Making It Fund
The Making It Fund is an initiative designed to support current students and recent graduates of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama to expand and elevate their creative practice. Offered from the first day at Guildhall, until five years post-graduation, this fund is dedicated to helping artists build resilience and sustain their careers in an ever-changing artistic landscape.
Purpose of the Making It Fund
- Expand Creative Practice: The Making It Fund provides financial support for current students and alumni to explore new artistic ideas, develop innovative projects, and refine their craft. Whether you're working on a new performance piece, developing a creative business, or engaging in cross-disciplinary collaboration, this fund is here to help you take your practice to the next level.
- Build Resilience: In today's challenging environment, building resilience is crucial for artists. The Making It Fund aims to support you in developing the skills, networks, and resources needed to adapt and thrive. This might include professional development opportunities, mentorship or coaching.
Who Can Apply?
Current Students: Students enrolled in a full-time or part-time higher education programme at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Recent Alumni: Alumni who have completed a higher education programme at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama within the past five academic years (2021-2025 inclusive).
Eligibility: Current students and Guildhall School alumni who are enrolled on or have completed a higher education programme of at least one year’s full-time duration (or part-time equivalent) within the past 5 academic years (2021-2025 inclusive). Participants of short courses are not eligible. You must also be eligible to live and work in the UK to apply.
Funding Opportunities
Grant Range:
- Student applicants can apply for funding between £500 and £1,000, depending on the scope and scale of their project. Student applications should demonstrate a higher degree of creation and collaboration.
- Alumni applicants can apply for funding between £500 and £3,000, depending on the scope and scale of their project. Applications from graduates will be expected to demonstrate higher levels of innovation and enterprise
How to Apply
Applications open: Monday 12 October 2026
Deadline: 11:59pm, Sunday 22 November 2026
To apply, email the following documents to makingit@gsmd.ac.uk:
- A completed application form
- A completed budget
- A completed Equalities Monitoring form
- Your CV
All documents in addition to our application guidance can be found at the bottom of this page.
Please use the subject line “Making It Fund Application: [Your Name]” and send all four documents in a single email.
Before you apply
- Check you’re eligible. The fund is open to current Guildhall students and to alumni who graduated in the academic years 2021/22 to 2025/26 inclusive. You must also be eligible to live and work in the UK.
- Read the criteria. Applications are assessed against the criteria in Appendix 1 (students) and Appendix 2 (alumni). Make sure your proposal clearly sets out what you plan to do, your timeline and budget, and how the funding will advance your practice or career.
- Student projects needing space. If your project needs space at Guildhall School, give as much detail as you can about its size and scope.
Formatting your documents
Please make sure all documents are in a format the panel can open and read easily. We recommend submitting your application form, Equalities Monitoring form and CV as PDF or Word (.docx) files.
Budgets: If you created your budget in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets, you can submit it in its original format (.xlsx is preferred) or as a PDF. If you’re converting it to PDF, check the result before you send it. Spreadsheets often split across many pages when converted, which makes them very difficult to read. To avoid this, set the page layout to landscape and select “Fit to one page wide” (or the equivalent option in your software), then open the PDF to confirm that everything appears clearly on as few pages as possible.
Non-Windows software: If you’re using Mac software such as Pages, Numbers or Keynote, or another program not commonly used on Windows, please export your documents to PDF, Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx) before submitting. We may not be able to open files sent in other formats, such as .pages or .numbers.
Applications that the panel can’t open or read clearly may be delayed or may not be assessed. If you’re unsure about the format of any document, please get in touch before the deadline.
What happens next
Your application will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary panel of industry experts and Guildhall staff. We aim to let all applicants know the outcome by w/c 14 December.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the fund or your application, email Iona McTaggart at iona.mctaggart@gsmd.ac.uk.
Artist Development activity focuses on four distinct and interlinked priority areas:
Encouraging partnerships across different disciplines and art forms to foster innovative and interdisciplinary skillsets.
Supporting the development of new artistic work and the exploration of fresh ideas.
Promoting the experimentation of new forms, processes, and solutions, pushing beyond traditional boundaries.
Helping artists build sustainable and ethical creative businesses.