Access and inclusion

Arts Award is designed to be accessible to children and young people with a range of abilities, backgrounds and individual learning requirements because:

• it measures and supports each individual’s personal progress
• evidence can be collected in a range of formats, meaning that non-verbal or less confident communicators can be supported to achieve the qualification
• it can be delivered in enjoyable, ‘non-formal’ formats using a wide range of art forms including digital media and youth culture arts

‘I was interested in Arts Award from its inception, having been an advocate for creative approaches within youth justice settings for some time. It was obvious from the outset that Arts Award was determined to make the qualification accessible to all young people, no matter what their ability or individual circumstances.'
Professor Martin Stephenson, Director of Social Inclusion, Nottingham Trent University

There are no entry requirements and children and young people aged 25 and under can take part in Discover and Explore, and 11-25 year olds can take part in Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. Our resource Arts Award levels at a glance offers guidance on what's expected of young people at each level, and can be used to help determine the appropriate level for them.

Running Arts Award with young people with Special Educational Needs
For more information about specific training which focuses on running and delivering Arts Award with young people with learning difficulties and special educational needs then please contact Training.Team@trinitycollege.co.uk

Check our blog on working with young people with learning difficulties.

Arts Award programme materials
If you or your young people have individual access requirements and require the following materials in braille, audio, large print, unlocked PDF or other formats, please complete the Arts Award accessible materials request form.

We aim to provide unlocked PDF files and large-print digital files within 1 week of receiving your request. It will take a minimum of six weeks to provide materials in hard copy large print, braille or as audio recordings, as these are produced on request so please plan your project accordingly.

Arts Award Access & Inclusion statement
Arts Award is continually working to improve access to our qualifications. Here are some areas that we have improved or are committed to making better. If you have in mind a particular area that you think we should prioritise, please get in touch.

• Advisers can request training resources, toolkits, and some young people’s resources in accessible formats, such as large print, Braille, audio transcription, or accessible PDF documents. Hard copy materials must be requested a minimum of 6 weeks in advance of the date required. Digital formats may be available sooner.
• Free support sessions are available to all advisers with specific access requirements, to help eliminate any barriers to delivering Arts Award.
• New Arts Award films will include a subtitled option and we are also exploring BSL interpretation for some of our key videos.
• Children and young people can evidence their work using a range of formats appropriate to their learning styles or individual requirements, including audio or video recording, annotated photos, signs and symbols (eg Makaton, Signalong, BSL), and scribed responses. See our resource ‘Evidencing Arts Award: Young people with learning difficulties’ for more guidance and ideas.
• Where young people have used communication techniques in their evidence which need translating (such as Braille, Makaton, British Sign Language or other signed languages, or languages other than English), reasonable adjustments to the moderation time can be requested in order for the adviser to explain these communication techniques and how they have been used in the context of the young people’s Arts Award work. Please note: all evidence must be translated/annotated/indexed appropriately prior to the moderation visit. Please see the Centre Portal Guidance for further information. As part of the moderation process, young people meet the moderator. If the additional needs of the young people you work with mean that you feel that this would not be appropriate or beneficial, you can apply for special dispensation for this part of the moderation not to take place. For more information about special dispensation, please click here.
• We are aware that some young people choose to identify themselves as gender neutral or non-binary. If you apply to the Access Fund for a grant, there is an option to select either male, female or non-binary. When booking a moderation and enrolling young people the are ‘other’ and ‘prefer not to say’ options or this field can be left blank. When booking adviser training, it is currently compulsory to state whether you are male or female. We are working towards providing a non-binary option across all our booking and data collection systems.

If you need any further help or guidance please contact us.