Artsmark is the national programme that enables schools, further education colleges and youth justice settings to evaluate, celebrate and strengthen a quality arts offer.

A new focus of Artsmark is to support Arts Council England achieve it’s goal of ensuring every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts by promoting formal education institutions to deliver rich and high quality provision. It will deliver this by providing:

• a structured and in depth online auditing tool
• rigorous criteria against which applicants can benchmark their provision
• the support of arts education professional throughout the assessment process
• the creation of a network of organisations committed to high quality, broad and sustainable arts provision

After a gap year to refresh the scheme Artsmark relaunched in September 2011 for round 12. The Forge is the recommended Arts Council England Artsmark trainer for Durham and Sunderland schools and since the application process for round 12 opened last year we have provided support and guidance to over 60 schools hoping to achieve Artsmark or Artsmark Gold. If you and your school made an application your assessor will be in contact with you over the next few weeks to discuss your application and arrange a convenient time to visit. Good luck to everyone who has made an application – we would love to know your result so please get in touch by tweeting us @theforgeuk.

If you didn’t have the opportunity this round, why not consider an application for Round 13?  Curriculum provision, access to Arts Award and arts enrichment opportunities you provide all contribute to Artsmark.  Partnerships with artists and arts organisations are also part of the criteria, which is where a partnership with The Forge can help you achieve a successful application. Click here to find out about or Artists in Residence scheme.