Grantium 7.0: Same Problems, Bigger Platform
We all know Grantium. Clunky, counterintuitive, and, if you were applying anywhere near a deadline, reliably anxiety-inducing. It became something of a dark joke in the sector. You'd clear your diary, make a cup of tea, and mentally prepare for a system that felt like it had been designed to test your resilience as much as your project idea.
So when Arts Council England announced a new version, I allowed myself a small flicker of hope. Surely it could only get better?
Reader, it has not gotten better.
I've been using the updated platform and I want to be specific about what's going wrong because vague complaints don't move things forward. Page regeneration is regularly taking upwards of 20 seconds. Not on a slow connection. Not on an old device. Just... taking 20 seconds, because that appears to be what the system now does. And that's when it's actually doing something. On multiple occasions the platform has simply gotten stuck in perpetual loading mode, spinning indefinitely, requiring a full refresh and the accompanying fear that whatever you'd just inputted has disappeared into the void.
This isn't a minor inconvenience. When you're writing a £30,000 application, every wasted minute compounds. When the system drops out mid-session, you don't just lose time, you lose your train of thought, your momentum, and occasionally your work.
Is this just me?
Earlier this year, Alira Arts launched an anonymous survey asking arts professionals about their experiences of applying through Arts Council England since September, Grantium issues, processing delays, communication gaps, and the wider impact on their projects and organisations. We've now had over 100 responses, and the picture they paint is consistent, sector-wide, and frankly overdue for a proper public conversation.
The survey is still open. If you've experienced issues, whether with the old system, the new one, or the endless waiting in between, I’d want to hear from you.
https://forms.gle/Y3zkXN2YzEx27ckx5
We'll be publishing findings, and we're committed to making sure this lands somewhere it can actually create change, whether that's with ACE directly, with DCMS, or with the wider sector through the press.
Because the sector deserves better than a grants portal that functions as an obstacle course. And the people making work, running organisations, and trying to keep communities connected deserve to be heard.
Hannah