Perspectives on creative arts in higher education

UK research project to track arts engagement impact over 25 years

De Montfort University and Arts Council England are embarking on an ambitious research project to track the impact of regular engagement with arts activities over time – from birth to age 25 years. The project Talent25 will provide rigorous evidence of what works and doesn’t work when it comes to arts and cultural  development policy.

The scheme will recruit 100 babies and their families in 2019 and track them for the next 25 years and consider activities such as being read to and reading, listening to and learning music, going to the cinema, theatre, libraries and museums. Another 100 will be recruited in 2020, and so on for at least two more years.

Further details on the project are available at: www.dmu.ac.uk/current-students/hot-topics/2019/january/talent25-collaboration-between-dmu-and-arts-council-england.aspx

Other recent news

Other related news

DDCA Webinar, 1-2pm AEST, Friday 9th October 2026 This webinar addresses this rich and important value of arts across the lifespan through the research of four leading researcher-practitioners. Emily Gann, whose Arts SA Ruby Award-winning Lullaby Project Australia has formed partnerships with organisations including Carnegie Hall, New York. Kamarra Bell-Wykes (Yagera/Butchulla), a theatre maker and arts specialist across professional, […]

The Australian Film, Television and Radio School’s (AFTRS) Digital Futures Summit 2026 – Regenerate – was an invitation to reimagine the screen and audio industries as living ecosystems. In this framing, regeneration is not merely about sustainability or resilience; it is about active restoration, ecological enhancement and systemic transformation. With this upcoming edition of Creative Matters, the AFTRS guest editorial team […]

The DDCA together with DASSH (Council of Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) made a submission to the National Cultural Policy review of Revive. Our submission recognised the important architecture of the existing 5 pillars that work to support First Nations First; A Place for Every Story; Centrality of the Artist; Strong Cultural Infrastructure; […]

The DDCA Awards are designed to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding contributions to creative arts, elevate and share best practice, and encourage and promote the next generation of creative arts leaders in research and education. The Awards promote diversity and recognise contributions and achievements by First Nations creatives, as well as early-, mid- and senior-career practitioners […]

ABSTRACT It has been widely noted that creative practice research agitates in positive ways certain attitudes, understandings and/or practices towards ‘knowledge’ and ‘research’ within the university context. Not only this, or partly because of this, creative practice research complicates established scholarly protocols of assessment and evaluation. This has been a topic of concern and debate […]

Recent national media coverage has highlighted significant and ongoing declines in Arts education and training across schools and universities. Fewer students are able to access Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts, and this has serious consequences for young people, for education, and for Australia’s cultural future. The National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE) […]