Creative careers service 26/27-28/29

Applicants may apply as:

• A single organisation, with or without partners. Single applicants must make clear in their application whether they plan to procure any additional delivery partners. 

• A joint application, such as a consortium, joint venture, unincorporated association, partnership, special purpose vehicle, or otherwise. This would apply for example, to entities who feel that alone they do not have the capacity or capability to address the department’s requirements, and wish to bring in additional expertise to meet the department’s required skills and experience for the role. 

It is not possible to bid for part of this grant only if not part of a joint application (e.g. a single organisation bidding for provision of particular elements, such as the website or work experience provision) and DCMS will not combine separate bids. 

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible to apply for this grant, you must be a UK entity and have been trading in the UK for more than 12 months.

Your organisation will need to provide us with mandatory documentation:

1. 2 references

2. Details of any grant funding you have received from a government or local government organisation in the last 5 years or are currently receiving. We will obtain feedback from the relevant departments. 

3. An annual report and audited or certified accounts, covering the last 12 months, or similar documentation. Please note: in the event your last financial year end was more than 6 months ago, we may request further accounting information at a later date as part of the due diligence process.

Joint approach

The following additional information applies to applicants who put forward a joint approach: 

• A lead party must be identified that shall submit an application on behalf of all parties to the joint application.

• The lead party shall be responsible for all communication with the department during the application and appointment process.

• As part of their application, the applicant must submit i) a partnership agreement (draft or signed) and ii) a structure diagram identifying the roles, relationships and governance between the parties including all relevant companies, their respective parent or ultimate holding companies. The structure should make clear who will be responsible for delivery of the grant and ensure that, as a minimum, the legal obligations and liabilities of the applicant are borne by an entity or entities which satisfy the financial requirements set out in this specification of requirements.

• If partnership agreements are at draft stage, the lead applicant must also submit written confirmation from each party that they authorise the lead party organisation to act on their behalf in relation to this grant competition.

For joint approaches to be eligible, they must adhere to the following criteria and provide the mandatory documentation listed:

1. The lead party must be a UK entity and have been trading in the UK for more than 12 months. For additional partners, this is a preference but not essential.

2. Any organisations that are applying in a joint application must provide a copy of annual reports and audited or certified accounts covering the last 12 months. NB. The lead applicant must provide these documents, and joint application partner documents must also be provided at this stage.

3. Trustees and directors from multiple organisations are not related and there is no indication of fraud.

4. Where multiple organisations are located at the same postcode, there is no indication of fraud – if multiple organisations hold the same address, they will be asked to provide an explanation.

Procurement of additional delivery partners

The procurement of additional delivery partners is permitted under this grant, but grant applicants must state clearly where they intend to procure as part of their project plan and provide information outlined in the Commercial Requirements section in the full competition guidance attached.

Under a joint approach explained above, the lead party is not required to procure the other parties, as parties are expected to reach an agreement about their partnership prior to application. If members of a joint application plan procurement of further partners after award (e.g. due to a gap in their capability as a group), then this must be made clear in their proposal, as above. 

TUPE

Please note, there may be a risk of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE) related to the future delivery of this grant. 

Equality and Diversity,  Safeguarding and Good Work

We want to understand how your organisation will approach equality and diversity and job quality, both internally and considering how to ensure good standards are upheld by your onwards recipients. We also expect applicants to demonstrate a clear commitment to safeguarding. This is an eligibility requirement for all applicants.  

Applicants will need to submit an equality and diversity statement, their safeguarding policy, and a statement which demonstrates how you already, or intend to, support Good or Fair Work across all the UK nations covered by your application.

For example in England, we expect this to be a commitment to the following principles of Good Work for those you employ and contract: 

• Fair reward, terms and conditions, 

• A balance of security and flexibility, 

• Autonomy and personal fulfilment,

• Skill use, development and progression,

• Agency, voice and representation, and

• A healthy, respectful, safe and inclusive work environment.

The types of examples you may wish to share in relation to Good/Fair Work could include (but are not limited to): a commitment to pay all workers the Real Living Wage, the guarantee of a written contract for those you contract on a self-employed basis, adherence to the CIISA Standards, local Good Work accreditation (e.g. London's Good Work Standard), your workforce development and training policy. Please see guides to Fair Work in Scotland and Wales for further examples. You are welcome to attach evidence where available. 

Your organisation will need to provide us with mandatory information/documentation:

• Organisational equality and diversity statement

• Organisational “Good / Fair Work” statement for those you employ and contract

• Safeguarding policy

Eligibility process

Applicants will be asked to explain how they meet the minimum requirements set out above, referencing the mandatory documents where relevant. Applications which do not meet the minimum eligibility criteria will not have their scoring continued, as they will not be eligible to deliver the funding.

