DYCP: Unsuccessful applicants

When we get your application, we first check whether it is eligible. If your application is eligible, we send you a confirmation email via Grantium, our online system.

If your application is not eligible, this means that we cannot process it any further and it will not be considered for funding.

If your application is not eligible we notify you via Grantium and explain our decision. The full list of the reasons we may decide an application is not eligible is listed below.

Additional application 

We are currently processing an application from you. You cannot apply to 

Developing your Creative Practice while you are waiting for a decision from us on 

another Arts Council application. 

Costs already covered by income from other sources 

We decided that the costs you applied for are already covered by money from 

other sources. 

Education: Statutory, further or higher education 

The project you applied for takes place in a formal education setting for statutory, 

higher, or further educational purposes, or relates to a formal course of study. 

Ineligible equipment or asset purchase 

You applied for money to buy equipment or assets that are not in line with the 

eligibility criteria for this programme.

Other 

We use this ineligible reason where there are exceptional circumstances that 

make the application ineligible, such as illegal activity or an ineligible applicant 

type. 

Overheads that are not clearly related to your project 

You have applied for money to cover overhead costs that don’t clearly relate to 

the time you are spending on delivering your project. You can only apply for additional, time-limited overheads that are directly related to delivering your 

project. 

Previous applicant

You have made a previous application(s) to this programme which means you are 

not eligible to apply. Please see our DYCP webpages for how many times you’re 

eligible to apply.

Small groups 

Insufficient evidence of collaborative artistic working as a group was provided. 

Spending related to activity that has already taken place 

We cannot fund activities, goods or services that have taken place, been bought 

or ordered before we can make a decision on your application. 

You are based (living) outside England 

We are unable to accept applications from individuals based (living) outside 

England. 

Your mandatory attachment was not accepted 

We have reviewed your mandatory attachments and they do not meet our 

minimum requirements. 

Your project does not focus on our supported artforms or disciplines 

We decided that your project as described in your application doesn’t clearly focus 

on the artforms and disciplines we are able to support.

How we make decisions 

If your project is eligible, your application will go to the decision-making stage. Decisions are made by a panel of Arts Council staff members in the area where you are based. 

We look at the strength of your application alongside other applications we 

receive. 

We also think about the range and balance of different activities we’re 

supporting.

We review our internal data on our spending so far and look at applications in the 

light of future demand on our budget. 

We also think about how applications contribute to Let’s Create.

We receive many more good applications than we are able to fund, and we 

choose to support the ones that help us achieve a balanced spread of activities. 

We often have to make difficult decisions about what we can support. 

If your application is not successful 

If your application was not successful at decision-making stage you will receive a 

letter from us through Grantium, our online application portal. 

We commissioned an external evaluation of DYCP in 2021, because we wanted 

to know what the programme was doing well and where it could improve. 

One of the things we heard from you was that it would be helpful to give more 

feedback if someone doesn’t receive funding. This is so they can understand why 

they weren’t successful.

 

Your application may have been unsuccessful because other applications were preferred. Panel noted that your application may have been strengthened with more information about your creative practice.

For example, an application might be strengthened by telling us more about:

• The main focus of your artistic, cultural or creative activities
• Your main creative achievements to date – for example, exhibitions, productions, publications etc.
• Any important commissions you’ve received
• Important pieces of work you’ve completed
• If you’ve worked with any established creative or cultural partners
• Your practice by providing a document or link that demonstrates the quality of your work. This should be something that adds value to you application

Other applications were preferred. Panel noted that your application may have been strengthened with more information about the development opportunity you want to undertake. 

 

For example, an application might be strengthened by telling us more about:

• What your development opportunity is
• How you will seek out opportunity that will benefit your development
• How you will manage the activity successfully, and whether what you want to do is realistic and well-planned
• The plans you have in place to access the networks you want to work with

Other applications were preferred. Panel noted that your application may have been strengthened with more information about what you hoped to get out of the development opportunity

For example, an application might be strengthened by telling us more about:

• How ambitious your activity is. We can fund small, one-off opportunities (such as a research trip), but we’re more interested in supporting extended periods of development which give you the time to really explore and work in new ways
• How you will manage the activity successfully, and whether what you want to do is realistic and well-planned
• The plans you have in place to access the networks you want to work with if your application includes taking part in a residency, please note we would only expect to fund residencies if the experience is tailored to your individual development, and not ‘off the shelf’ residencies

Other applications were preferred. Panel noted that your application may have been strengthened with more information about why the development opportunity is important for your practice now.

For example, an application might be strengthened by telling us more about:

• What your main aims for the activity are
• Why this is the right point to take some development time
• Your practice by providing a supporting document, written by someone other than you, that supports the quality of your practice.

This can help to show you’re ready to take the next step in your practice. This should be 

something that adds value to your application. 

Other applications were preferred. Panel noted that your application may have been strengthened with more information about how the development opportunity will help create future opportunities for you 

For example, an application might be strengthened by telling us more about:

• What you want this development to lead to
• What will be different about your practice as a result of this development

Other applications were preferred. Panel noted that your application didn’t clearly show us how your activity meets the aims of Developing 

your Creative Practice.

Developing your Creative Practice supports the development of independent 

cultural and creative practitioners. It provides support to take a dedicated period of 

time to focus on individuals own cultural and creative development, and take them 

to the next stage in their practice. 

Applications must identify a clear development opportunity. That should be the 

focus of the application. 

A common reason that we feel an application doesn’t show how it meets the aims 

of the programme is when the application focuses on how other people will be able 

to engage with an applicant’s work. In this programme the immediate beneficiary is 

you, and people will be able to engage with your work at a later date as a result of 

your grant. 

Opportunities for people to engage, become involved with or experience your work 

in the short-term is not a priority within the programme. 

Supporting a broad range of projects

When we looked at your application, we also thought about the range and balance of 

different projects we’re supporting. We want the projects we fund to cover a broad 

range of artforms and disciplines, geographical areas and activity types. 

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are not able to provide any 

further feedback on individual applications. 

 

Round 17-19, 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024

We receive a lot of applications for Developing your Creative Practice, more than we can fund.

To see where we receive the most and the least number of applications you can look at the document below.

There are two tables in the document below. They show:

• How many eligible applications we receive
• How many we fund
• The chance of receiving funding

Table 1

Applications by area – This table shows the number of applications from applicants based in different areas of England.

Table 2

Application by discipline - This table shows the number of applications in each of our supported disciplines.