House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee: ‘At risk: our creative future’- Website Statement

Our Executive Director, Olly Newton, very much enjoyed giving evidence to the Committee.

At Edge we believe that creativity should be embedded in the curriculum from as early as possible as this allows children to grow up with a mindset and the skills to overcome challenges that they will face in the ever-changing landscape of work. Our work on skills shortages in the UK economy also highlights that the creative industries are one of the fastest growing areas of the economy, however, due to narrow performance measures such as the EBacc and Progress 8, we do not have enough young people taking the subjects that would best help them prepare for them.

The report reflects our concerns about UK Research and Innovation choosing not to continue one of its most successful programmes, The Creative Industries Clusters programme, which has helped boost skills and drive innovation within this space. It also highlights the need for a call to the government to broaden their focus to a STEAM agenda, which would encourage studying STEM subjects in combination with art and design-based courses. This acknowledges the fact that creativity is not restricted to ‘creative subjects’ but that all subjects can be taught in creative ways that encourage creative thinking and problem solving, fostering creativity in that way.