Government backed campaign reaches almost 80,000 young people

Almost 80,000 young people were reached as part of a government-funded, industry-led programme month of activity to demystify careers in the creative industries and inspire young people of working class and underrepresented backgrounds.

Discover! Creative Careers Month, part of an industry-led year round programme, ran throughout November and gave 79,134 young people aged 11 to 18 direct experiences with creative industry employers. The month aimed to demonstrate that there are career opportunities for people from a wide range of backgrounds across all regions of the UK, not just London and the South East.

The month of encounters and awareness-raising activities connected young people with industry professionals to show them just what careers are on offer - from working backstage at a concert venue or theatre, to developing the latest gaming technology.

Coordinated by industry hosts across the creative industries and supported by industry-led skills charity ScreenSkills, the activities crossed all subsectors of the creative industries and included a range of influential organisations throughout the UK.

Creative Industries Minister, Ian Murray said:

Discover! Creative Careers Month is completely aligned to what this Government believes in - improving access for people of all backgrounds, and creating earning power and economic growth across our regions.

It's encouraging to see just how many young people it's reached already, and to think about the potential for the future.

ITV Academy, a training and development arm of the broadcaster, supported Discover! Month with numerous events, including a Coronation Street storytelling workshop in Manchester, where young people were given a tour of the set and encouraged to develop their writing and plot development skills.

Sonny Hanley, Director, ITV Academy, said,

The ITV Academy is dedicated to inspiring the next generation, and Discover! Creative Careers Month has been the perfect platform for this. We were proud to support the month with a range of events across the UK, including at Coronation Street in Manchester and at our London offices for ITV's 70th birthday. Through each of our events, we gave students a tangible look at the production journey from idea to transmission. It is vital we continue to demystify the industry and prove that a career in television is accessible to everyone.

The programme was supported by games industry access charity, Into Games, who delivered workshops across 30 secondary schools in London, Brighton, Birmingham and Hartlepool, where video game developers gave students an insight into the sector's opportunities and worked with them on a series of creative tasks.

Elsewhere, in the South West, theatre careers charity Get Into Theatre coordinated workshops on backstage roles across various theatres and music venues including Bristol Old Vic, Bristol Hippodrome and St George's.

Young person, attendee of an immersive VFX workshop, said:

Actions speak louder than words… when you come to the office, meeting the people…seeing the work environment, you can now envision yourself in it.

Mary Rose, Head of Discover! Creative Careers said:

This year's Discover! Creative Career Month has seen the biggest number of industry hosts to date opening their doors and sharing their expertise. We are so incredibly grateful to them for inspiring the next generation and helping to build a stronger, more inclusive future workforce across the UK.

Our expansion of the Discover! Creative Careers programme over the past year, has not only seen record reach during November's Discover! Creative Careers Month, but an expansion into Scotland and Wales delivered by Into Film.

The opportunity for every young person to explore our creative sectors and develop the skills needed is at the heart of Discover! Creative Careers and I thank all the industry professionals, students and teachers who have taken part and made this our best year yet.

The Discover! Month programme was amplified this year by a Government campaign that reached millions of young people and parents online, driven by a mix of paid media, digital content, regional events, ambassador amplification and high-profile industry support. The campaign, delivered in partnership with ScreenSkills and CreativeUK, generated 100 million impressions and 18.5 million total video views, and visibility translated directly into record engagement on the Discover! Creative Careers platform. 

Website visits rose by 341%, attracting more than 42,000 users, the majority of whom were new to the site, and a large proportion from outside London. 

Key partners, including the BRIT Awards, UCAS, Channel 4 Skills and Co-Op Live publicly supported the digital communications campaign through social media amplification, and #DiscoverCreativeCareers, #DiscoverCreativeCareersMonth and #CreativeCareersMonth achieving a combined reach of 5.5 million and 67,500 interactions. 

The Discover! Creative Careers campaign will continue to engage young people and their parents in priority regions across the UK, through new and existing partnerships such as UCAS, and marking key milestones like National Apprenticeship Week and National Careers Week.

ENDSAdditional stakeholder quotes:Alex Duarte-Davies, Get Into Theatre Director said:

The creative industries thrive on new ideas, fresh perspectives, and diversity. Every young person deserves to be part of a sector that celebrates who they are and their creativity, but not everyone knows about the scope of roles that exist behind the creativity. That's why Get Into Theatre exists and why we are thrilled to have partnered with so many brilliant organisations under the banner of Discover! Creative Careers this month —opening doors into live entertainment careers for over 1,700 young people across Somerset, Bristol, Wiltshire, and beyond. This number will continue to grow, with more events and digital resources rolling out leading up to and throughout National Careers Week 2026, inspiring and breaking down barriers for all.

 Declan Cassidy, CEO at Into Games said:

Discover! Creative Careers Month has been a brilliant opportunity to open up the games industry to young people who might never have seen it as ‘for them'. Through our workshops across Brighton, Hartlepool, Birmingham and South Yorkshire, we've been connecting students with real games professionals and supporting them to develop their first game ideas. For many, it's been a genuine turning point, widening their sense of what's possible and giving them the confidence to imagine a future in games careers. By March next year, our programme work, including two major games careers festivals in Birmingham and Brighton, will have supported almost 1,800 young people.

