Call for Evidence

The GuildHE Creative HE Strategy Call for Evidence is now closed. This Call for Evidence is the sector's opportunity to provide crucial insights for developing a roadmap that will secure the pipeline of talent, strengthen the sector's impact on regional growth, and ensure better policy support for creative higher education. 

The UK's creative industries are a significant success story, defining our culture and providing a fast-growing economic sector. Projected to be the largest high-growth employment sector from 2025-2030, according to Skills England - and currently expanding at twice the rate of the wider economy - the sector heavily relies on university graduates; 75% of its workforce holds a degree, compared to the UK average of 51%. Higher education supports research and innovation for the industry, while creative HE institutions act as anchors for cultural and community exchange across the country. 

We are gathering evidence across three key themes: 

  • Curriculum, Skills, and Student Experience
  • Research and Innovation
  • Regions, Engaged Citizenship, and Civic Responsibility

With our Creative HE Strategy Project, we seek to secure and reinforce a pipeline of skilled people, a thriving research and innovation environment, and effective regional and social collaborations that can deliver the economic growth and creative innovation needed in twenty-first century Britain.  

 

A National Taskforce

We bring together representatives from the creative industries, higher education, business and public engagement sectors alongside funders and government officials to help us to steer and shape the strategy. Taskforce members include:

  • Professor Roni Brown (Chair), Creative Industries Independent Specialist
  • Charlie Ball, Labour Market Intelligence Specialist, Jisc
  • Sandra Booth, Director of Policy and External Relations, CHEAD
  • Nikki Christie, Deputy Director Creative Digital Finance and Business, Skills England
  • Professor Maria Delgado, Vice Principal, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
  • Jolanta Edwards, Director of Policy, London Higher
  • Miriam Firth, Graduate Futures Institute
  • Harry Gault, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Creative UK
  • Nik Gunn, Policy Advisor, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre
  • Rosalind Gill, Director of Policy, National Centre for Universities and Business
  • Darren Henley, CEO, Arts Council England
  • Paul Manners, Co-Director, National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement
  • Daniel Moore, Associate Director, Research England
  • Nadine Patel, Policy Advisor for Specialist Institution Forum and Conservatories UK, Universities UK
  • Dr Brooke Storer-Church, CEO, GuildHE
  • Vanessa Wilson, CEO, University Alliance
  • Evelyn Wilson, Co-Director, National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange
  • Patrick Curry, Director of HE Oversight, Department for Education

 

Launch at Labour Party Conference 2025

We kicked off the project at a launch event at Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts (30 September) by showcasing creative higher education’s unique strengths and contributions to the government's priority skills and economic growth agenda. 

Read our launch briefing

Get involved! 

This is a pivotal moment. The UK government has recognised that we cannot afford to underutilise an industry that generates £125 billion a year for the economy. But, to sustain it, we cannot overlook the educational sector that is its driving force. Specialist creative higher education has the power to accelerate growth, opportunity and living standards across the whole country through its dynamic ecosystem of skills, innovation, business and research. 

We invite you to join us in this campaign – to recognise the power of specialist creative higher education, to imagine innovations that can secure its success into the future, and position creativity firmly at the heart of the UK’s future.  

If you are any of the following, please get in touch at [email protected] 

  • a creative higher education institution and you would like to have a discussion, submit policy ideas or case studies to the project
  • a government official, MP or political advisor taking part in forums, groups or a taskforce dedicated to improving creative education, the business environment or labour market
  • a researcher or analyst exploring ideas, producing evidence or analysing data to support advocacy for the creative industries or education