Apprenticeship Levy Scheme

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I think the noble Baroness would acknowledge that some of the changes that we have introduced, including the levy, to create a sustainable model of funding for apprenticeships, reflect some of the problems of quality identified in the Richard review in 2012. I hope that she would also acknowledge that we have seen an important growth in degree apprenticeships. She is absolutely right that we have seen a drop in intermediate apprenticeships, but that is a principal area of focus for the department going forward.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, following on from the question of the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, are the Government continuing to consult the creative sector to assess how well the new flexi-job scheme fits the bill and, importantly, provides the necessary number of apprenticeships, including in the theatre industry, where such a scheme particularly needs to be targeted?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I absolutely reassure the noble Earl that the department is actively engaging with all key sectors, including the creative sector. On the specifics, obviously the apprenticeship model is push and pull. The department is delivering what employers are asking for, but we need employers to respond to that across every sector.

Schools: Creative Subjects and the English Baccalaureate

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Tuesday 29th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

We simply do not accept that there is a crisis in creative subjects. The noble Lord rightly quoted some data, but I point out that the percentage of students taking art and design at GCSE is up from 26.5% to 30.4%. He is right that there have been declines in some other subjects, but he will also be aware that the numbers taking vocational and technical qualifications have gone up very substantially, particularly in media: since 2018 the figures for media have risen from 4,500 to 55,000 students.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, despite what the Minister says, the message clearly being sent out via EBacc to teachers, parents and children is that creative subjects are of lesser worth, a message independent schools are ignoring. Is the Minister aware that there is five times greater spend on music in independent schools than in state schools, including academies? Does the Minister agree that this is bad for levelling up, bad for education and bad for our future economy, a key aspect of which will be the creative industries, as independent schools know full well?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The department does not track the expenditure on these subjects in independent schools. What the department is committed to, and restated in the schools White Paper yesterday, is that every child should have a rich cultural education, and we will be publishing a new cultural education plan jointly with DCMS next year.

Music Education in State Schools

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I agree with the noble Baroness that parents in every school care about the richness and breadth of the curriculum which their children undertake. The music education hubs that were created in 2012 now work with around 91.4% of primary schools in this country and almost 88% of secondary schools. Since 2018, there has been a sharp increase in both music tuition and whole-class ensembles.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, the effect of the accountability measures on the arts is becoming increasingly clear as the years pass by. The narrowing of the curriculum at key stage 3 has led to a reduced uptake in music courses at key stages 4 and 5. In some cases, courses are not even being offered. If the Government truly believe in a broad and balanced education, then the EBacc and Progress 8 measures will need to be fundamentally reassessed.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I cannot agree with the noble Earl. The EBacc was designed to be limited, absolutely to allow for the study of other subjects—many of which I know the noble Earl rightly cares a great deal about.

Capita: Turing Scheme Contract

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I absolutely cannot accept what my noble friend suggests. We have had over 41,000 applications for the scheme this year. That compares with around 16,500 under Erasmus+ in 2019-20. Forty-eight per cent of those placements are from students from disadvantaged backgrounds, compared to 37% under Erasmus. We are aiming for global Britain and this reflects it.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, a huge concern is that Turing does not pay for tuition fees. What assessment have the Government made of provision within the 120 countries participating in Erasmus, since why would such providers accept UK students when Erasmus will cover the fees for those institutions?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Earl is right to raise the issue of tuition fees, but I am sure he is aware that even under Erasmus+ half of mobility placements were outside Erasmus+. Judging by the incredible success of our universities announced yesterday, with 605,000 international students coming to our universities —a ratio of two to one of in-placements to out under Erasmus—I do not think it is our top concern.

Initial Teacher Training

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Thursday 18th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, for securing this important and timely debate. I agree with the concerns she expressed regarding the current proposals.

I will make a few general observations, followed by comments on how these proposals might practically affect the teaching of creative subjects. I declare an interest as a vice-chair of the All-Party Groups for Art, Craft and Design in Education and for Music Education. I am grateful to the National Society for Education in Art and Design and the Incorporated Society of Musicians for their briefings for this debate.

The first, and perhaps central, point I want to make is that any changes to teacher recruitment and education ought to be viewed through the lens of the individual subjects that make up the curriculum; in other words, such changes should be subject-led. This is important because the objective of such change, if change is necessary, should be to maximise the best way or ways possible to teach each one of these subjects, so that the result is higher-quality teaching of and greater access to each subject for pupils. Crucially, this also means having a sufficient number of specialist teachers where required, and specialist knowledge and practice, which is ever-changing and ever-developing.

An educational ecosystem that allows a deepening of a subject’s understanding for teaching will necessarily accommodate influence from outside school; good influence always comes from the outside. Ultimately, schools cannot feed on themselves to nurture and nourish good teaching. The end result would inevitably be the stultifying of school education.

