Applying for the BFI National Lottery Skills Fund – Pilot Projects Call One

Contents

1. About this fund
2. About this call – Professional development framework for technical and craft skills
3. Check if you’re eligible  
4. What you can use the funding for  
5. What your project needs to achieve 
6. How to apply
7. What happens after you apply 
8. Getting a decision
9. Conditions of funding

1.  About this fund 

The Skills Fund for Pilot Projects will support projects that have the potential to create a step-change in addressing the sector’s skills challenges. Funded projects should provide learning and insights into interventions that could benefit the whole screen sector.  

During 2026 to 2029 we will make up to £650,000 available to support pilot projects.   

Up to £150,000 is available for this call (call 1). We expect to make a single award to an organisation that will work with a range of specialist partners to deliver the activity. 

Fund strategic outcomes  

The fund should deliver against the following outcomes of the  BFI’s National Lottery Strategy: 

• equitable and more visible routes into the sector for people of all ages 
• people from under-represented groups across the UK can access the support they need to develop their careers and skills 
• workforce retention is improved by building inclusive, flexible and supportive workplaces 
• vital skills for the sector that cannot be delivered by the commercial market are developed 
• evidence-based insight and analysis of the screen sector is readily available to all, supporting organisations and driving policymaking 

2. About this call – Professional development framework for technical and craft skills 

The challenge 

The screen sector continues to experience skills gaps and shortages in technical and craft roles. At the same time, job availability remains precarious due to fluctuating production levels, with work typically available on a transient basis. This means there is a lack of appropriately skilled craft and technical workers during busy production periods, and not enough work for the same people during quiet production periods.  

BECTU’s research on below the line workers as well as Screenskills’ latest Sizing Up the Future report shows that too many people are out of work, and often those who possess the skills we need are considering leaving the sector altogether in favour of more secure work, which would further exacerbate skills issues in these areas when productions progress.  

The industry, as part of the development of the Screen Sector Industry Skills Plan (led by Screenskills) has a priority focus on the transferability of skills, to help maximise worker retention in the sector and to support the sector’s freelancers to have sustainable careers.   

In order to minimise the loss of skilled people from the sector, we need to explore ways to help individuals better utilise and deploy their skills more broadly across adjacent sectors, such as theatre and live music.  

The proposed solution 

We need to establish a dedicated, easy-to-access professional development framework that sets standards for the sector. This will support individuals and organisations to map the transferability of skills between technical and craft roles, and across sectors. This should also ensure consistency and parity across both occupational training, and health and safety of workers. 

We are looking to fund a single pilot project in this round that both: 

• creates a professional development framework (or set of) 
• develops and pilots a programme of training against it 

Professional development frameworks enable an industry to set overarching requirements for roles across all applicable grades, identifying the skills and attributes needed at each grade and therefore what’s needed to progress to the next. This might include specific qualifications (that are underpinned by National Occupational Standards) to aid professional development and progression. 

A new professional development framework for technical and craft roles should prioritise occupations where all three sectors (screen, theatre, and live music) experience the same skills needs. It should set out the baseline skills requirements for each role at each identified grade to directly support application across all three sectors. 

Once developed, you must pilot a programme of training and development against that framework and evaluate the effectiveness of this training in enabling people to work competently across sectors. The longer-term goal is to see if this helps work stability for individuals, and therefore the retention of vital skills within the screen sector. 

You must set out the timeframe for each stage of activity, including the:

• development of the framework 
• development of pilot training 
• delivery of pilot training 

All activity must be completed by the 31 March 2029.

3. Check if you’re eligible  

Your organisation must be a legally constituted organisation centrally managed in the UK. This includes:  

• limited liability company or partnership registered at Companies House  
• community interest company registered at Companies House  
• combined or local authority or statutory body  
• charity or trust registered with the Charity Commission (including UK universities and colleges) 

Collaborations of more than one organisation are eligible to apply.  

All organisations included in the proposal must be delivering the activity on a not-for-profit basis. The lead organisation will need to submit the application to the BFI and is the organisation that will be the direct recipient of the award if the application is successful.  

The lead organisation must have appropriate processes and controls in place to responsibly pass on funds to partners where budgeted and required.  

