In late January 2021 the Department for Education published four papers affecting further and higher education, including the regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), making a change in the top-up funding for high cost subject areas meaning Art and Design courses were omitted from the list.
Continuing disincentives for schools, colleges and universities to offer creative subject areas will affect the pipeline of creative talent to the industry and the wider economy. These policy interventions seem to be at odds with other drivers for a skills-led recovery and future growth, such as the Creative Industries Sector Deal (within the broader Industrial Strategy) and the Cultural Recovery Fund.
CHEAD have written to the Universities Minister, Michelle Donelan MP, outlining our concerns and calling for our subjects to be classified as strategically important.
A copy of the letter is available here.