Access and Support
Screen Scotland is committed to offering clear and accessible application processes that are open to everyone. We have several ways of supporting you to make your application.
Alternative Formats and Languages
Our published materials, including funding guidance and application forms, can be made available in other formats as required. We can accept applications and supporting materials written in English, Gaelic or Scots.
To request materials in other formats or languages, contact our Enquiries Service by emailing: [email protected]
If you are a d/Deaf BSL user, you can access our services with the Contact Scotland-BSL programme. Visit www.contactscotland-bsl.org for more information.
Access Support to make an application
We can help cover the cost of services that support you in applying for our funding.
Access support is available to individuals or lead applicants of groups, who are defined as disabled under the Equality Act 2010, with characteristics such as being:
To find out what support is available, and how to request it, please visit the Access Support section of our website.
If you have any questions, email us at: [email protected]
Contacting our Enquiries Service
If you require technical support, further information or have any other queries, contact our Enquiries Service by emailing: [email protected]
About this Funding Opportunity
Screen Scotland is seeking proposals from organisations (or partnerships) that can deliver Screen NETS - Scotland’s flagship training programme for new entrants to film and high-end TV drama (HETV).
For over 45 successful years, Screen NETS, hosted by the Screen Academy Scotland at Napier University, has offered paid, on-the-job training and career support programmes to help people build skills, gain credits, and start sustainable careers in production. It is widely regarded as the gold standard for film crew production training in Scotland and more information can be found in Appendix 1 .
Key features of the programme
A refreshed approach to the programme
We are looking for a delivery partner to introduce new initiatives and ways of working by listening and responding to industry needs, identifying skills gaps and predicting future needs.
In the first year, we expect the programme to support around eight trainees and host placements for five new entrants to gain their first credits. Suggestions on how this strand can be incorporated, in conjunction with the existing programme, are welcomed within proposals.
We expect to select the delivery partner by early March 2026, and your proposal should outline your ability to launch the callout for Screen NETS trainees in May 2026.
The successful delivery partner will be required to deliver the programmes in open and continuous communication with Screen Scotland. This will include regular monthly meetings with the Head of Production and/or Screen Officers monitoring the programme.
Budget
£250,000 - £300,000 per year is available for this programme, provided by Screen Scotland, funded through The National Lottery.
Funding will be awarded initially on a 12-month pilot year basis, with activity starting in May 2026. The intention to extend to March 2029 (subject to satisfactory performance, operations, programme delivery and funding availability).
As Screen NETS trainees are not cost neutral to production, a sliding scale of industry contribution to trainee salaries should be proposed. This scale should be based on production banding.
Additional funding or in-kind support would be advantageous, although it is not essential and proposals that are fully funded through Screen Scotland will be considered if the rationale is exceptionally strong.
Timeline
Guidance published and applications open
2pm, Thursday 22 January 2026
Application deadline
2pm, Thursday 19 February 2026
Notification of interview
By Friday 27 February 2026
Interviews
Early March 2026
Decisions
Early March 2026
Activity start date
May 2026
The Delivery Partner - Eligibility Criteria
Who can apply?
All applicant organisations must have a proven track record of delivering successful, industry standard, work-based skills development and training projects within the UK, ideally within Scotland’s film and HETV production sector.
In the instance that a new organisation is formed, we will evaluate the experience of the individuals involved (rather than the track record of the new organisation). We do not expect the full delivery team to be in place at the point that the proposal is made. Your proposal should include strong strategic reasoning for you and/or your delivery partnership being the host for Screen NETS.
We are seeking a delivery partner who can:
This programme manager is expected to have an overview of all aspects of Screen NETS delivery, ensuring that the initiatives are delivered on time, within budget and to the anticipated standard for each initiative.
The successful delivery partner will have:
A proven track record of delivering successful, industry standard, work-based skills development and training projects within the UK, ideally within Scotland’s film and HETV production sector.
The infrastructure to administer a major skills development scheme, including to support the employment of programme staff, finance, administration including payments to trainees, and management of the application and assessment process.
Ability to successfully recruit trainees from across Scotland through outreach networks, social media, contacts and training partners, ensuring that all communities and backgrounds are reached.
An demonstratable understanding and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and the ability to embed Creative Scotland’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion priority within their programme and ways of working.
Deliverables
Each year, the delivery partner will be expected to:
In addition, Screen Scotland will also require the following:
How to apply
To apply, please read the guidance below and send the following documents to [email protected]
Applications close at 2pm on Thursday 19 February 2026 .
We encourage all applicants to contact Screen Scotland’s Head of Production before submitting your application. Please contact our Enquiries Service by email and you will be directed to someone who can help: [email protected]
Narrative Proposal
Provide your proposal of up to 4 pages, explaining your vision for Screen NETS delivery and development across the period to end March 2029, including:
Budget and Funding Plan
Management Structure
Timeline and Activity Plan
Risk Management Register
EDI Plan
Provide your plan for how you will take a proactive approach to increasing diversity across the sector (in terms of gender, ethnicity, disability, neurodivergence and socio-economic background) and address barriers to participation.