When you’re  ineligible  

You are not eligible to apply for to this fund if you: 

• are an individual  
• are not based in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) 
• do not meet the eligibility criteria outlined above  

Get in touch with the team if you’re unsure whether you are eligible to apply to this fund by emailing [email protected]. 

4. What you can use the funding  for   

You can apply for an award of up to £150,000. 

Proposals must be:  

• designed to benefit the screen sector 
  • for this call we are looking for activity that supports craft and technical skills shared across screen, theatre and live music 
• for public benefit 

What you need to deliver

In your application you will need to identify the specific activity you will deliver (your ‘deliverables’) using the funding. Your deliverables should include:  

• a professional development framework for technical and craft roles endorsed by the sector   
• a completed pilot programme of training for craft and technical workers 
• at least one public sharing of learning and insights from the funded activity 
  • you should produce at least one output which shares any insights gained from developing and delivering this activity — this could include toolkits, workshops, presentations, blogs or webinars

Eligible costs 

You can use the funding to cover costs including:  

• technical resource and expertise 
• project staff to deliver or support the activity 
• partnership development   
• overheads that directly support delivery of the project (for example, some coverage of existing staff or organisational core costs where these apply to the project; we suggest no more than 10% of the overall budget) 
• outreach and training delivery 
• the analysis and sharing of learnings from the activity, including appropriate marketing costs 
• accessibility provision for project staff or participants  
• delivering your funded activity in a more environmentally sustainable way 

The funding is offered as a grant and is not expected to result in unfair competition or have a negative effect on competition or investment between the UK and any country or territory outside the UK. The Subsidy Control Act regulates financial assistance given by public authorities (such as BFI) to organisations engaged in economic activity. It enables us to give subsidies tailored to our sectoral needs, driving economic growth while minimising distortion to UK competition, and adhering to our international obligations. 

To ensure that all awards we make comply with the Act, BFI will use the information in your application form to determine whether the award is a subsidy. We also may request further information at application stage.  

Subsidies above a certain financial threshold (currently £100,000) must be published on a database held by the Department for Business and Trade. 

Costs we cannot support 

Funds should not substitute or replace existing funding or income that would otherwise be available, or to fund activity at the same scale that can happen without an award. 

National Lottery funds are only awarded to applicants that demonstrate need and a clear public benefit from the activity. BFI National Lottery Funding is project-based, time-limited funding, and you should not expect ongoing support beyond the term of any award made.  

Examples of common ineligible costs are:   

• a project management fee or overheads that do not reflect costs directly associated with delivery of the activity    
• core costs for day-to-day running of your organisation not associated with the activity   
• flights within or between England, Scotland and Wales, or international flights    
• costs relating to an extension of ongoing work  
• capital expenditure (building costs and the purchase of equipment)  
• activity that is already specifically supported by another source of funding, including by other BFI funding provided by a different fund or BFI delegate partner – contact us if you are unsure whether this applies to you  
• cost incurred prior to an offer of funding from BFI  
• prize funding of any kind 
• costs of alcohol, parties or similar events   

This list is not exhaustive and we may inform you that other types of activity within your application cannot be supported by a BFI award, or request that you amend specific lines and allocations.  

If you’re registered for VAT 

Your figures should not include VAT that you can claim back.  

If you are not registered for VAT, or you are registered for VAT but cannot fully recover the VAT you incur on costs, your figures should include irrecoverable VAT. Grants we make are ‘outside the scope’ of VAT and should be listed in your accounts as a grant and not, for example, as a fee for any services supplied to the BFI. You should get financial advice from your own accountant or the relevant tax office.   

Partnership funding   

We welcome applications that have partnership match funding of at least 20%, which can be in cash or in kind. You need to include your partnership funding in your activity budget. 

Any partnership funding required to meet budgeted costs needs to be secured in advance of payment of any award from BFI and before the proposed delivery start date.  

5. What your project needs to achieve 

We will measure the success of all supported projects against the fund’s strategic outcomes.  

In addition, we expect the successful applicant to achieve the following outcomes linked to this call: 

• better understanding of what will aid the transferability of craft and technical production workers across screen, live music and theatre 
• an industry-endorsed professional development framework for craft and technical roles, published for use by the screen, live music and theatre sectors 
• identification of the training needs of craft and technical roles, to enable individuals to work across screen, live music, and theatre 
• an example of a cross-sector skills training programme upon which future sector training programmes could be modelled 
• assessment of whether professional development frameworks can help professionalise roles, set minimum skills standards, and improve health and safety practices in the workplace 
• evaluation of the potential impact on work precarity and worker retention for those working in craft and technical roles 

Key Performance Indicators  

KPIs help us measure the success of funded activity. Targets will be specific to the activity, and set in collaboration with you, if your application is successful.  

