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Archivists, Conservators and Curators

Archivists, conservators and curators collect, appraise and preserve collections of recorded and other material of historical interest.

Wages

New workers
AVERAGE
Experienced
£17,011
£30,773
£54,141

New workers start around £17,011. Normal pay is £30,773 per year.
Highly experienced workers can earn up to £54,141.

Available jobs

In the past year there were 14,085 vacancies for this type of job

4.22%

Projected job growth over the next 8 years

Related courses

People work towards these careers by taking these courses at college and uni.

What they do most days?

  • Answers verbal or written enquiries and gives advice on exhibits or other material.

  • Liaises with school and other groups or individuals, publicises exhibits and arranges special displays for general, specialised or educational interest.

  • Negotiates loans of material for specialist displays.

  • Develops and promotes ideas for exhibitions and displays.

  • Allows access to original material or material not on display for researchers.

  • Makes sure that storage and display conditions protect objects from deterioration and damage.

  • Examines objects to identify any damage and carries out necessary restoration whilst preserving original characteristics.

  • Maintains indexes, bibliographies and descriptive details of archive material and arranges for reproductions of items where necessary.

  • Classifies material and arranges for its safe keeping and preservation.

  • Examines, appraises and advises on the acquisition of exhibits, historic records, government papers and other material.

Hard Skills

Hard skills are specific, learnable, measurable, often industry or occupation-specific abilities related to a position.

Skills are ranked based on the number of job adverts that list them as required skills.

  • Exhibitions

  • Archives

  • Curation

  • Marketing

  • Project Management

  • Cataloguing

  • Loans

  • Library

  • Museum Collections Management

  • Digital Archiving

Soft Skills

Soft skills can be self-taught and usually do not necessitate a certain completed level of education.

Skills are ranked based on the number of job adverts that list them as required skills.

  • Communication

  • Collections

  • Management

  • Research

  • Detail Oriented

  • Customer Service

  • Planning

  • Sales

  • Organizational Skills

  • Operations

How do I get a job like this?

People in these types of job started their career paths after studying courses like the ones below.

Routes to this career

See all

Art History with Foundation Year

Birkbeck, University of London

BA (Hons) · 6 Years · Part-time · London · 10/2025

Tariff points: N/A

Archaeology

University of Nottingham

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Nottingham · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: N/A

History

University of Portsmouth

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Portsmouth · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: 104/112

Archaeology

University of Winchester

BSc (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Winchester · 08/09/2025

Tariff points: 104/120

Fine Art

Kingston University

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · London · 15/09/2025

Tariff points: 120/136

Fashion and Design History

University of Brighton

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Brighton · 09/2025

Tariff points: 104/120

History

De Montfort University

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Leicester · 09/2025

Tariff points: 112/112

Art History

University of Aberdeen

MA (Hons) · 4 Years · Full-time · Aberdeen · 15/09/2025

Tariff points: N/A

Art and Design: Fine Art

Gloucestershire College

HNC · 1 Year · Full-time · Gloucester · 15/09/2025

Tariff points: 48/48

Media

UCL (University College London)

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · London · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: N/A

History with Foundation Year

Sheffield Hallam University

BA (Hons) · 5 Years · Sandwich including foundation year · Sheffield · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: 48/48

Fine Art

London Metropolitan University

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · London · 09/2025

Tariff points: 112/112

Fine Art

University of East London

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · London · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: 112/112

Fine Art (Top Up)

Hereford College of Arts

BA (Hons) · 1 Year · Full-time · Hereford · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: N/A

Fine Art: Sculpture

University of the Arts London

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · London · 29/09/2025

Tariff points: 112/112

History

University of Sussex

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Brighton · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: 128/147

Scottish Ethnology

The University of Edinburgh

MA (Hons) · 4 Years · Full-time · Edinburgh · 08/09/2025

Tariff points: N/A

Fine Art

University of Chichester

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Bognor Regis · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: 96/120

Fine Art

University of Plymouth

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Plymouth · 15/09/2025

Tariff points: 96/144

Fine Art

University of Southampton

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Winchester · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: N/A

Fine Art

University of Wolverhampton

BA (Hons) · 6 Years · Part-time · Wolverhampton · 09/2025

Tariff points: 96/96

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