The Creativity Collaboratives pilot (2021-2024) developed a national cohort of schools to test a range of innovative teaching practices to nurture creativity in pupils and embed teaching for creativity across the curriculum. The pilot phase was one of the key recommendations of the 2019 Durham Commission on Creativity and Education. 

The Durham Commission evidenced the significant impact that creativity and teaching for creativity, can have on personal, economic and social advantage. But it also found that teaching for creativity is not widespread and that there is a huge disparity between schools, often reflecting socioeconomic factors.

With the support of Arts Council England and Freelands Foundation educators, in dedicated school networks across every region of England, collaborated to devise school-wide strategies, experiment with teaching methods, and share their learning to facilitate system-wide change. Each Collaborative network across England focused on integrating creativity into teaching, supporting young people to gain new skills and lead happy, healthy and fulfilled lives.

Eight lead schools initiated diverse curriculum approaches and measured impact, supported by Durham University's over-arching evaluation.

The pilot phase of the Creativity Collaborative programme evidenced the positive impact Teaching for Creativity has on educators and students. We have seen how creativity supports increased engagement, confidence and ownership in learning as well as positive changes in teaching practices. However, further exploration is needed to deepen our understanding of the impact Teaching for Creativity can have on children and young people.

The Creativity Collaboratives Legacy Phase was launched in October 2024. Arts Council England has invested £1.5 million into a legacy phase for the programme across two additional academic years (from September 2024 – July 2026). The legacy phase is not an extension of the pilot, it is new phase where six Creativity Collaboratives are exploring Teaching for Creativity with a clear focus on:

• building more robust evidence of the impact on pupils 

• sharpening the focus on equity, diversity and inclusion 
• consolidating learning to inform principles, models, and resources that could be applied more broadly by the education sector and other schools to support a sustainable approach to creative education.  

Abigail D’Amore associates is leading the evaluation of the legacy phase. They are taking a co-designed approach to evaluation, recognising the breadth of models for teaching for creativity and the diversity of school contexts.

The range of activities, in and beyond the classroom, pedagogical frameworks and toolkits illustrates the breadth and possibilities of Teaching for Creativity from early years to further education. Throughout the legacy phase the Creativity Collaboratives are continuing to share their knowledge through toolkits and resources, all of which are available via their individual pages.

Below you can read more about each Collaborative’s and the work they have been doing with a selection of resources, articles, videos and reports to look through. Or to get regular updates about the work of the Creativity Exchange, sign up to the newsletter.