All awardees are expected to deliver against the following fund-level KPIs: 

• the breadth of stakeholders consulted on and supporting the project  
• outputs that disseminate learnings and insight for the benefit of the wider sector (for example a report, webinar, workshop or presentation at an industry event) 
• contribute to an evidence base around ‘what works’ and ‘what doesn’t’ in terms of addressing screen sector skills challenges 

Specific KPIs relating to this funding call could include:  

• the number, location and diversity of beneficiaries participating in pilot training  
• the number of employers, educators and key stakeholders engaged in dissemination activities and receiving key learnings from the pilot activity to inform future work  
• the number of employers or educators who confirm an intent to embed the use of the professional development framework (relative to pilot activity) 

Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)  

All activity supported by our funding should address the BFI Diversity Standards. For the BFI National Lottery Skills Fund, the areas we expect you to focus on are: 

• what representation is considered and offered in your output  
• who works for your organisation 
• early career opportunities, training and career progression 
• the diversity of beneficiaries and how you will reach them 
• the overall accessibility considerations and commitments  

If successful, you’ll need to report following the conclusion of your activity, evaluating how you’ve delivered against the aims of the BFI Diversity Standards in practice.  

Your project will contribute towards achieving our inclusion targets.

UK-wide  

Our funding supports national, regional, and local activity to ensure that communities throughout the UK feel the benefit of the screen industries and culture.  

You’ll need to tell us where your proposed activity will be delivered and how this will support the BFI’s UK-wide principle, as well as any partners you’ll work with to achieve this aim. You may look to pilot activity in a specific geographical area, with a view to applying learning across the UK. Across the life of the Fund, we aim to support activity with benefits reaching across the UK.  

Environmental sustainability  

You’ll need to embed the principle of environmental sustainability throughout your funded activity. You’ll need to consider how you’ll apply environmental sustainability (ES) principles to the funded activity or your organisation more generally. This could include: 

• implementing good environmental practice for the project, for example travel and events 
• delivering virtual training where appropriate to ensure wider reach of modules and to limit travel 
• embedding sustainability within your organisation more broadly 
• exploring environmental themes as part of the work, for example programming, training or skills development 

Due to the range of organisations and activity that we fund, we’re not prescriptive about what you should focus on. For guidance, you can refer to resources provided by Julie’s Bicycle, particularly the Sustainable Screen Resource Hub, which outlines good environmental practices. To support the beneficiaries of your project you can also explore resources provided by BAFTA albert.  

If funded, you may be required to submit environmental impact data and report on how you have applied the ES principle. Find guidance on reporting on Julie’s Bicycle website. 

Reporting  

To monitor progress and delivery of the activity, you’ll need to submit:   

• interim reports summarising:  
  • progress, learnings, outputs and impacts at the stage of the report, as well as highlighting any instances of the funded activity having use or impact in the wider sector 
  • detail of any changes to plans in comparison to those previously approved by BFI 
  • an update on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
  • cost reporting of spend against agreed budget 
• a final report due no more than two months after the completion of pilot activity, incorporating:  
  • a final cost report 
  • a narrative report, including details on development and delivery, lessons learned, the legacy of the work and evidenced outcomes and impacts 
  • confirmation that the deliverables have been met  
  • confirmation that the professional development framework has been freely published for use by the wider sector 

We will agree the frequency of the interim reports with the successful applicant based on their timeline for delivering key project milestones. We anticipate a minimum of two interim reports. 

6. How to apply 

Information you’ll need to  provide   

As part of the application form, we will ask you to confirm your eligibility and provide organisation and contact details.  