The current ecosystem in which university involvement is an integral part of teacher recruitment and education is therefore both beneficial and necessary, not least because such teaching will bring with it a critical vision which will be communicated to students and replenish the school. Indeed, what the Government refer to as “consistently high quality training” should be directly geared to these goals. This is clearly not the case with the current government proposals. As the Incorporated Society of Musicians put it:

“The substance of the proposals are largely generic, rather than subject specific, focusing too much on the mechanics of ITT, rather than on the substance of the learning that should take place. We are concerned that this threatens to undermine the level of subject specialism trainees will develop”.


It is clear there are concerns that these proposals threaten the quality of teaching and access to a wide range of subjects, from the sciences to humanities—my noble friend Lady Coussins will talk about languages—as well as the arts. Schools and arts teachers play a crucial role in supplying the pipeline of creative talent to a creative industries sector worth over £116 billion to the UK economy. The withdrawal of 30 or more providers would mean a loss of around 10,000 teacher training places, as the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, pointed out, which the new institute of teaching, with its 1,000 new places, would not make up.

The inevitable shortage would impact heavily on arts subjects in schools, which are already disadvantaged through the EBacc. On top of that, there is the effect of the pandemic, which has further deprioritised arts subjects in favour of EBacc subjects. This comes at a time when the effect of the pandemic on the creative industries has made the protection and development of the pipeline even more crucial. The Government must ensure that providers and teaching places are not lost.

A particular concern is that, under these proposals, trainees may not have sufficient time to focus on the teaching of arts subjects. Intensive practice placements could mean that teachers do not experience any arts teaching during their placements, since some arts subjects, such as music, are often taught on a rota basis. How would this system ensure that primary teacher training courses and placements include adequate timetabling of music and other arts subjects?

A related concern is the funding and capacity implications of the proposals, which do not seem to be taken into account by the review. How would there be sufficient capacity for small and overstretched art and music departments to deliver intensive placements for groups of teachers, a particular challenge where there are a small number of teachers employed in a department? Schools with small departments would need further support and funding to provide appropriate mentorships.

Bursaries are important in recruiting and retaining trainees. They can make a critical difference—even more so if centres are cut and teachers need to move home or travel long distances. Yet bursaries for the 2021-22 cohort are now zero for both music and art and design, while bursaries have been reinstated for other subjects. This, incidentally, on top of the 50% cuts to higher education arts courses, sends yet another signal about the value that the Government ascribe to arts subjects.

The decision about music is curious in the light of the ISM’s finding that the number of trainees starting secondary music ITT courses in the 10-year period to 2018-19 fell by 64%. Such long-term trends throw a question mark against the target recruitment figures that the Government use. Can the Minister tell me precisely what criteria are now being used for the awarding of bursaries and, in particular, for the decision not to award bursaries to music or art and design subjects? In this context, there is a growing realisation that the recent small increase in art and design GCSE uptake has been artificially inflated by the destructive loss of design and technology teaching.

How, too, would these proposals address representation in the teaching profession? The Runnymede Trust will produce its own report next year on representation in arts education, but the DfE reported in 2017 that only 6% of art and design teachers were from ethnically diverse communities, compared with 31% of the student population. Bursaries and scholarships alongside other strategies could be used to help address this imbalance.

In conclusion, it is difficult to understand how these proposals will enhance the teaching of subjects themselves. Indeed, many of the concerns that the arts have are shared by other subjects too. There are questions then both of principle and logistics. In terms of principle, the strong sense that one gets is that the Government would like to have closer, more centralised control over education and wish the multi-academy trust to be a focus of that control. It is a narrow-minded approach that ignores the importance of the wider educational ecosystem. In the longer term, too, we must rethink the Government’s—any Government’s—relationship to education, which, in England, is in danger of becoming far too close.

Education: Teacher Departures

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As my noble friend knows, teacher quality is the single biggest determinant of pupil outcomes within a school. She is right that it is vital we recruit the best and brightest teachers for our schools. We have a range of initiatives, with significant bursaries for subjects such as biology, geography, languages and, of course, STEM subjects. We remain committed to introducing a £30,000 starting salary for early career teachers and to professional development throughout their careers.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, can the Minister say whether teachers with particular professional qualifications are, for whatever reason, more likely to stay in the profession? Do the Government have data on this?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I am very happy to check what data we have on the longevity, if that is the right word, of teachers from different disciplines. Certainly, in preparing for this Question and looking at the experience of early career teachers, I know that there is actually very little variation in their initial appointment to teaching in a state school. Art and design and music, which I know the noble Earl is interested in, are in the mid-70s, but that is the same as chemistry, physics and a number of other subjects.

Schools: Examination Assessments

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Tuesday 12th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I think it is early to draw firm conclusions, as my noble and learned friend hints. Obviously, there was a different basis for assessment last summer from pre 2019. But the House will be aware that this was a record year in terms of higher education admissions and that the Government’s plan for jobs is focused on giving young people the skills they need to move into employment.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the conclusion we should draw from the Covid experience in schools is a recognition of the paramount importance of a school’s internal monitoring of a child’s progress, central to which is the role of teachers? What then is the point of GCSEs if children remain in school until 18? This is not about fairness but about whether such exams are necessary. If school education in many countries thrives without the additional stress of external testing at 16, why cannot ours?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

Well, I would question the noble Earl in terms of fairness. It is, of course, as I am sure he would agree, absolutely critical, and we believe that exams are the fairest way of judging students’ performance. GCSEs rigorously assess knowledge acquired by pupils during key stage 4 and are in line with expected standards in countries with the highest-performing education systems. So, despite remaining in education to 18, not all students will progress to level 3 qualifications, and therefore GCSEs remain vital to our education system.

