Arts Council England (ACE) has blamed “high traffic” for technical issues preventing users from accessing its online application platform, Grantium, over the last 24 hours.
As a result of the problems, the funding body has extended the deadline for the government’s Creative Foundations Fund, a new £85m scheme launched in May.
The fund, designed to help arts venues across England to address a range of issues, such as repairing building infrastructure and outdated or failing systems, was due to close this Friday (25 July), the same day as the deadline for Expressions of Interest to ACE’s Libraries Development Framework.
Applications to both schemes have now been extended to midday on Monday, 28 July.
Users began reporting that Grantium had “collapsed” yesterday (23 July), with many taking to social media to vent their frustration, with one writing, “It’s been down all day and I’m going mad”.
A nerve-racking wait
The failure coincides with decisions for ACE’s Developing Your Creative Practice fund being due, leaving applicants in the dark about their outcomes.
Dr Penny Hay, professor of Imagination at Bath Spa University, wrote on Bluesky, “Our Arts Council decision letter has been issued, but we can’t get into Grantium! Nerve-racking.”
Meanwhile, Carry Somers, founder of Fashion Revolution and trustee of the Fashion Revolution Foundation, said, “My heart was racing when I received the email [from ACE] and logged in immediately. Initially thought it was my glitchy internet. Went for a good long walk, but it’s still not working.”
Another user posted on X begging ACE to update its funding portal: “How is this system so archaic? I just want my verdict.”
ACE posted on social media that it expected the platform to be working by “lunchtime” today (24 July), but as of 16.00, it still appears to be down.
It also said it will aim to notify DYCP applicants of their decision today.
Promised upgrades
Today’s issues are the latest in persistent concerns surrounding the Grantium platform, which was first launched in January 2016 and has consistently attracted criticism from users for being counterintuitive, using incomprehensible language, and having a confusing design.
Plans to improve Grantium were shelved due to Covid. In May 2022, ACE told Arts Professional it was testing new versions of the system and hoped to be able to confirm a launch date “in the near future”.
At the start of this year, ACE pledged that changes to the Grantium user experience would be revealed in spring 2025. However, in June, the funding body announced that it would conduct development work to roll out a more user-friendly model of the platform and provide an update on progress in the summer.
