Skillset

Skillset
Motto	The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media
Formation	1992
Legal status	Non-profit company and registered charity (1015324)
Purpose/focus	Creative industries in the UK
Location	Focus Point, 21 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9GB
Region served	UK
Chief Executive	Dinah Caine
Website	Skillset

Skillset is the Sector Skills Council which supports skills and training for people and businesses to ensure the UK creative media industries stay competitive and productive.

History

It was founded 1992 and is jointly funded by industry and government. In April 2010, SkillFast, the former sector skills council for fashion became part of SkillSet.

Structure

The head office is based just to the east of London King's Cross railway station, on the western edge of the London Borough of Islington.

The industries covered include:

• Advertising
• Animation
• Computer games
• Facilities
• Fashion and textiles
• Film
• Other content creation (such as pop promos and corporate production)
• Interactive media
• Photo imaging
• Publishing
• Radio
• Television

Regions

Other offices include

• Skillset North, Round Foundry Media Centre, Foundry Street, Leeds
• Skillset Cymru, 33-35 West Bute Street, Cardiff, CF10 5LH
• Skillset Scotland, 249 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 4QE

Function

Skillset is a strategic organisation meaning that they develop and fund skills solutions as opposed to delivering them directly.

Skillset's main purpose covers three main areas:

• Firstly, to research where the skills gaps and shortages exist within the creative media industries, then raise funding from the industry and Government to deliver solutions to address these problems.
• Secondly, to inform and influence training provision and qualification development for the competitive benefit of the creative media industries.
• Lastly, to ensure those entering the industry are well prepared by realistic careers information and advice and that those in the industry are able to update and develop their skills throughout their careers.

Their work can be subdivided as follows:

• Careers
• Courses
• Company Support
• Standards
• Qualifications
• Research
• Strategy
• Funding

Skillset undertake this work across all the Nations and Regions of the UK.

Skillset Academy Network

The Skillset Academy Network is a grouping of colleges, universities and other institutions designated as Media Academies and Film Academies for excellence and quality for education and skills training in television, interactive media and film. Accredited academies include:

Academy	Institution(s)
University of Abertay Dundee Skillset Media Academy	University of Abertay
Birmingham City University Skillset Media Academy	Birmingham City University
Bournemouth Skillset Media Academy	Arts University College Bournemouth Bournemouth University
Central Saint Martins Skillset Media Academy	Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (University of the Arts London)
Cornwall Skillset Media Academy	Cornwall College Truro College University College Falmouth
Creative Loop Skillset Media Academy, Scotland	Aberdeen College Adam Smith College Cardonald College Dundee College Perth College Reid Kerr College
Edinburgh Skillset Film and Media Academy	Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh Napier University
Goldsmiths, University of London Skillset Media Academy	Documentary Filmmakers Group Goldsmiths, University of London Hi8us London Film Academy
Hertfordshire Skillset Media Academy	The Film & Digital Media Exchange University of Hertfordshire West Herts College
Liverpool John Moores Skillset Media Academy	Liverpool Community College Liverpool John Moores University
London Film School, A Skillset Film Academy
Middlesex Skillset Media Academy –	Middlesex University SAE Institute Top TV Academy
National Film and Television School, A Skillset Film and Media Academy
North by Southwest: The Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Skillset Media Academy	Cirencester College Gloucestershire College University of Gloucestershire Wiltshire College
Northern Ireland Skillset Media Academy	Belfast Metropolitan College North West Regional College Southern Regional College University of Ulster at Coleraine
Nottingham Skillset Media Academy	Broadway Cinema & Media Centre Confetti New College Nottingham Nottingham Trent University
Ravensbourne Skillset Media Academy	01zero-one (Westminster Kingsway College) Cass Business School Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
Salford University Skillset Media Academy	People's Voice Media University of Salford
Southampton Solent Skillset Media Academy	Southampton Solent University
University of Teesside Skillset Media Academy	University of Teesside
Skillset Media Academy Wales	Department of Theatre, Film & TV, Aberystwyth University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University School of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Glamorgan School of Art, Media and Design, University of Wales, Newport
University of the West of Scotland Skillset Media Academy	University of the West of Scotland
Westminster Skillset Media Academy	City of Westminster College University of Westminster
Yorkshire and Humber Skillset Media Academy	University of Bradford East Coast Media at Grimsby Institute

Establishing the Skillset Film and Media Academies

The Skillset Film and Media Academies were established in response to the film, television and interactive media industries' desire to develop lasting partnerships with further and higher education institutions. The Academies seek to provide an answer to industries need for fresh talent and innovation.

The Academies were selected through a rigorous application and evaluation processes, assessed by industry evaluators. The original selection was overseen by a high level panel chaired by Greg Dyke and included Andrew Chitty (Illumina Digital), Clive Jones (GMTV), Jo Taylor (Channel 4) and Caroline Prendergast (BBC).

External links

• Skillset website
• Course Directory
• Blog
• Twitter

Video clips

• Skillset YouTube channel
• Creative Loop YouTube channel