Creative Careers
Scroll down to find out about the creative industries and career pathways.
Discover Creative Careers
Discover Creative Careers exists to inform and inspire young people about careers in the creative industries. It aims to showcase creative careers unknown to many and to explain what skills and qualifications they need to succeed in those careers when they leave school.
With over £1million invested from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and additional support from the Arts Council England, the 2023 - 2025 programme aims to reach young people from 77 target areas across England to pursue a career in the creative industries.
There's a career for everyone in the creative industries
Discover Creative Careers is a government-funded, industry-led programme working to ensure there is a larger and more diverse intake of talent into the creative industries.
The national programme is part of the Government’s pledge to build a highly-skilled, productive and inclusive workforce for the future, with its ambition to maximise the growth of the creative industries, with £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.
For students and parents
Interested in a career in the creative industries? Find out about the range of roles, the prospect of work and where to go for further information.
Why art and culture matters
Art and culture contributes £10.6 billion to the UK economy - the UK has a creative economy worth £27bn and culture brings £850m to the UK, through tourism, each year. Share our tweet >
Arts and culture helps tackle social injustice - theatres, museums, galleries and libraries are the beating heart of our towns and cities. Not only do they bring prosperity, they bring communities together and make life worth living.
Our creative industries are successful throughout the world - our leading cultural institutions are a calling card worldwide and have important trading links from the US, Germany to China and South Korea. Last year our National Portfolio Organisations earned £57m abroad.
UCL EAST
An introduction to creative careers
It’s the big question – what career to choose?
Here you'll find creative professionals sharing
the work they do, the skills they use, and how
they got into their creative careers.
Featuring:
The UK’s creative industries contributed £115.9 billion to the economy in 2019, according to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
The creative industries were one of the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy. They are defined by the UK government as “those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent, and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property”. https://www.wearecreative.uk/champion/statistics/
The Creative Industries Federation
Statistics Definition
Prior to the pandemic, the creative industries were one of the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy. They are defined by the UK government as “those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property”.
Explore, create, collaborate
The Whitechapel Gallery Youth Programme is open to people aged 15 – 24 and gives young adults the chance to explore contemporary art, meet creative professionals and peers and discover career paths in the sector.
CREATIVE CAREERS AT SOMERSET HOUSE
Somerset House’s careers development programme, Upgrade Yourself, offers a range of opportunities to support access to jobs and professional development in the creative sector.
As London’s Working Arts Centre, Somerset House’s extensive creative community of artists, makers, producers, and creative businesses provides opportunities and clear career pathways to future generations of talent across the creative sector. Our aim is to make the workforce more representative of the society in which we live.
Our Upgrade Yourself: Online programme brings you innovative programming, to inform and connect you with our industry peers, to support and unlock your creative potential and ideas. By offering inspirational lunchtime talks delivered by high profile creative professionals, as well as engaging process-led workshops developed by industry insiders and facilitators, we can provide you with real-world context to focus your own creative career ambitions.
Led by members of the Somerset House creative community and external partners, these digital sessions primarily aimed at people aged 18-25 are for those looking for access routes into the Creative Industries and the Cultural Sector.
Brinkworth - A global design company creating spaces that build strong connections between people and brands.
They are a team of multi-talented specialists including designers, architects, and engineers. Check them out! brinkworth.com
Brinkworth and London Met created a fabulous creative careers event in December 2021 for our schools - information and videos to share coming soon.