Due Diligence

DCMS does not tolerate fraud, bribery or corruption. Applications will be checked against various databases to assess accuracy of the information provided. DCMS will monitor the grant throughout its lifetime and may conduct additional assurance exercises to ensure that funding is being spent correctly. 

We expect applicants to provide further information, if requested, as the result of due diligence and risk assessment checks. DCMS will conduct its due diligence checks through processes including (but not limited to):

• The Government’s online automated due-diligence tool “Spotlight”

• Manual pre- and post-award checks in line with Cabinet Office’s Guidance for General Grants

Examples of issues that arise during due diligence checks - and may preclude applicants from being eligible for funding - include:

• Non-provision of the mandatory documentation

• Inaccurate or incomplete Charity Commission / Companies House information 

• Inaccurate or incomplete budget and cash flow documents

• Inaccurate or incomplete project plan 

• (In the case of a joint bid) the above issues being present with one of the delivery partners, even if not a concern for the other delivery partners / consortia members

Other grant recipient expectations

In addition to the eligibility requirements, we expect that a successful grant recipient would also require the following in order to achieve this grant’s objectives:

Delivery and engagement capability

• The ability to lead delivery of a UK-wide programme which reaches all areas of the UK - either independently, as part of a joint application, or through the procurement of delivery partners. 

• Strong networks within the creative industries across all nations and regions of the UK, and ability to work with a variety of industry partners set up at pace and deliver the CCS.

• Ability to galvanise industry support and match funding (cash or in-kind, see ‘Funding’ section for details). 

• The ability to work closely with national, regional and local governments to design and deliver the service and ensure alignment with local/regional careers activity and priorities, including:

• UK central government 

• Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments

• Mayoral Strategic Authorities

• Devolved networks, strategies and organisations such as Scottish Regional Economic Partnerships (REPs), Local Skills Improvement Plans, Local Growth Plans and Get Britain Working Plans.

• Local authorities 

• Ability to work closely with organisations which provide careers support, including schools, JCPs, the National Careers Service (which will be merged into a new Jobs and Careers Service), Skills Development Scotland and other relevant organisations in all four UK nations.

• Experience delivering projects with a similar scope and/or scale and working with central government.

Sector knowledge and data

• A good understanding of the creative careers landscape and schools careers system in each nation

• A good understanding of target audience’s media habits, in order to ensure that the online careers products are reaching target audiences

• The ability to work with DCMS to identify and target priority places, and experience of reaching underrepresented groups

• Access to good quality labour market information, and the ability to use this to inform direction of the programme to support the government’s growth objectives

• Ability to collect data on participation in the programme and work with an external evaluation partner

Management capability

• Sufficient staff capacity and capabilities to deliver this project in the timeframe set out;

• Appropriate financial management systems and processes to account for creative careers service grant expenditure accurately and transparently, such as fraud risk assessments, fraud, bribery, anti-corruption and due diligence policies, and experience managing counter fraud processes.

The objectives of this grant are as follows:

• To improve knowledge of pathways and opportunities in the Creative Industries (CIs) for young people (of school age, 11-18, or young people searching for work, 16-24) who engage with the programme and/or are in the campaign audience.

• To improve knowledge of pathways and opportunities in the CIs among young people’s influencers who are engaged in the programme and/or are in the campaign audience (teachers, parents, careers advisors, work coaches).

• To stimulate sector investment and engagement in the talent pipeline.

• To provide opportunities for young people to directly interact with the sector, through encounters or work experience.

• To increase regional and demographic diversity in the entry-level workforce.

These are to be achieved by 31 March 2029, except for the final objective, ‘to increase regional and demographic diversity in the entry-level workforce’. We expect this to be measurable within the three years for elements of the programme relating to young people in search of work, but for delivery relating to young people of school age, this will be a longer-term objective (5+ years).  Please see the competition guidance for full details.

Competition opens for applications: 24 December 2025

Clarification questions deadline: 23:59 13 January 2026

Publication of clarification questions: 20 January 2026

Deadline of the application: 09:00 16 February 2026

Application Assessment: 16 - 20 February 2026

Provisional notification of award: w/c 24 February 2026

Notification of formal approval: March 2026

Funding must be spent by 31 March 2029.

Please follow the steps below to apply:

1. Ensure you have fully read the guidance outlined on this page and in the competition guidance document.

2. Read DCMS’s standard terms and conditions of grants.

3. Complete the application form and required documentation listed within the form.

Applications for this grant fund must be submitted by 09:00 16 February 2026 to hayley.russell@dcms.gov.uk, rebecca.robinson@dcms.gov.uk and bethan.morrish@dcms.gov.uk with the subject line:

Grant Application – [Organisation Name] – creative careers service

Any applications received after the closing date will not be assessed.

It is your responsibility to ensure your application is concise, fully completed, and that you supply all the necessary supporting documentation.

• Full competition guidance

• Creative Careers Programme 25/26 priority areas methdology