Today’s Education in the Media blog looks at arts in the school curriculum.
Arts in the Curriculum
Yesterday, Sunday 25 November, the Artistic Director of the Royal Albert Hall, Lucy Noble issued an open letter to the Education Secretary regarding arts in the school curriculum. The letter was published in the Sunday Times, with City AM and Sky News also running stories on the issue.
We want all pupils to study a broad and balanced curriculum in which arts subjects play an important role. We also encourage students to take part in the arts as extra curriculum activities – for example, by singing in choirs, playing musical instruments or acting in plays.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
We want all pupils to have the opportunity to study the arts. That is why music, art and design are compulsory in the National Curriculum up to the age of 14.
The EBacc was designed to be studied as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. It allows pupils time to continue to study additional subjects, like the arts, that reflect their individual interests but also provides a strong academic foundation that keeps their options open. Since the introduction of the EBacc, the percentage of young people entering at least one arts GCSE has fluctuated across years, but has remained broadly stable.
We are also putting more money into arts education programmes than any subject other than PE - nearly half a billion pounds to fund a range of music and cultural programmes between 2016 and 2020.
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