The Young Creatives Commission is a national commission exploring how access to arts and creative opportunities can be improved for young people across England.

About the Commission

The Young Creatives Commission is a national commission exploring how access to arts and creative opportunities can be rebuilt for young people across England.

Led by Centre for Young Lives in partnership with Roundhouse, the Commission aims to promote access to and increased participation in the arts by putting creativity on a par with sport for youth engagement.

It also seeks to open clearer, more inclusive pathways into creative careers, supporting greater diversity across the creative industries.

The Commission focuses on young people aged 10–25, with particular attention to those from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds.

Why we exist

Creativity should be a normal and expected part of every young person’s life.

Yet opportunities for young people to engage in the arts have declined in recent years, with unequal access shaped by factors such as geography, affordability, cultural relevance and the availability of local provision. These challenges are felt most acutely by young people from disadvantaged communities.

At the same time, there is growing recognition of the role creativity plays in education, mental health and wellbeing, skills development and future employment.

The Young Creatives Commission has been established to respond to this moment, and to help shape a fairer, more inclusive approach to creativity for young people.

Scope of the Commission

Creativity should be a part of every young person’s life and is integral to their education and development. The arts can be uniquely transformative, helping young people find their identities and passions, boosting mental health and wellbeing, and providing technical and transferable skills for employment.

The review of the school curriculum and post-16 education and skills have both highlighted the importance of creativity. In its most recent announcement of an Enrichment Framework, the Government pledged that ‘young people across the country will have greater access to high-quality arts education, wider creative and sporting activities’.

The Government’s National Youth Strategy for out-of-school and youth work activities aims to build skills and opportunities for life and work, reversing years of decline by funding youth centres, grassroots sports, arts and music programmes in the communities that need it most.

In the Government’s Plan for Change and expanded Creative Careers programme, young people will learn the creative skills they need to succeed – ‘to create good jobs, choices and chances for all our young people’.

The Commission will explore a continuum of provision and opportunities for young people (ages 10-25) in England. It will promote raised awareness of the importance of culture and the arts, increased levels of participation and involvement among young people, and greater diversity and inclusion for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in creative industries careers.

The Commission will:

Build a clear model for access

Develop a practical model and set of recommendations aligned with the government’s national youth strategy, focused on increasing young people’s access to arts and creative spaces in their local communities.

Strengthen the role of the arts

Highlight the role of the arts in education reform, mental health and community engagement, and support partnerships that help creativity be understood, valued and accessed on a par with sport.

Tackle barriers to participation

Identify the barriers that limit participation in the arts and widen gaps in access, and propose solutions that improve inclusion, representation and diversity in creative opportunities and careers.

Support learning beyond the classroom

Explore how non-formal learning, youth work, and enrichment activities can support skills development and career pathways, narrowing the gap for participation by disadvantaged young people.

Inform decision-making with evidence

Provide clear, evidence-based proposals to support policymakers, funders and industry leaders in making practical, informed decisions across the arts and creative sectors.

Our focus areas

Our focus areas

State of the Arts

A view of the state of play for the arts and creativity in education, youth work and enrichment activities for youth engagement, increased particiatpion and careers in the creative industries

We want to understand:

  • What are the creative activities and opportunities in the arts that young people want to take part and enjoy .
  • What is driving the decline of opportunities for young people to participate in the arts, the extent of the decline and its impact on young people, and how this can this be turned around.
  • What resources and facilities are needed and the benefits they bring the benefits they bring, to increase participation in the arts.
  • Youth Voice: what young people want from creative activities and opportunities in the arts and culture.

Equality of Access

How to break down the barriers and create inclusive opportunities for access to the arts – national and local responsibilities and the role of and support from the creative industries.

We want to understand:

  • What the barriers are that young people face to access the arts in their local area: affordability, travel, lack of community provision, safety and safeguarding, cultural sensitivity.
  • The extent creative activities and opportunities in the arts are inclusive for all and culturally sensitive, and the barriers to take part.
  • Youth Voice: what the lived experience is of young people wanting to participate in the arts, in particular from disadvantaged backgrounds or discrimination.

Learning through the Arts

How to boost learning through non-academic routes in the arts, including the benefits of access to creative spaces and quality facilities in community settings.

We want to understand:

  • What are the benefits of the arts for personal and social development and life skills, including mental health and wellbeing.
  • What are the benefits and skills gained from the arts that support future employment, including careers in the creative industries.
  • What is the role of enrichment and out of school activities for creative, technical and transferable skills; with a particular focus on the performing arts.
  • Youth Voice: the extent to which creative opportunities and experiences of the performing arts in particular shape a young person’s career choices and how they are supported in those choices.

Digital Experience

How and where young people can learn and perform in the digital and real realms, including access to the careers in the creative industries, supported online.

We want to understand:

  • How positive digital resources can be used in education and to support non-academic routes for learning and career opportunities.
  • How greater engagement with the online world impacting on young people’s experiences of the arts and opportunities for participation and performance at ‘traditional’ venues.
  • What makes for a positive digital experience and what are the new and most innovative areas for the performing arts in particular.
  • Youth Voice: young people’s and parents’ experiences of digital media and online resources, and what would help enhance their experience.

Creative Partnerships

How to bring together the creative industries, youth and education sectors, to break down barriers and increase opportunity in the arts for disadvantaged young people, and a talent pipeline supported by the creative industries.

We want to understand:

  • How we can increase participation in the arts and scale up career awareness to improve access pathways for disadvantaged young people in particular.
  • What more can be done to support young people’s opportunities and experiences in the arts and to grow new audiences and talent pipelines for the creative industries.
  • What part the arts and creative spaces and facilities play under the statutory duty for local authorities to secure ‘educational and recreational leisure time’ for young people in their local area.
  • Youth Voice: young people’s interest in, opportunities to take part and experiences of the performing arts in particular, that is school-based, after school and in community settings.

Cross-cutting Themes

How we will know what are the benefits and impact of the boosting young people’s access to the arts and out of school activities.

From each of the focus areas we want to understand:

  • Youth voice and experience of the arts
  • Increased participation by disadvantaged young people
  • Innovation and collaboration between the arts, education and youth sectors
  • Technical and transferable skills
  • Employment and career pathways
  • Greater diversity and representation in the creative industries
  • Evaluation and impact measures

Gathering evidence

The Young Creatives Commission is gathering evidence from across England to understand the barriers young people face in accessing the arts, and what works in increasing participation and opportunity.

This includes research, consultation with young people and organisations, evidence sessions with experts, and engagement with communities and creative spaces.

Insights gathered through this work will directly inform the Commission’s findings and recommendations.

The deadline for submitting evidence is te 12th April 2026. Please follow the link below to submit your evidence, and ensure you have done so by 12th April.

call for evidence

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© 2026 The Young Creatives Commission

The Young Creatives Commission is led by Centre for Young Lives, a think tank and advocacy organisation working to improve outcomes for children and young people, with a focus on education, wellbeing and opportunity.

The Commission is delivered in partnership with Roundhouse, a renowned performing arts and youth organisation supporting young people to develop creative skills, confidence and pathways into the creative industries.

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