Creative Partnerships now operates in 36 areas in England and is working intensively with around 1,100 schools. It has delivered projects to young people or continuing professional development (CPD) to teachers in a further 1,500 schools and disseminated best practice to a further 7,000, so that over one third of schools in England have had some contact with the programme. Creative Partnerships has worked with 550,000 young people and 50,000 teachers, provided training to over 32,000 teachers and creative practitioners, and has employed over 4,500 creative practitioners and cultural organisations.

Research by the Burns Owen Partnership has shown that while the impact of the programme is largely felt in the education sector, over 70% of all Creative Partnerships expenditure is on creative practitioners and cultural organisations. By 2008, this will amount to almost £100 million (since the programme began in 2002)

In 2005, in order to gain a rounded picture of our impact so far, complementing existing local research and evaluation processes, Creative Partnerships commissioned four pieces of independent research.

NFER Pupil Tracking Survey

In February 2006, the National Foundation completed a study of 13,000 young people who had participated in Creative Partnerships activities. NFER found that:

'Young people known to have attended Creative Partnerships activities out performed those in the same schools (but not known to have attended Creative Partnerships activities) to a statistically significant extent at all three key stages. This was evident in average scores, English, mathematics and science in key stages 2 and 3 and in total points scores, best 8 points scores and science at key stage 4'
(NFER conclusions p22 para 5.3).

In addition, young people who have participated in Creative Partnerships activities outperform the national average at Key Stage 3 again by a statistically significant margin, while matching the national average at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4. Since Creative Partnerships is focused on improving education in the most challenged communities in England, this is a highly significant result.

Read the full report online

BMRB Survey of Headteachers

These findings are strongly supported by an independent survey of head teachers conducted by the BMRB and completed in April 2006. BMRB spoke to 510 (78%) headteachers from Phase One and Two areas, to assess their perception of the impact of Creative Partnerships.  This revealed that:

• 92% have seen an improvement in pupils’ confidence
• 91% have seen an improvement in pupils’ communication skills
• 87% have seen an improvement in pupils’ motivation

Secondary schools have reported that:

• 80% have seen an improvement in pupils’ enjoyment of school
• 78% have seen an increase in pupils’ ability to learn independently
• 70% have seen an improvement in pupils’ behaviour

As a consequence, schools are seeing improvements in young people’s achievement:

• 79% felt that Creative Partnerships has made a real contribution to raising educational standards in the school
• 79% felt that Creative Partnerships has improved attainment at the school
• 78% felt that being involved with Creative Partnerships has led to a stronger focus on student progress beyond simple exam results.

The independent survey of head teachers conducted by BMRB also shows that:

• 94% have seen an improvement in the teaching skills
• 92% can see their teachers to be more effective in using creative professionals in the classroom
• 92% can see that their teachers are more willing to take a creative approach

Read the full report online

Burns Owens Partnership report on the Impact of Creative Partnerships on the creative and cultural economy

In independent study by the Burns Owens Partnership has shown that Creative Partnerships is having a significant impact on the development of individual creative practitioners:

'Creative Partnershipshas nurtured a pool of practitioners and creative agents that are highly skilled, with a strong understanding of the education market. Creative Partnerships has provided these practitioners and agents with unique CPD opportunities that will not only support engagement with the education market, but are highly transferable across public and commercial sectors'
(BOP conclusions p29 para 6.1).

35% of creative practitioners had been working for less than three years. This group derived the biggest benefits from CP in terms of new skills, confidence and CV enhancement. This is a highly significant finding because traditional government training programmes are more successful in reaching the longest established and biggest companies, than in reaching emerging companies and new professionals

46% of creative practitioners had developed other work outside Creative Partnerships as a direct result of Creative Partnerships involvement. The research uncovered the surprising extent to which funding by Creative Partnerships filtered out into the wider creative economy. 54% of creative practitioners employ others to work with them on Creative Partnerships work with 29% spending more than half their income from CP on employing other creative practitioners. Those surveyed had between employed over 1,000 other creative practitioners. If this is typical of Creative Partnerships practice around 10,000 other creative practitioners will have been supported by Creative Partnerships

Most importantly Creative Partnerships was having a major impact on the development of the creative practitioners personal practice. 74% say Creative Partnerships offers more space and time for creative practice development than other forms of work, 66% felt that Creative Partnerships allows more risk taking and 59% felt it had improved their creative practice.

On the basis of this research we estimate that approximately 70% of CP funding is spent on creative practitioners. By 2008 this will have amounted to almost £100 million.

Read the full report online

Ofsted Inspection of Creative Partnerships

In the Autumn of 2005, the Minister for Culture, David Lammy, wrote to invite Ofsted to inspect Creative Partnerships. The inspection took place during the summer term of 2006, visiting a sample of 36 schools in six areas, and the report was published at the end of September 2006.

Ofsted inspectors reported that they had seen evidence of significant improvements in the basic learning skills of young people who had participated in Creative Partnerships activities:

'Improvements in literacy, particularly writing, and speaking were significant in the majority of schools visited... Developing and applying mathematical skills in context was also an indicator of pupils’ achievement which several schools identified... Pupils used information and communications technology (ICT) effectively to research, explore, develop and model ideas in and across different subjects.'

They also found that the projects had provided rich sources of inspiration for young people to talk or write about and there were clear gains in their self-confidence and articulacy.

Ofsted inspectors also found improvements in the creative skills of the young people they visited:

'Most Creative Partnerships programmes were effective in developing in pupils some attributes of creative people: an ability to improvise, take risks, show resilience, and collaborate with others. Creative practitioners, teachers and support staff clearly valued these as skills for pupils to develop and apply in order to express their own creativity. The majority of pupils interviewed knew these qualities were considered important.'

The development of these skills contributes significantly to improvements in the overall approach of young people to education:

'Often the outcomes of programmes could be seen in changed attitudes and behaviours, and the demonstration of creative approaches to work. This represents a significant achievement; it included teachers who previously lacked belief in their own creativity and ability to inspire creativity in others, and pupils who were previously unconvinced by approaches to learning or the value of education……..For some pupils their involvement in CP proved a turning point; good attendance and participation in learning continued beyond the project. In a small but significant proportion of schools improvements in pupils’ attitudes and behaviour during projects signaled the start of a return to schooling.'

Inspectors also found that Creative Partnerships programmes were contributing to all five of the every Child Matters outcomes:

'Convincing evidence was provided in all Creative Partnerships areas about the contribution of the programmes to Every Child Matters outcomes. The vast majority of pupils directly involved enjoyed their education in and through Creative Partnerships; good behaviour, cooperation, enthusiasm and pride were common outcomes. Skills that were consistently improved – literacy, numeracy, ICT, self-confidence, team working, an ability to show enterprise and handle change – are likely to contribute to pupils' future economic well-being. The nature of particular initiatives enabled some pupils to develop good regard for the safety and well-being of others; they showed high levels of responsibility in potentially high risk situations such as handling different materials. In a smaller proportion of projects pupils showed that they could manage personal stress, contributing to a healthy lifestyle. Opportunities for pupils to make a positive contribution to the community through Creative Partnerships programmes were valued by pupils; in community-based projects, pupils displayed high levels of social responsibility.'

OFSTED also provided some useful recommendations for schools, local authorities, the programme itself and Government, to ensure that the impact of the programme is maximised.

The findings of the Ofsted inspection corroborate the findings of the earlier studies confirming that Creative Partnerships is delivering improvements in the aspiration and achievements of young people, in the skills and creativity of teachers and in developing the creative industries.

Read the Ofsted report online (PDF format)