We know how much time is invested in funding applications and so want to be as clear as possible about your chances of success. Last year, our overall application success rate was 18%. 

Part of our role as a national organisation is to distribute our funding as fairly as possible, and ensure a diverse range of funded activity. The information on this page provides some further information about our priorities, and areas that are particularly oversubscribed.

Regions and funding themes

These priorities are informed by investment data from our core funding programmes (Trailblazer and Catalyser Fund) from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 and are reviewed as the funding year progresses.

There are some regions and funding themes from which we currently receive a relatively low number of applications and where we’d like to fund more. These are:

Regions

• East of England
• South West
• West Midlands

Funding Themes

• Early Years
• Youth Justice System

These regions and funding themes remain highly competitive.

We currently receive higher numbers of applications from the following regions and for the following funding themes, meaning that success rates for these regions and areas of work are lower:

Regions

• London
• North East
• North West 
• South East 

Funding themes

• Young Adults
• Disabled Young People
• Young People Facing Barriers

Diversity of leadership

We recognise the skills and knowledge that diverse-led organisations bring to our sector and to the young people we serve. We also acknowledge that these groups face additional barriers to funding and have historically had less access to money and resources.

Some organisations with diverse leadership characteristics are under-represented in either our applicant pool or funded partner portfolio. Currently, these diverse-led characteristics are:

• d/Deaf or Disabled led 
• Global Majority led
• LGBTQ+ led
• Non-binary led
• 18-25 led.

Place based equity

We also take account of ‘Place’:

• Each region is allocated a budget range to ensure all parts of the country receive a minimum level of investment. This also prevents over‑investment in areas with the highest application volumes.
• Local authorities are prioritised using a combination of indicators, including population levels of children and young people, deprivation, rurality and existing levels of investment.

Organisation turnover and income

Trailblazer Fund

The Trailblazer Fund is targeted at small organisations. Organisations that are considered small are likely to have:

• A turnover of less than £250,000 per annum. The median turnover for Trailblazer Fund Round 11 and 12 was £172,900 and £205,429 respectively. 
• A small staff team (and in some cases, no permanent or full-time members of staff)
• Limited fundraising capacity (e.g. no dedicated fundraiser or fundraising team)

This is a guide and not a strict rule; we have funded organisations with higher turnovers than this through the Trailblazer Fund, and there are a range of other factors that inform decision-making. 

However, with increasing need for funding and higher levels of competition, it is increasingly unlikely that organisations with higher turnovers (especially £1 million or above) will be prioritised for Trailblazer funding.

Catalyser Fund

The Catalyser Fund prioritises organisations with a turnover of £500,000 or less. The median turnover for organisations funded through Catalyser Fund Round 6 was £319,552. These organisations are large enough to demonstrate a track record but were identified in our funding crisis survey as being most at risk of closure.

Again, this is a guide and not a strict rule. We do fund organisations with turnovers higher than this through the Catalyser Fund. We usually expect larger, more established organisations supported through the Catalyser Fund to be working strategically and leveraging their influence to inspire sector change.

Core funding

We prioritise organisations that don’t have other sources of core funding. This means that Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) or Music Education Hub lead organisations are less likely to be successful.

We also take into account whether an applicant organisation has high levels of unrestricted income from other sources and/or high levels of reserves when prioritising our investment. 

Work taking place in schools

We will not fund work taking place in schools, other than the following settings where it is delivered by an eligible organisation:

• Special schools
• PRUs and alternative provision
• Nurseries.

This is because there is already a lot of investment in schools.

We don’t fund education institutions. The following organisations cannot apply for funding:

• Schools and academies, including primary schools, secondary schools, pupil referral units (PRUs) and special schools
• Colleges and multi-academy or single-academy trusts
• Universities