Awards for Young Musicians receives Arts Council funding to support thousands of teachers in England


We’re excited to announce that Awards for Young Musicians (AYM) has received substantial funding from Arts Council England to expand the reach of our acclaimed Identifying Musical Talent and Potential programme.

Identifying Musical Talent and Potential (ITP) exists to make music education fairer and tackles one of the biggest obstacles to talented young people’s musical progress: many teachers have limited experience of how to identify musical potential in the first place. 

This initial new phase of ITP expands the programme and will reach over 1000 teachers by March 2023, exploring the skills they need to spot the next generation of musical talent. 



“Musical talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Financial and social obstacles too often get in the way. Young people shouldn’t be denied the chance to explore their musical potential because they’ve never had the chance to play an instrument, or because their class teacher isn’t musically trained.

With Arts Council England’s support, we are now able to help thousands more teachers around the country address this fundamental inequity, by training them to spot early potential in a child, no matter their background or family finances.”

AYM’s Chief Executive Hester Cockcroft

“Every young person should have the opportunity for their talent to be recognised, and to reach their full potential. This is why progression, excellence and fairness are central to achieving our shared vision for music as set out in the National Plan for Music Education. Identifying Musical Talent and Potential will have a significant impact on helping teachers give talented young people the guidance and support they need, unlocking the full range of local and national support for young musicians in this country.”

Hannah Fouracre, Director of Music Education,
Arts Council England

We’re hiring!

To deliver the expanded training programme we are recruiting 10 Associate Facilitators to work with Lead Facilitator Hugh Nankivell and Neil Phillips, Programme Manager, Furthering Talent and Practical Progression. For more information and to apply please see the Job Description and Application Forms below.

Lead Facilitator Hugh Nankivell delivering a session.

Identifying Musical Talent and Potential: Associate Facilitator 

Freelance: approximately 8 days (including paid training) between April 2022 and March 2023, with potential for more work beyond this. 

Fee: £200 per day 

Closing date: 9.00 am, Monday 28 February 

Interviews: Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 March 

Identifying Musical Talent and Potential (ITP) exists to make music education fairer. It tackles one of the biggest obstacles to talented young people’s musical progress - many teachers’ limited experience of how to identify musical potential in the first place. Funded by Arts Council England’s Hub Support Programme, we’re recruiting 10 new Associate Facilitators to deliver training in Music Education Hubs across England and reach over 1000 teachers by March 2023.  

If you’re a confident, creative and curious musician with experience of working with children and young people and leading or facilitating workshops with any age group we’d like to hear from you. You will be passionate about increasing access to music making for disadvantaged young people and committed to helping them overcome the barriers they face to fulfilling their musical potential. You will be open to learning new approaches and developing your own practice in new and creative ways.  

Please complete the Applicant Details Form and Application Form, and return to [email protected] no later than 9.00 am, Monday 28 February 2022. We encourage all applicants to ensure they have submitted a completed equal opportunities form. 

Find out morehttps://www.youngsounds.org.uk/how-we-help/identifying-talent/

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