You’d be forgiven for thinking that because something showed as ‘Submitted’, you’d submitted it, wouldn’t you?

Sadly, it doesn’t. And I’m just the latest in a long string of artists who’s failed to get to grips with Arts Council England’s ‘Grantium’ funding portal. And that’s after a year of trying. That the portal’s difficult to use is hardly news. Any system that includes error messages like “This formlet contains a mandatory field for which no value has been saved“, and that needs you to print out an 88 page long pdf to use it, is hardly intuitive.

It was only due to trial and error that I was able to input my proposal. There were no clear instructions on how to use the software.

And I’m not stupid. I used to work with a very clever software developer, helping develop the user side of complex database projects, and I’ve been involved in user testing things more complex than Grantium.

But my own failure, after months of working on an application, made me think again about this system, that’s nearly a year old now.

Talking to Ivan Pope, we realised that the way artists were using the system wasn’t really being looked at. We started a short survey, asking artists for their experience. Thirty artists have responded in the first week.

Artists were asked how they found using the system for the first time. So far, 90% of artists have said they found it hard, very hard or impossible to use. A number have failed completely.

I needed quite a lot of support from friends who had used it before and friends that were contemporaneously applying for funding, so we supported each other and shared small successes and tricks.

62% had needed help to use the system, including multiple calls to ACE’s helpline, and lots of peer support. One artist reports having to print the 88 page pdf as it’s not linked to Grantium, so is hard to use online. Other artists have developed and shared cheat sheets and other resources. Even from a small initial survey, it’s clear that while Grantium might make savings for ACE (they promise it saves a neat £1 million), it’s actually at the cost of artists, who are having invest time to support each other through the process.

I just remember the old system being much nicer to use!

82% of users said that, compared to ACE’s previous funding portal, Grantium was harder to use. Some questioned whether there was a hidden purpose behind the introduction of the new system:

I have genuinely never experienced software like it- it appears to actively discourage artists from applying. It was like navigating a labyrinth.

While that’s probably imagining a conspiracy where it’s just another ACE cock-up, the fact that it’s even being considered is telling.

And it turns out, I’m not the only one who believed that a thing saying ‘submitted’ meant you’d submitted a form. Other people have had the exact same experience as me:

The system tells you that applications gave been submitted but they haven’t, which was very confusing.

It’s good to know, if nothing else, that it’s not me being stupid.

ACE have now offered me help to complete an application, as a neurodivergent artist.

I’ve been using websites and software since the late 1990s, and I’ve been working as a professional artist without problems for 16 years. I’ve completed plenty of funding applications, recently working on a major Heritage Lottery Fund bid, and managed big projects. It’s the first time I’ve had to ask for help, and the first time I’ve been made to feel disabled.

The survey’s still live – if you’ve used Grantium(or tried to use but failed) please complete the survey here. It should take you about 2.5 minutes (Desktop or laptop), 4 minutes (Tablet) or 4.5 minutes (smartphone). And it’s less stressful than Grantium, we reckon.


1 Comment