Access Support: guidance for applicants

Access support is available to help remove barriers. This helps to ensure that applying for funding is fair and equitable. 

Pre-application access support refers to any support provided when making an application for funding.  

We can support applicants experiencing barriers to access our services and information. The support currently provided: 

• providing information in alternative formats 

• paying a support worker to help you to make your application 

• supporting someone when they receive their decision and feedback 

Other support includes: 

• note-taking during development conversations    

• explaining feedback or make a complaint 

• linking someone to a support worker as part of our network of support workers (based on availability) 

Access support is available for Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people who experience barriers when applying for funds or using our services.  

It is also for those experiencing poor short or long-term physical or mental health. 

We will never ask for proof. We consider self-ID valid.  

We also understand that people’s experience and barriers are unique and not everyone needs the same kind of support. Some may not need any.

Any questions we ask are to understand how the support is tailored to you, how we can improve access more widely and to protect the use of Public funding.

If you’re requesting access support to make a funding application, we recommend that you do the following before you request access support:

• have a clear idea of what activities you want to get funding for  
• check your idea is one that we can fund:

          - Developing Your Creative Practice Eligibility Questionnaire 

          - National Lottery Project Grants Eligibility Questionnaire 

• check availability of the people you plan to work with (if you have someone in mind
• have an idea of how much things will cost in your activity 

Having this will help your support worker to work with you on your application. It will also give you a clearer idea of your aims. 

It will also save you time and make the process as smooth as possible.

If you’re not sure, we can help! 

If you’re unsure about what Access Support is or any information in this document, please get in touch. Our Customer Services team can answer questions about our funding and have a wealth of knowledge. 

We also run online advice-giving sessions for first time applicants that provide more information. Let us know if you would like a place on one of these.  

A support worker’s role is to remove barriers for someone applying to the Arts Council for funding or using our services. This must be tailored to your needs – there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. 

We ask for a breakdown of support work at the start. We also ask how this is shaped around you. 

Your support worker can provide this to you to include or send it separately.  

Here are a few examples of what support work can include:   

• Note taking and interpreting ideas to write up answers 

• Helping process the application questions and forms 

• British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation  

• Helping applicants to navigate Grantium, our online application system 

• Signposting to other resources or asking us for additional support 

We cannot pay support workers for: 

• Translation from other languages into English 

• Costs related to caring responsibilities 

• Costs covered by Access to Work or other sources 

• Developing a project e.g. a bid writer or development consultant 

You can choose the person that provides support to you. This is not limited to experienced support workers, but it is helpful if they understand arts, culture and creativity and our funding process. If unsure, they can contact us for advice.  

If you already have a support worker and their costs to support you making an application are covered from another funding source, we cannot pay for their services. If you don’t have anyone, we can try to link you to someone in our network of support workers. There is more information on this here. 

A support worker is not a development consultant or a bid writer. As such, support workers can’t advise or make decisions on what is best. It’s your project idea – they are there to support you with it. 

This is a general overview of how to request Access Support. More details can be found in the following sections on this page.

Step 1: Submit an Access Support Request

To request access support, please submit this online form.

Our Customer Services team can provide assistance to submit a request via a phone call, email or Live Chat.

Step 2: The Access Support Team reviews your request.

We process requests as quickly as we can when they come in. This can take up to 5 working days.

Step 3: Once the request is approved, you can start working with your support worker.

Step 4: Once the work is complete, your support worker can submit their invoice.

Every individual is different and will need different levels of support. It is important that the support is tailored to your access needs. We will review all requests on a case-by-case basis, but we’ve included some guidelines around the maximum support below. 

All figures are inclusive of VAT. The day rate should reflect the skills and experience of the support worker up to a maximum of £300 (with 1 day being 8 hours of work including breaks). 

For support with any other funds or services not listed above, please email access@artscouncil.org.uk.

If a request exceeds the above guidelines: 

• We will need some extra information about why additional time is needed. Please supply this in the original request.  

• Your support worker will be required to send us a log of your work (see Appendix A) before we can issue payment. 

These guide figures are informed by the amount of time spent on each type of application by the support workers in our network. The maximum rates are reviewed annually. 



 

You must wait until we approve the request by email before starting the support work. Please note that we are unable to pay for support work that is carried out before we have approved the request in writing. We will notify the applicant and the support worker by email when we have approved the request.  

If the rate a support worker asks for is higher than average for the kind of tailored support being provided, we reserve the right to ask for other quotes and suggest an alternative. We will contact you before we do this. 

When support work ends early (e.g. the initial breakdown included submitting an application and this did not happen) we can revise the payment to reflect work carried out so that you are paid fairly for your time. We will ask for documentation for audit purposes. 

If it becomes apparent that additional time will be required, please contact us with more information so that we can review the request for extra time before you carry out the additional work. 

We review the request and reply as quickly as we can. In busier periods this is within 5 working days.  

We will contact you if we need any more information. This usually only takes a few minutes on a phone or video call.  

Sometimes we receive requests that we can’t approve due to: 



 

• the amount of time is higher than the time required to do the work 
• the support worker has previously failed our quality checks  
• concerns around safeguarding and/or our duty to protect public funds 
• insufficient detail regarding what the work is likely to entail 

This is extremely rare and we may only be able to provide limited information. We will work closely with you to find an alternative.

Please wait until we confirm this is approved before starting the work. We can’t pay for any support work done before we have approved your request. 

You can start as soon as you get confirmation from us. 

All support workers are sent a copy of our Guidance for Support Workers. This includes the information they need about what we can pay and how to get paid by us for providing support work. We pay support workers directly when the support work is complete.  

We may contact you during or after you have worked with your support worker to get feedback on how it went. The majority of these calls are randomly selected spot checks for quality assurance. This helps us understand how we can improve accessibility and update our information for support workers. 

Please contact us if you have any concerns about the support you’re receiving. 

Other useful information 

It is important that the support is shaped around your needs. Support workers are expected to tailor their approach to you.  

Not all support work leads to an application, and we understand there can be different reasons for this. Please let us know if you decide to postpone making an application. 

We recently started a trial for a network of support workers. This allows us to link applicants who don’t have a support worker with a support worker from our network.  

All support workers in our network have gone through a recruitment and training process. They’ve also completed an enhanced DBS check.  

If you don’t have a support worker and would like us to try and find one for you, here’s the process:  

1. Please fill in this online form and select the option “I’d like Arts Council England to help me find a support worker”.

2. We will then share your request in an anonymised way with the members of our network. If someone is available to support you, they’ll let us know. 

3. We can’t guarantee that we’ll find someone for you, as it will depend on the availability of the support workers in the network. We will get back to you within 3 weeks. We ask that you let us know if you find someone else in the meantime or don’t wish to apply anymore.

4. If we find someone who’s available to support you, we will share your contact details with them and they’ll organise an introduction meeting. If you’re both happy to work together, you can then start working on your funding application.  

Please note we have a limited number of support workers in our network. We can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to link you up with someone. As such we advise you to keep looking for your own support worker, and let us know if anything changes.  

We’re not able to link you up with a support worker for support during the project (personal access costs), only for support to make an application or access our services.  

Any questions or feedback? 

Please contact our Customer Services team via phone, email or LiveChat.