The main application form will ask you to provide:   

• an overview of your project and the activity proposed in response to the funding call, including:   

  • your approach to developing the framework  

  • your proposed pilot training programme that will help test the framework’s effectiveness (further refinements to programme plans may need to be made once the framework is finalised) 

• detail of any project partners that will support the activity 

  • this may include those with prior experience of writing professional development frameworks, as well as those who bring sector specific expertise related to screen, live music and/or theatre 

• an outline of the lead applicant’s (and any proposed delivery partners’) relevant experience, skills and network, to support delivery of the proposal 
• your plan for consulting industry and other key stakeholders, including in the development and completion of the professional development framework 
• an outline of how you will engage beneficiaries with the proposed activity, including  

  • a plan for engaging participants in the pilot training programme, ensuring workers from screen, live music and theatre are secured who would benefit from upskilling   

• proposed deliverables and dates for their completion (milestones) 
• a monitoring and evaluation plan covering each stage of activity (development of the framework, development of the training programme, and delivery of the training programme) and outlining: 

  • the anticipated benefits of the activity 

  • how you will monitor and evaluate the success of the activity, including proposed KPIs and outcomes 

• a dissemination plan for learnings from your project, including any resources to be developed  
• a description of the risks you foresee relating to your activity and how you will mitigate these   
• a plan for the legacy of the work post BFI funding 
• how your proposal responds to the BFI’s Diversity Standards 
• how your project meets our principle of equity, diversity and inclusion  
• how your project meets our other principles of UK-wide and environmental sustainability

Your application should not assume knowledge in the reader and should be written in the future tense. Tell us what you are going to do, what the project will be and if partnership funding is secured. 

Documents you’ll need to provide  

At the end of the application form you will be asked to attach the below: 

Documents about your project 

• an activity plan outlining the delivery phases of your project, the deliverables and key milestones, and including detailed timelines for both: 

  • the development of the professional development framework 

  • the development and delivery of the pilot training programme 

• a detailed project budget including any partnership funding, and an accompanying cashflow showing when funding will be spent  
• if your application has multiple partners, evidence of commitment from each partner (submit this as a single document) 

Financial documents 

• the lead applicant’s last set of independently certified or audited accounts  
  • if more than 12 months has passed since the year-end covered in these accounts, you may be asked to provide draft accounts for the intervening auditable period as approved by your board (including both income and expenditure reporting and a balance sheet).  
  • if your organisation is less than 12 months old and has not yet filed accounts, provide evidence of a bank account 
• your most recent budget and management accounts for the current financial year as approved by your board (including both income and expenditure reporting and a balance sheet) 
• your organisation’s risk register 

Equality monitoring  

You may be asked to provide equality monitoring data relating to your organisation’s leadership or project staff at the point of application or during your project. The data you submit on this form will be confidential.  

Submitting your application 

To apply, you’ll need to create an account or have an existing account to make your application online. You’ll then need to complete and submit the online application form. You can save your application and return to it when you need to.

Make sure you complete all the sections as incomplete forms will be automatically ineligible.   

Check the guidance on how to use our BFI applicant portal. 

You can view a PDF preview of the application form to see the questions you will be asked in full: 

If you have any questions when completing the application form, contact us at [email protected]. 

We welcome your feedback on the application process and how we might improve it.   

7. What happens after you  apply   

Following the closing date for applications:  

1. You will get confirmation we received your application within two working days.  
2. If your application is ineligible, we will email to tell you we will not be able to consider it. We may allow you to fix a mistake if this is the only reason the application is ineligible.  
3. Interviews will be held for selected applicants within eight weeks.
4. You’ll get a decision within 12 weeks.   

During assessment, we may write to you or request to meet with you to obtain more information about your application. If we need additional information from you, it may take us longer than the timeframes shown above to reach a decision on your application.  

How your application is  assessed   

Your application will be assessed by a panel of assessors, which may include an independent external assessor. External assessors are required to maintain confidentiality regarding the contents of your application and agree not to retain application materials after their review.  

Your application will be assessed against the following criteria: 

• the relevance of your response to the focus of this call 
• if the proposal is well-designed 
• if the activity plan is clear and feasible 
• the potential for impact, including against the fund’s strategic outcomes 
• the legacy plan for the activity, and the potential to generate significant learning and insight which will be of use to the UK screen sector 
• the relevant experience, skills and networks of the applicant and partners to deliver the proposal 
• a clear understanding of potential risks and plans to mitigate these  
• a realistic budget which represents good value for money  
• the extent to which the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability are reflected within delivery    
• where your activity will be carried out and where geographically the benefits of the project are likely to occur – applications will be strengthened if they can demonstrate UK-wide reach  
• the project’s need, and suitability, for National Lottery good cause funding  
• the public benefit from your proposed activity  

We will also consider if and how you, and named partners or contributors, have managed any previous BFI awards.  

