Arts Council England has published the first details of how organisations can apply to become National Portfolio Organisations for the five-year period running from April 2028 to March 2033. The application window opens in October 2026, with full guidance to follow in September. This is the earliest stage of a process that will shape public arts funding across England for the better part of a decade.
The basic parameters are now confirmed. Applications are open to arts organisations, museums and libraries. The minimum threshold is £50,000 per year. Organisations can apply for funding to work directly with the public, to support the wider cultural sector, or to do both. The portfolio runs for five years, which is longer than the current three-year arrangement and represents a meaningful shift toward stability for organisations that secure a place in it.
The process itself has been redesigned. Arts Council England has said it will ask fewer questions than in previous rounds and will not require attachments or detailed delivery plans at the application stage unless funding is subsequently offered. That is a significant change from how previous rounds have operated. Whether the simplified form produces genuinely better outcomes for applicants or simply redistributes complexity to other parts of the process remains to be seen, but the stated intention is for a shorter, more streamlined experience.
Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, described the approach as delivering on a commitment made in response to an Independent Review of the organisation earlier this year. “We will ask applicants fewer questions than we have before so they can tell us about their ambitions in their own words,” he said. He also acknowledged the financial reality plainly: demand will exceed supply, difficult decisions will have to be made, and those decisions will be made against a finite budget.
The scale of that demand is not theoretical. For the 2023 to 2026 National Portfolio, 1,730 organisations applied, requesting just over £2 billion in total funding across three years. Arts Council England had £1.34 billion available and funded 985 organisations—the next round covers five years rather than three, which changes the arithmetic. Still, the underlying pressure between the number of organisations seeking investment and the money available to distribute is unlikely to ease.
A broader range of inputs will inform decision-making in this round than in previous rounds. Artform, Museum and Library panels covering Combined Arts, Dance, Digital Arts, Libraries, Literature, Museums, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts will work alongside Arts Council England’s own experts to assess the landscape in each discipline ahead of the process. A Sector Advisory Panel has already been involved in the programme’s design. In September, the organisation will also set out how local community needs, regional perspectives, and citizens’ views will be incorporated into funding decisions. This commitment emerged from the Independent Review and will be closely watched by organisations working outside major urban centres.
The programme is underpinned by Arts Council England’s new Strategic Framework, published in May, which sets out goals around excellence, access and geographic reach. Organisations considering whether to apply are being encouraged to read the framework alongside the material published this week and to make internal decisions before the full guidance arrives in the autumn.
Full Applicant Guidance will be published in September 2026. Applications open in October.