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Museum & Learning Engagement Grant FAQs

This page will be updated as questions arise.

If you have a question that isn’t covered here, please email grants@mdmidlands.org.uk with your question and we’ll be in touch.

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  • As we won’t be able to charge the schools participating in activity funded by the MLE grant, can we apply for the costs of the lost income or the room hire?

Applicants should not include lost admissions income, lost room booking income, lost session fees, or any other form of foregone income in the project budget.

Where applicants use their own venue, the value of the space may be calculated using the organisation's standard room hire rate, provided this is reasonable, can be evidenced, and relates directly to the funded activity.

· Venue or room hire costs may be included where a space is being used directly to deliver the funded activity. 

·  Applicants may alternatively choose to show the use of their own space as match funding in kind.

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  • Evidence of costs - for question 4.4: “Have you provided supporting evidence for costs, such as quotes for freelance/consultant support or evidence of material costs over £100”, should applicants contact freelancers or consultants for cost estimates before applying, or might this conflict with fair, transparent and inclusive recruitment and working practices?

At the application stage the Assessment Panel want to be confident that the proposed work is appropriately scoped, your proposed timescales are achievable and budget is realistic. We do not expect everything to be fully arranged before you submit your application.

Applicants can contact potential freelancers to discuss the project, check that the proposed work is realistic within the timescale and budget, confirm potential availability, and request an estimated cost. A brief email covering these points is sufficient; a full proposal and quote is not required at this stage.

Once you enter the delivery stage, if your organisation’s procurement process and/or the value of the contract requires you to obtain multiple quotes, do remember to factor this activity into your timescale.

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  • Is there an offline application form we can use to draft our application? My colleagues and I are struggling to arrange joint access to the online application form.

Yes, you can download an offline version of the application form here: https://mdmidlands.org.uk/files/grants/offline-grant-application-form-mle.docx

⚠️ Important: We do not accept applications submitted by email or as Word documents. The offline form is for preparation only:

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  • Bid-writing support: I’ve got a project idea but need some support with writing my application. Can I speak to someone?

If you would like support to develop your project idea you can book a one-to-one development session with Jenni Waugh. Please contact grants@mdmidlands.org.uk for more information. Please allow at least five working days' notice to arrange a session. Please note 1:1 spaces are limited and offered on a first come first served basis. We are currently operating a waiting list.

Please read the grant guidance carefully and check these FAQs, as they should answer many common questions. You can also send straightforward queries about the grant scheme and application process to grants@mdmidlands.org.uk

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  • Is it worth applying if we aren’t located in or working in a DCMS Cultural Priority Place (CPP)?

Yes. Applications are welcome from any Midlands museum that is either ACE Accredited or Working Towards Accreditation, whether or not they are based in, or delivering activity in, a DCMS Cultural Priority Place (CPP).

The ambition is for around 70% of investment to support activity in CPP areas. Consequently, delivery in a CPP area is an important consideration within the assessment process and will contribute positively to the assessment of an application.

However, all applications are assessed on their overall merits, and strong applications from outside CPP areas could still be successful.

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  • How can I demonstrate need?

You do not need to be based or working in a CPP to apply. However, all applicants should explain the need for their project and the difference it will make for children and young people.

You can view the current list of CPPs on the Arts Council England website.

If you are working in an area outside a CPP, you may wish to include evidence that helps demonstrate local need. This could include information about levels of cultural engagement, deprivation, educational disadvantage, or other relevant local factors. Providing this evidence is not a requirement, but it may help strengthen your application by providing additional context for your project.

You can use the following resources to provide further detail if you are working in an area of high deprivation and low cultural engagement outside one of the Cultural Priority Places:

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  • How 'new' does the activity have to be?

The grants are intended to support museums and schools/colleges/learning settings to develop work that is new to you. It is not to for delivering or extending activity which is part of ‘business as usual’ or has been previously funded by another scheme.

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  • We are struggling to get a response from the school we wanted to work with - can we still apply? 

Given the short time frame involved, the assessment panel understands that applicants may not have been able to contact education partners until the start of the new school year (early Sept 2026) and even then, will be reaching out for consultation and planning at a busy time for schools. As a result, the assessors will have realistic expectations of what co-consultation/planning applicants might have achieved before the submission deadline. 

