Curator (Degree Apprenticeship) MA

Course overview

This unique apprenticeship explores:

• collection development, management (including acquisitions and loans), and historical and contemporary relevance
• research, development and project management of new exhibitions, and curatorial projects and commissioning artists
• interpretation, learning and audience development including digital methodologies
• specialist sector networks and future-proofing your career as a curator.

Curators play a crucial role in bridging the gap between the tangible objects in their care and the public’s understanding and appreciation of those objects. Apprentices develop curatorial practice alongside like-minded individuals from a range of curating contexts, benefitting from the development of an invaluable network to support them in their ongoing career.

We’re the first university to launch a Curator degree apprenticeship, we’ve written a blog that sums it all up nicely. You can read it here.

This apprenticeship aims to:

• advance the apprentice’s knowledge in the understanding of how curating expands and draws from wider contemporary local and global contexts
• support apprentices towards a significant academic understanding and interrogation of their creative work as a professional curator
• engender a peer-community of curatorial thinkers who are committed towards expanding methods and practice
• engage apprentices in the application of creative methods to problem solving and develop on practice-based research methods towards multiple routes of facilitation of knowledge
• sustain the apprentice’s journey towards expanding their intellectual and professional development at an advanced level in the field of presentation of artefacts
• develop the apprentice’s academic and research skills and knowledge by embedding their learning and engagement within the professional context of curation.

Learning takes place during three intensive weeks across the academic year reducing the amount of time your employee needs to spend away from the business. Depending on which option you choose your apprentice could learn at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) in Middlesbrough or our London Campus at Here East, Stratford. Both options benefit from our experienced academics and relationship with MIMA.

Creative UK
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Please note, we can only respond to enquiries from employers, or individuals with agreement from their employer to undertake an apprenticeship.

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Course details

Entry requirements

To be accepted on to an apprenticeship course you must have support from your employer and meet the course entry requirements.

Places on this programme are 95% government funded for employers in the creative and cultural sector. This is open to a wide range of staff at galleries, museums, libraries, and creative organisations, who come to Middlesbrough for week-long residentials then pursue self-directed studies online over two or three years.

The apprentice must be working in an institutional setting with relevant registration and sponsored by you, the employer. The apprentice must also:

• have a minimum of three years full-time or equivalent in part-time hours institutional experience – if they have less than three years’ experience they may be considered following discussion with the course leader providing they have their manager’s support
• attend an interview, a separate induction and a three-way progress review meeting at regular intervals between the apprentice and the University.

Employers are able to specify their own entry requirements, which may include a degree or the equivalent level of knowledge and thinking ability gained through experience.

Job role responsibilities
Apprentices work within a suitable environment to allow them to research, develop and interpret collections, themes or subjects ensuring accessibility to a diverse range of audiences.

Workplace settings can include but not limited to: museums, galleries, archives, local authorities, universities, historic environments and properties or Trusts.

We cannot accept applications from international students requiring a student visa.

Eligibility for apprenticeship funding in England

To qualify for apprenticeship funding in England, an apprentice must meet all the criteria outlined by the Department for Education in the Apprenticeship Funding Rules. These requirements apply to programmes starting between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026.

1. Right to work

The apprentice must have the legal right to work in England.

2. Residency eligibility

The apprentice must meet the residency requirements detailed in Annex A of the Funding Rules. This includes (but is not limited to):

• being ordinarily resident in the UK (or specified territories) for at least three years immediately before the apprenticeship begins, unless a specific exemption applies
• exemptions may apply to individuals with:
  • refugee status or humanitarian protection
  • permission under the Ukraine or Afghan schemes
  • stateless status
  • certain family member rights
  • pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

3. Visa duration and completion viability

For apprentices with time-limited immigration permission (such as visas), the permission must cover the entire duration of the apprenticeship, including the end-point assessment. If the visa expires before completion, the apprentice is not eligible for funding.

Full details can be found in the official guidance: Apprenticeship Funding Rules 2025 to 2026

Employability

Career opportunities

The apprentice is prepared for a career in curating across the cultural and creative industries including visual arts, museums and heritage, programming and creating projects across media, design, performance, fashion, festivals and cross art forms. Curators are increasingly sought by sectors such as teaching, academia, health and the environment, to improve public engagement and communications. Curators have an increasingly vital role in interpreting and selecting content across many areas and managing creative relationships of all kinds, it is a future facing career choice that is exploding and the government has labelled a priority through its apprenticeship scheme.