share of all apprentices aligned to the creative industries ranges between 1.7% in Wales and 8.7% in England. In comparison, more than 85% of apprenticeships UK-wide are now in information and communications technology.

Creative PEC’s findings arrive at a time where the UK’s creative economy is growing, with estimates predicting up to 300,000 new jobs could be created in the industry over the next five years, which when considered in the context of declining further education participation, could indicate a talent pipeline shortage is on the horizon.

“As all four UK national governments look to the creative industries as a driver of economic growth, a renewed focus on creative further education will be essential,” said Bernard Hay, Head of Policy at the Creative PEC.

“We need long-term creative skills strategies that not only aim to boost access and provision, but also raise the bar on learner outcomes and diversity where these are flagging. That many of the trends highlighted in the report are UK-wide also shows the importance of sharing existing good practice.”

Widening access

Creative PEC’s report also highlights that creative further education is highly concentrated in urban cities and regions.

Areas including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Swansea, London, the South East and the West Midlands are all considered hotspots, while rural areas and regions including the North East of England, Argyll & Bute, the outer Hebrides and Shetland Islands, parts of North Wales and Welsh Valleys and the Northern and Southern Assembly areas of Northern Ireland were found to have much more limited provision.

In its policy considerations, the report says that intent to simply grow the volume of learners enrolled in creative further education will not be enough.

“The mixed picture of achievement and outcomes points to a need for sharper focus on the quality and labour market relevance of further education as well as the extent to which courses retain students, support their success and enable their progression to further study or the world of work,” the report concludes.

“The spatial patterns of creative further education suggest that efforts to ‘level up’ the creative industries and grow creative clusters across the UK will need a strong focus on skills provision to ensure the concomitant development of the creative industries and the talent base needed to support them.”

Creative PEC’s newest report is the latest in its State of the Nations series, following analysis into creative corridors and creative service exports.