Non Stevens, Into Film Programme Lead, Cymru said:

During Discover! Creative Careers Cymru week, a wealth of creative professionals shared their experience and advice with hundreds of young people across Wales—offering insights into pathways into the creative sector and inspiring them to explore career opportunities they may not have previously considered. Diolch to everyone who supported this exciting project. We look forward to working with creative industry partners, schools and young people across the country to deliver even more enriching opportunities before March 2026.

Nicola Kettlewood, Into Film Programme Lead, Scotland said:

We've gotten off to a great start with Discover Creative Careers and are excited by the range of industry partners keen to share knowledge and information with young people; from actors and directors, to designers, writers and musicians. So far we've engaged young people in schools, workplaces and online and will continue to do this leading up to Scottish Apprenticeship week in March. Our thanks to all employers, creative practitioners, teachers, parents and young people so far for their enthusiasm and energy for the Creative Industries.

Young person from Oldham Academy on a visit to the Waterloo Road film set with Rope Ladder Fiction, Manchester:

It's surprising that's there's more jobs in media than you would think. I'm happy I know that for my future.

Young person from Thamesview School on a visit to Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury:

We got to learn about the lighting and how it works, where they place them, how to operate them – it's all new to me.

Young person at FABRIC Dance, Nottingham:

I thought it was all dancing in the studio, I didn't realise that you had to do office jobs as well. It just opened my eyes… it was really useful for the future.

Peter Chivers, CEO Create Music and Future Creators said:

Discover Creative Careers Month has been instrumental in helping Coastal Catalyst open real pathways into the creative industries. By mobilising our network, we brought over 60+ local professionals together with more than 3,600 young people across 25 events, with strong and growing engagement online which means young people are better connected. The energy, goodwill and new connections formed this month show just how vital it is for national moments like this to connect those most in need with industry, see the possibilities, and feel part of our region's creative future.

Stuart Yeardsley, Executive Creative Director, Zeno:

At Zeno, we believe creativity has the power to unlock opportunity and the students from Elm Court proved exactly that. Their response to a creative brief with the Metropolitan Police to raise awareness of an issue close to them, knife crime, was thoughtful, inventive and full of heart, showing a maturity and imagination well beyond their years. Programmes like Discover Creative Careers are vital, because they give young people the confidence to explore paths they may never have known existed. Watching the pupils bring their ideas to life was inspiring, and a powerful reminder that our industry's future will be brighter, bolder and more inclusive when every young person's creativity is nurtured.

NotesDiscover! Creative Careers Month

• This year Discover! Creative Careers Month is estimated to have reached a total of 79,134 young people with encounters with the creative industries through online and in-person activities led by employers.
• Futures for All (Speakers for Schools) ran a programme of inspirational talks across the month which reached 11,429 young people
• Kids in Museums Takeover Day focused on careers in which 762 young people aged 11-18 year took part in events at 30 venues across the country including Durham, Lancashire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk
• Education & Employers (Inspiring the Future) ran 40 career activities, organised by 38 schools, 70 creative volunteers engaged 9,974 young people across England
• Into Film the delivery partner for Discover! Creative Careers in Scotland and Wales coordinated Discover! Creative Careers weeks during November as part of their remit to expand the programme into those nations. They also ran screening events across England including Letitia Wright in conversation with Manchester schools discussing her directorial debut, Highway to the Moon, Penny Grylls in conversation with Derby schools discussing her film, Grand Theft Hamlet. 
• Visits to the Discover Creative Careers finder rose by 87% compared to last year, attracting more than 30,000 users, the majority of whom were new to the site, and with over 86% of sessions coming from outside London. 
• The ERIC app ran an online series of 20-minute daily talks with creative industry professionals which saw a total of 23,712 young people aged 12-22 tune in live across the month.

Discover! Creative Careers Campaign

• More information about the campaign can be found on the Discover! Creative Careers website. Be the first to know what's coming up in 2026 by signing up here.

• Based on research which found that young people and parents want to hear from real people working in creative industries, the campaign features professionals sharing relatable career journeys in four key sectors: - film and TV, music, advertising and marketing and video games. The concept aims to myth-bust assumptions about creative careers and demonstrate how early interests, strengths and passions can be harnessed.

• DCMS partnered with UCAS on their ‘Create Your Future' event in Manchester on 10th and 11th November 2025, where they hosted a number of speaking slots and exhibiting with Manchester-based motion animation company Bearded Fellows to showcase unseen opportunities in the creative sector and tackle commonly held myths. This was in addition to a paid media plan utilising a variety of UCAS's platforms to increase the reach of the campaign to teenage audiences, parents and carers in our target regions.

• Creative UK were pleased to collaborate with campaign steering group members The Advertising Association and WPP Media to achieve a significant level of sector-wide support for the campaign.  Advertising agency WPP Media along with trade body Outsmart played a pivotal role in showing the campaign's assets over 200 sites right across the breath of the UK, and bringing together a wide range of media partners including Bauer Media Outdoor, JCDecaux, Ocean Outdoor, Alight Media, Open Media, Limited Space, Smart Outdoor and Outdo Media, ensuring nationwide coverage of the campaign.