Open Call for Art Fund Teacher Fellowships – United Kingdom

The Teacher Fellowships programme will give secondary school teachers the opportunity to work part-time within a museum with a Clore Learning Space, supporting the museum to develop their learning offer, increase engagement with schools in their area, and enrich curriculum-learning in school.

They are seeking host museums that are passionate about developing their learning offer and increasing their engagement with schools. Museums will be asked to demonstrate how the Fellowship will enable them to undertake a step change in their learning provision and build their engagement with schools and young people.

Funding Information

• This year they will offer two grants of up to £61,750 to museums who wish to take part in the programme over the following 2026/27 academic year.
• In addition, £4,000 will be provided to each host museum to support the costs of managing and hosting the Teacher Fellows; and a budget of £15,000 will be provided to support the Teacher Fellows and their host museum to build engagement with schools, support school visits, develop new learning resources, and deliver museum-led activities in school.

Role of Teacher Fellows

• During their part-time secondment within their host museum, the Teacher Fellows will:
  • Support their host museum and its staff to develop and improve their learning offer, ensuring that it meets the needs of local schools.
  • Arrange and support school visits for both their school and other schools in their local area, across a range of age groups.
  • Build lasting and deep relationships between the host museum and schools in the local area.
  • Develop curriculum resources which highlight the relevancy of the host museum’s collection to different areas of the National Curriculum, encouraging school visits and ensuring that these are as beneficial and enriching as possible.
  • Ensure the practicalities of arranging a school visit are as simple as possible, e.g., by creating and providing template school booking forms, risk assessments, parental permission forms etc.
  • Work with the host museum’s staff, curators and artists to design and deliver museum-led activities within their school, enhancing the school’s learning offer in return.
  • This could include a range of in-school activities across different areas of the curriculum, including specialist talks from curators and museum professionals, and career coaching for pupils interested in working within the sector.

Expected Outcomes

• Outcomes for host museums:
  • Host museums will have a stronger understanding of what teachers want and need, enabling them to develop their learning offer and increase their engagement with local schools.
  • Clore Learning Spaces will be enlivened through new activity and increased school visits.
• Outcomes for schools and teachers:
  • Schools will have increased engagement with museums – including their collections, programmes and staff – enriching school learning.
  • Teacher Fellows will have greater skills and confidence in embedding creativity and museum learning within their teaching, supporting their own pedagogical learning and development.
• Outcomes for young people:
  • Children will have access to an enriched and more relevant learning experience, strengthened by collaboration and partnership with museums.
  • Children from all backgrounds will feel more comfortable and confident in museums, providing them with a greater sense of ownership and increasing the likelihood that they will visit in the future.
• Outcomes for the wider museum and education sectors:
  • Collaboration between museums and schools in shared geographical areas will be strengthened, with learning and resources exchanged nationally via the Teacher Art Pass network.

Eligibility Criteria

• Their initial target participants for the Fellowship posts will be secondary school teachers based in state schools, with five plus years in the profession.
• The ultimate beneficiaries of the programmes will be pupils in both their school and other schools within their region.
• They aim to ensure a representative geographical spread, benefiting museums, schools and young people across the UK.

For more information, visit Art Fund.