We spoke with art therapist Tim Wright, previous chair of British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) and co-chair of the group that started the new art therapy course, about why degree apprenticeships are valuable to students and employers.
The development of arts therapies apprenticeships began in 2017 with an innovative group bringing together employers, universities, and professional bodies to develop the arts therapies apprenticeship standard which was approved in 2019.
There is a great demand for a skilled, creative and flexible workforce to meet the UK’s mental health and development needs and these apprenticeships will help to meet it. In 2023, the first apprenticeships were launched.
Apprenticeships are available in Art Therapy, Dramatherapy and Music Therapy. Arts therapies apprentices train to the same postgraduate master’s level (level 7) as conventional art therapy trainees.
But rather than being placed in the workplace for a limited time to gain clinical experience, they are full time members of the workforce.