In your application, try to demonstrate how workable your plan is and how you might manage the risk of non-engagement from your top target school. You could briefly describe the attempts you've made to engage, indicate the likelihood that the school/learning setting might respond positively within a realistic delivery period, or demonstrate how you might mitigate the risk to timely delivery with a contingency plan. 

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  • Can we outsource some of the delivery?

We understand that timescales are tight and that you might have limited capacity to deliver your activities, so we are expecting you to want or need to outsource some elements to freelancers, or pay for additional staff hours.

Please do check the criteria closely to make sure that all/any expenses are allowed and that you will spend the grant within the allotted timeframe.

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  • Reporting: What is backfill and how do I evidence backfill spend?

In grant funding terms, backfill means covering the duties of an existing employee while they spend time working on the funded project.

For example:

·       A Learning Officer spends one day a week delivering the MLE project.

·       The museum uses grant funding to pay another member of staff, a temporary employee, or additional hours for an existing employee to cover the Learning Officer's usual duties.

·       This replacement cover is known as backfill.

To evidence backfill spend, you should be able to show both:

1.       That the original member of staff spent time working on the funded project.

2.       That the cost of covering their usual duties was actually incurred.

Examples of evidence may include:

·       Timesheets or staff time records.

·       Payroll records.

·       Employment contracts or contract variations.

·       Overtime claims.

·       Temporary staffing invoices.

·       Internal records showing how duties were covered during the project period.

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  • Will we be marked down for not providing match funding?

No, not for this scheme, as match funding is not compulsory.

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  • Will we be marked up for providing match funding?

No, not for this scheme, as match funding is not compulsory.

However, do tell us in the application you are providing match funding, whether as cash or in kind, because it helps to demonstrate the full cost of the project and the commitment of resources and volunteer time required to deliver it.

MDM do report on match funding to ACE, because it helps illustrate the level of investment and support being contributed by museums themselves – but it does not affect the grant assessment decision in this scheme.

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  • How strongly valued is co-creation/co-production in the assessment process?

The assessment criteria ask: “Does the proposed activity demonstrate a commitment to quality engagement, consultation, collaboration and/or co-design where appropriate?”

It would therefore strengthen the application to explain how potential partners and/or target groups will help inform the project throughout its development. However, we appreciate the timescales involved, so any engagement should be proportionate and realistic.

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  • What should we focus on - research and development or operational delivery?

The MLE Grants can be used to support museums to test and develop new approaches. Consider what would be most advantageous for the long-term development of your work with schools/colleges/home educators and build a strong case in the application.

The assessment criteria includes “How clearly does the applicant explain the intended outcomes and adequately describe how success will be measured and learning from the project be captured?” so make sure you tell us how you will review and learn from any development activity to inform your future plans.

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  • What will give us the edge?

Make sure your application is clear, focussed and well-evidenced, and that it presents a compelling case for funding within the criteria of the grant award guidance.

Make sure your planned activity is realistically achievable within a tight timeline, that you've made it clear who you will work with, how you'll manage the delivery, what outcomes you want to achieve, and how you will evidence the impact of the work.

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  • Will we be able to see the assessment matrix before the application deadline?

The scoring matrix will not be published. However the matrix will be based on the criteria published in section 9 of the guidance (see below). Keep checking to make sure you meet the criteria in your application, and you will be on the right track:

The MDM Grant Panel will consider the following:

• Does the project clearly align with one or more of the programme activity areas and the aims of the Museum Learning and Engagement Grant Programme?

• Will the project support an improvement in children and young people’s access, participation and learning outcomes through meaningful engagement with schools, home education groups and/or other learning settings?

• Does the application demonstrate a clear need and rationale for the proposed activity?

• Does the proposed activity demonstrate a commitment to quality engagement, consultation, collaboration and/or co-design where appropriate?

• Will the project generate learning outcomes, evidence and/or new approaches that can inform future museum learning provision and curriculum delivery?

• Is the project well planned, realistic and deliverable within the programme timescales, and are any risks identified and appropriately managed?

• Does the applicant have sufficient organisational capacity to deliver the project, including appropriate arrangements for staffing, backfill and project management?

• How clearly does the applicant explain the intended outcomes, and adequately describe how success will be measured and learning from the project be captured?

• Are the proposed costs appropriate, well evidenced, and proportionate to the activity and do they represent value for money?

The panel will apply additional weighting to applications that support activity in CPPs, or where the applicants plan to address areas of low cultural engagement and/or socio-economic disadvantage.

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