A Class Act

From acting in an award-winning film to producing a number one album, getting to the top of the creative industries is a dream for many young people. But access to such careers, both behind the scenes and in front of an audience, is currently far from equal. For young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds in particular, there are major barriers.

And who can access these careers really does matter. Art plays a vital role in shaping the society we live in. When those from better-off backgrounds dominate the creative industries, it is their stories and ideas that we all see told through TV shows, films, plays, music or dance. The world is shown back to us through their lens, with an impact on the cultural and social life of the country. These positions are also highly sought after, giving those with a creative flair an outlet for their passions and talents. But for young people from poorer homes, the domination of the creative industries by the better-off can make these fields seem ‘elitist’ and out of reach.

At a time of change in the sector, as well as in the wider political landscape, this report is the first by the Sutton Trust to look in detail at access to the creative industries. It includes new analysis of Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) data from academics Professor David O’Brien, Dr Orian Brook and Dr Mark Taylor on social mobility within creative higher education courses, alongside work carried out by researchers at the Sutton Trust, looking at the educational backgrounds of elite and ‘high-profile’ figures in television, film and music.

Webinar on socio-economic diversity in the creative industries

Taking place on Wednesday 4th December at 1-2PM, this webinar will discuss the findings in this research and outline how to improve representation of people from working class backgrounds in the future. Panellists will speak about their experiences of classism in the creative industries and what they think needs to happen to transform socio-economic diversity, followed by a Q&A with all the speakers.

Over 50%

The proportion of creative students from upper-middle class backgrounds at Oxford, Cambridge, King’s College London and Bath universities.

There are around 4 times as many younger adults (35 and below) from middle-class than working- class backgrounds working in the creative industries.

31%

The proportion of elite figures in television, film and music who attended a private school.

Key Findings

Access to creative degrees

There are low proportions of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds on a range of creative degrees This mirrors trends seen across higher education generally.
For creative subjects, those from the most affluent backgrounds (discussed here as ‘upper-middle-class’) constitute very high proportions of students at the most prestigious institutions, and in key creative subjects like Music and Art.
Oxbridge (4% Cambridge, 5% Oxford) and Bath (4%), Bristol (5%) and Manchester (7%) have the lowest proportions of creative students from working-class backgrounds. In all cases these percentages are lower than for students on all other programmes at these institutions (6% at Oxford and Cambridge, 7% at Bath and Bristol, and 19% at Manchester).
Oxbridge’s creative subjects have higher proportions of privately educated students (32%) than all other subjects at these two institutions (24%) and the overall average in HE (7%).
The specialist institutions (including conservatoires and the higher education institutions specialising in music and performing arts) with the largest percentage of students from ‘upper-middle-class’ backgrounds are the Royal College of Music (43%), Royal Academy of Music (41%), and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (34%).
Royal Academy of Music (60%), Royal College of Music (56%), Durham (48%), King’s College London (46%) and Bath (42%) all have very high proportions of privately educated students studying creative subjects. Indeed, all of these institutions have higher proportions than Oxbridge’s creative subjects (32%).

Working in the creative industries

Degrees are central to the creative workforce. Up to 69% of those working in core creative occupations (such as actors, dancers, artists and writers) have degrees, compared to 26% of the entire workforce.
While having a degree is an advantage for all groups, it seems that it is less critical for white men from middle-class origins working in London, where their background and/or social networks are more likely to offer them an entry point (and the means to persist in these precarious careers) even if they do not have degrees.
On average, 37% of graduates in creative jobs have a creative degree, rising to 43% of those under 35. But there are important variations: 89% of architects and 83% of graphic designers have creative degrees, compared to 6% of graduate marketing and sales directors and 6% of advertising and PR directors.

Elite figures in the creative sector

43% of classical musicians have attended an independent school (over six times higher than the UK average of 7%). However, just 8% of pop stars are privately educated.
Bafta-nominated actors are five times more likely to have attended a private school than the UK population, at 35%.
86% of classical musicians have attended university, considerably higher than the UK average of around 20%. with 58% of classical musicians having attended an arts specialist higher education institution 1 in 4 (25%) attended the Royal Academy of Music for undergraduate study, which this report shows to have a large intake of privately educated students. 12% attended either Oxford or Cambridge.

Recommendations

For government

All children and young people, regardless of their socio-economic background, should have access to a high-quality creative education in schools, as well as access to wider experiences in the arts:
State schools should be incentivised to offer creative subjects and extracurricular activities. In recent years, the exclusion of creative subjects in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is likely to have disincentivised schools from offering these subjects. The government should examine accountability measures and look to remove this disincentive for creative subjects, as well as reviewing teacher incentives (e.g. bursaries) for creative subjects. Ensuring all students can access creative subjects and wider activities in schools should be a significant part of the government’s ongoing curriculum review.
The government should introduce an ‘arts premium’ for schools, so schools can pay for arts opportunities, including music lessons. This funding should be focused on children eligible for free school meals, whose families will be the least able to afford these opportunities outside the school gates.
Government should aim for every state school student to have access to at least one creative trip or activity a year, for example visiting the theatre, an art exhibition or a musical performance. Schools should be funded to allow them to offer free places on these trips, at a minimum, for all students eligible for free school meals.

The arts higher education sector

Conservatoires and other creative arts institutions that receive state funding should be banned from charging for auditions. Many institutions, including Leeds Conservatoire, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and the Liverpool Theatre School have already scrapped their audition fees to improve accessibility for working class applicants.
Government should redouble efforts on access across the higher education sector, with a focus on socio-economic disadvantage, and stronger regulatory expectations. This should include a specific review of access to conservatoires and other specialist arts institutions – where access can be worse than the most prestigious universities, but which have historically been held to much lower levels of scrutiny.
The wider value of creative degrees should be taken into account when making funding and policy decisions for the higher education sector. Measuring the quality of creative degree programmes on graduate earnings alone does not take into account the nature of the sector, for example that creative degree graduates are more likely to work freelance, or that many are forced to take unpaid internships to advance. Graduates often take such roles to work towards better paid positions in the future, and accurate earnings data for such roles is difficult to capture. The creative industries also contribute substantially to the UK economy.

Access to careers in the creative industries

Existing legislation on unpaid internships should be tightened. Unpaid internships are particularly prevalent in the creative industries, and act as a barrier for talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Unpaid internships over 4 weeks in length should be outright banned, alongside better enforcement of current minimum wage legislation.
Government should make reporting of socio-economic background (as measured by parental occupational class) mandatory for organisations with over 250 employees. While some organisations in the creative industries already measure this data, it is far from the norm. Larger employers should set example for smaller employers in creative fields.
Socio-economic inclusion should be a condition of arts funding. Organisations accessing funding through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, or via Arts Council England, should be expected to ensure that people on low incomes or from low-income backgrounds are both creators of and able to access art created with these funds.

Key Findings

Access to creative degrees

Working in the creative industries

Elite figures in the creative sector

Recommendations

For government

The arts higher education sector

Access to careers in the creative industries

Related Research

Elitist Britain 2019

Social Mobility in the Workplace: An Employer’s Guide

Universities and Social Mobility