UAL contributes to major new report on improving diversity and inclusion in creative Higher Education

Making the Creative Majority, a report authored by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Creative Diversity showing that access to creative Higher Education remains ‘highly unequal’, has now been published.

Making the Creative Majority is the culmination of a collaborative research project in partnership with King's College London, University of the Arts London (UAL), University of Manchester, and the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (Creative PEC), with support from YouTube and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. For UAL, Tessa Read, Head of Creative Shift - a programme that works with students from underrepresented backgrounds to support their creative career journeys – was a project lead on the report, while Dr Atif Ghani, a post-doctoral researcher at UAL, formed part of the research team.

The APPG for Creative Diversity was formed in May 2019 with the aim to engage with industry and government to identify and tackle obstacles to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the creative sector. In 2021, the APPG published the Creative Majority report and identified creative education as a key area for further research on how to support a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse creative economy. This latest Making the Creative Majority report focuses on ‘What Works’ to support diversity and inclusion in post-16 creative education and the talent pipeline.

The insights gleaned from the research highlight the importance of widening participation to creative degree courses; the potential for work- integrated learning to support transitions to creative employment; and the need for reform to the apprenticeship system, as the main alternative to degree courses. The report identifies critical points for intervention for the creative industries, higher education providers and policymakers to ensure the UK’s creative industries are inclusive and equitable.

“UAL welcomes and supports this crucial report from the APPG for Creative Diversity. We believe it is the responsibility of everyone within the creative education sector to offer creative learning opportunities for all students, to champion and promote a wide range of further and higher education learning outcomes and engage with future employers to ensure that we have an equitable, inclusive, and diverse creative economy. UAL is committed to bringing high-quality education to more students than ever before. The findings in the report, especially around the role of research in evidence informed interventions and measurable impact, will guide us as we reshape our efforts to support students from the widest possible backgrounds to access creative education. Having a diverse student population, as well as a diverse workforce in the creative industries is crucial for society, prosperity, and the future of creativity. UAL looks forward to engaging with this work further.”

Roni Brown, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, UAL

You can download the full ‘Making the Creative Majority’ report on the King’s College London website.