You must make sure you book an Individual Career Consultation with our Relationship Management team before you submit your application.

Just email us at dancers@thedcd.org.uk to arrange your Individual Career Consultation.

Complete and submit your application online at least 4 weeks before your course is due to begin. You’ll need to answer some questions and submit a copy of your dance CV demonstrating your eligibility for the grant.

Applications can be made at any time in the year and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application within four weeks of submission. We do not fund retrospectively. You will be expected to make use of your grant within one year of receiving it.

Career Exploration Grant applications are assessed by DCD’s Executive Director and Relationship Manager. All decisions are made at the discretion of the Executive Director.

You may apply more than once for a Career Exploration Grant (for example, where you undertake a number of short course/classes) however, the maximum total award is £1,250. New applications must be made each time.

If you later apply for a Retraining Grant, there is no further opportunity to access a Career Exploration grant; even if you have a) never had one or b) have had one or more Career Exploration Grants that totalled less than £1,250.

Please also note that new Career Exploration Grant applications will only be allowed once any prior funded activity has been successfully completed and any requests for further information/reporting against the award have been fulfilled.

Then what?

• DCD’s Executive Director and Relationship Manager will review your application, usually within two weeks of receiving it.
• If your application is approved, we’ll send you a Funding Agreement which you’ll need to read, sign and return to us. No funding is released until we’ve received your signed Funding Agreement.
• You’ll then need to arrange for the course provider to invoice us for your course fees. We’ll make payment to them directly.
• After you’ve completed the course, we’ll ask you for a short report on your experience. This helps us to assess the impact of the grant and offer you further support if you need it.

What are we looking for?

To approve your application for a Career Exploration Grant, we will need to see strong evidence of the following:

• That you meet the eligibility criteria
• A genuine interest in the field as a potential new career path
• An imaginative use of the opportunity to explore a new career field
• Comprehensive research into the field and possible initial courses
• Potential and aptitude for a possible career in the field of interest
• What you hope to gain from the experience of the course
• A long term view of how the course will fit into wider career development
• That you can cover any costs related to doing the course that DCD cannot cover

DCD operates a fixed annual budget for the availability of Career Exploration Grants. The process is therefore competitive and funding cannot be guaranteed under any circumstances.