Access, learning and development in the creative and cultural sectors: from ‘creative apprenticeship’ to ‘being apprenticed’

Abstract

This paper challenges the prevailing conventional wisdom in the UK that the government is the sole architect of the education and training (E&T) system and that qualifications are the magic bullet for securing employment in the creative and cultural sector. It also argues that if policy‐makers are serious about wanting to diversify the occupational profile of the creative and cultural sector to reflect both the multicultural composition of the UK’s population and the rising demand for broader creative and cultural products and services, then it is necessary to develop a less qualification‐driven and more multifaceted approach to facilitating access and supporting learning and development in that sector. The paper maintains that this presupposes a shift from the current credentialist strategy to develop ‘creative apprenticeships’ towards a strategy that supports people to ‘be apprenticed’ in a variety of ways in the creative and cultural sector.