We anticipate making one award of up to £150,000. If no single application sufficiently meets our assessment criteria, we may ask applicants to modify their proposals to enable us to fund two or more awardees to deliver separate outcomes (together, no more than £150,000), or we may decide not to make any award. 

Identity checks 

We undertake due diligence assessments of the applications we are recommending to our decision-making committee for funding. As part of this, we may request the bank details of the lead applicant.

We will request the personal address and date of birth of the CEO or Managing Director of the organisation applying. We will use this data to run an identity check. Our request for this information is not an indication or confirmation of funding and you will be informed separately of the funding decision on your application. This is not a credit check. We will be unable to submit your application to our decision-making committee until we have received your completed form. 

Lottery Finance Committee consideration 

Following assessment of each application, funding recommendations will be made to the BFI Grant and Lottery Finance Committee. This is the final stage of the funding decision process. All applicants will be informed in writing of the decision on their application. If your application is declined, all supporting materials will be deleted from your submission in line with our record retention policy.

8. Getting a  decision  

If you’re  unsuccessful   

We may have turned down your application because we determined that the proposal:  

• did not closely meet the requirements of the fund call 
• did not fit our funding objectives and outcomes   
• did not demonstrate a strong enough commitment to one or more of the following principles: equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI); environmental sustainability; UK-wide  
• was too ambitious for the budget, or did not demonstrate strong value for money  
• was under-developed or lacking in detail, for example, around project content, staffing or risk management 
• did not demonstrate enough relevant experience  
• did not demonstrate sufficient need for National Lottery support and could be financed by other means  
• did not sufficiently respond to the BFI Diversity Standards 

Feedback on an unsuccessful  application   

If requested, we will provide feedback either in writing or via a phone or video call.  

If you’re  successful   

You’ll receive a written offer of funding, and you will need to sign this and return it to the BFI within 28 days.    

Your offer of funding will set out details of how you will receive the funding, how to use it and how we expect you to report to us. Read section nine below to find out what you will have to do if you are offered an award.  

9. Conditions of funding  

If you are offered an award from us, in addition to the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding, you will be required to deliver the funded project in accordance with the requirements set out in these guidelines and with the contents of your application (in its final form approved by the BFI) including as follows:    

1. The duration or term of the funding agreement will be based on the requirements of your application but will complete by no later than 31 March 2029. Progress will be measured based on submission by you of routine interim reports as outlined in these guidelines. The dates for the receipt of these and for receipt of the deliverables will be matched to cashflow instalments of the award.  
2. You will be required to work collaboratively with relevant BFI departments and partners and maintain an open dialogue during the term of your award, updating the BFI of any changes to your project in comparison with your plans at application stage. We may ask you for a meeting at any point during delivery to review progress and, if we request it, you will be required to facilitate access for a BFI representative to observe or where appropriate take part in the funded activity.   
3. BFI will require approval over the final design of the framework and the training programme, including the modules to be delivered, eligibility of prospective participants, the outreach and marketing plans for the programme, and any terms attached to participation.  
4. Where you have included unsecured partnership funding within your budget, you will need to provide updates on securing this finance to the BFI (normally as part of your performance reporting but, where such partnership funding is intrinsic to delivery of the project, as a pre-condition to the funding agreement). The BFI may elect to withhold or withdraw your award if you are unable to secure a level of partnership funding required to deliver the project as planned, or require that you submit revised plans and budget showing how the project could be delivered without the planned partnership funding.   
5. You will be required to gain BFI approval for any marketing or related materials for your activity, in line with branding guidelines that the BFI will provide you with.  
6. All awardees will be required to work with our designated cultural sustainability partner to assess their environmental impact. Further guidance and support will be provided to you once the award period begins. 
7. You may be required to take part in an evaluation of the Fund by the BFI (or its contracted party).  You must retain all data relating to your programme, its participants and its impact until the end of the BFI Screen Culture Strategy in March 2033. 
8. Where applicable, you will need to adopt safeguarding provisions for protecting children and vulnerable adults and ensure that data on all participants in and beneficiaries of the Fund can be shared with BFI in compliance with data protection legislation.