Decision Making Process
Stage 1: Submission and Eligibility
Stage 2: Assessment
Stage 3: Interviews
Stage 4: Approval
Please note, if no proposal is sufficiently viable, we may not select a delivery partner in line with the timeline above or we may enter into post-assessment discussions with one or more preferred delivery partners to encourage a particular approach prior to our making a decision.
Stage 5: Decision
Stage 6: Payment
Appendix 1: Screen NETS – Background Information
For 45 years Screen NETS has enjoyed significant sector goodwill as it developed and delivered on-the-job training and career support programmes for new and recently entered crew members in film and HETV drama production in Scotland. NETS stands for New Entrants Training .
Screen NETS opens doors for those who do not have the finances to establish themselves as a freelance new entrants or who may have faced barriers to entry. Trainees are paid a salary of the Real Living Wage and are able to claim travel expenses and other access support that is relevant to their chosen specialism.
Screen NETS has previously engaged up to sixteen trainees per year to work and develop their skills in selected specialisms within production crews for film and HETV drama. Each traineeship lasted for nine months, and the trainees were placed within productions across their traineeship to gain work-based experience and credits.
Screen NETS works to build on the creative skills base while widening access to entry from all communities and backgrounds.
In recent years, new entrant trainees have included a mix of individuals with general runner type experience and/or who have already been on a bespoke/single production programme as a trainee. They have a clear understanding of the department they wish to pursue but don’t have enough experience to move up to an assistant role, or have entered the unscripted sector in the last two years and are trying to move over to scripted, due to the current downturn in this sector.
Originally developed by the Scottish Broadcast and Film Production Fund (SBFPF) and delivered inhouse by the SBFPF and its successors (Scottish Film Council and Scottish Screen), Screen NETS has been hosted by the Screen Academy Scotland at Napier University since the foundation of Creative Scotland.
Screen NETS has long been considered the gold standard in film crew production training in Scotland, and by many across the UK. It remains the cornerstone of skills development for film and HETV in Scotland, providing a flexible, cost-effective mechanism for the delivery of on-the-job training across departments on film and HETV.
The ethos of Screen NETS is to widen access to the film and HETV drama industry for all by supporting and guiding trainees who are placed in paid roles within productions to develop their skills and experience, build their contacts and establish careers while developing a professional approach and good working practices. The training is always on-the-job, which has long been recognised across the industry as the most effective way to train people for a sustainable career in production.
Through Screen NETS employers can discover talented new Scotland-based crew who have been vetted by industry professionals and to contribute to the growth in our diverse talent base and industry in Scotland.
Appendix 2: Legal and Compliance Requirements
Terms and Conditions
For the full Terms and Conditions of Creative Scotland funding, please visit our website .
Subsidy Control
Screen Scotland, as part of Creative Scotland, must comply with Subsidy Control legislation. Learn more on the Subsidy Control webpage .
Data Protection
Creative Scotland requires some personal information about you/your organisation to consider your application for funding. Without this information we will be unable to process your application.
If you would like to see a breakdown of the personal information we require, why it is required, what we do with that information and how long we keep it, please refer to our Privacy Notice on our website .
Creative Scotland may share your personal information with third parties to comply with the law and/or for our legitimate interests and/or the third parties concerned.
Where the personal information you have provided to Creative Scotland belongs to other individual(s), please refer to our Privacy Notice. Please ensure you share this Privacy Statement and Creative Scotland’s Privacy Notice with the respective individual(s).
You have some rights in relation to the personal information that Creative Scotland holds about you under data protection law. Information on how to exercise these rights is contained in our Privacy Notice or you can contact our Data Protection Officer .
If you have any concerns with how we have processed your personal information, you should contact our Data Protection Officer in the first instance, as we would welcome the opportunity to work with you to resolve any complaint. If you are still dissatisfied, you can submit a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office.
Complaints
As an organisation, we will always listen to and respond to any concerns that you may have. If you would like to make a complaint about either the service you have received from Creative Scotland or the way we have handled your application, we have a process that you can use.
Please note that Creative Scotland does not have an appeals process and for this reason, we are unable to accept complaints that relate solely to the decision we have made rather than how we have made it. For more information, please visit the complaints section of our website .
Freedom of Information (FOI)
Creative Scotland is committed to being as open as possible. We believe that the public has a right to know how we spend public funds and how we make our funding decisions. For more information, visit the Freedom of Information section of our website .
We are listed as a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act (Scotland) 2002. By law, we may have to provide your application documents and information about our assessment to any member of the public who asks to see them under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. We may not release those parts of the documents which are covered by one or more of the exemptions under the Act.
Please see the Freedom of Information website at www.itspublicknowledge.info for information about the Act generally and the exemptions. We will not release any information about applications during the assessment period, as this may interfere with the decision-making process.