Education: Music A-level

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Monday 24th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, I do not have the specific number of music teachers in the system but I know that the vacancy rate is only 0.5%, so I do not see that as a crisis. We have seen pressure on some schools crowding out subjects—for example, in key stage 2 by elongating key stage 4—but the new framework for Ofsted inspections starting from September will put more emphasis on a broad and balanced curriculum, of which music is a part.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, will the Minister accept that now the Russell group has now dropped its list of facilitating subjects, there is no justification for the Government to continue with the EBacc either?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, it is correct that some universities have withdrawn the list of facilitating subjects, but they have replaced it with a website which gives children pointers to the sorts of subjects they need to study if they are to go on and do challenging degrees; for example, if you want to read medicine, you cannot do that by dropping science subjects at either GCSE or A-level.

Education: Art and Design

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Thursday 17th January 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[The Earl of Clancarty]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage the teaching of art and design in schools.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education (Lord Agnew of Oulton) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government want children to be taught a broad and balanced curriculum up to the age of 14. During this time, children should be exploring the widest possible range of subjects, including art and design. Ofsted is currently reviewing its inspection arrangements and launched a consultation yesterday on proposals for a new inspection framework. These proposals will place a strong emphasis on schools providing a broad and balanced curriculum for all their pupils.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, from the decline in arts teaching in primary schools, as described in a new Fabian Society report, to the EBacc’s exclusion of the arts, students are increasingly not receiving the balanced education that they deserve and is necessary for the future of our creative industries. Art and design is under the additional pressure of not attracting ITE bursaries, unlike other subjects which exceed their trainee targets. Will the Government address that unfairness?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, we clearly need to prioritise our bursaries budget so that we can incentivise applications in subjects where it is hardest to attract applicants. The vacancy rate, though, for art and design teachers as a percentage of teachers in post is lower than for music; indeed, over the last two years we have seen an increase in the number of applicants for both art and design and drama.

Schools: Music Education

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2018 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Black of Brentwood, has given us a speech telling it how it is. Music education in schools is under threat in this country. The noble Lord gave us the statistics: a 23% drop in GCSE entries in music since 2010, and 7% in the last year alone. To compare with two EBacc subjects, geography and history, geography GCSE entries have risen 38% and history by 22% since 2010. The Government have made claims that they are doing some kind of counterbalancing measure, yet geography, an important subject, nevertheless has almost seven times the number of GCSE entries as music. This is an extreme imbalance. Of course, because arts subjects are excluded from the EBacc, this is happening not just to music but to all the arts and design subjects, and surely one of the more shocking facts is the drop of over a quarter in arts subjects overall taken at GCSE level in the last three years alone.

More shocking still are the department’s figures on the number of teachers and hours taught: a 13% drop in the number of music teachers and a 13% drop in hours taught for music since 2010. The facts are shocking because they more immediately reflect the increasing lack of provision of and commitment to the teaching of music—and again it is the same story in all the arts, with 20% of teachers being lost overall since 2010. All this is backed up by the evidence from the schools themselves: for example, the University of Sussex research, which the noble Lords, Lord Black and Lord Clement-Jones, referred to, and which the noble Lord, Lord Lloyd-Webber, called “an urgent wake-up call”. One of its telling conclusions is a continuing decline in the number of schools offering GCSE music, with no option in 18% of schools and a further fall of almost 6% predicted up to 2020.

It is getting a little frustrating having to quote back to the department year after year its own figures, alongside all the other evidence. It is frustrating to be faced with a department which seems to want to continue to bury its head in the sand. It seems extraordinarily unconstructive that the Government merely ignore the views of expert bodies and schools organisations such as the Association of School and College Leaders. The best that the Minister could do yesterday in response to the Oral Question from the noble Lord, Lord Black, was to cite the old New Schools Network conclusion about the broad stability of the proportion of young people taking at least one arts GCSE—and it is not true, in part because it leaves out design and technology, which is a significant exclusion. Also, what an unambitious standard to want to celebrate, since it ignores all the students who might want to do more than one arts subject since they are often complementary: dance and music, or music and drama, for example. Students should have the clear option to do so if they wish. I recently visited a school in the Midlands which was set up as a specialised visual arts secondary school, and it now does not offer more than one arts subject per pupil at GCSE level. The head of its arts department also has to teach geography, which is a nonsense at that level of teaching—or in fact at any level. Indeed, the Sussex University research confirms that 70% of secondary school music teachers have had to teach outside their subject area since 2016.

The pressure of course is that the EBacc as an accountability measure now effectively forces schools into a particular straitjacket they do not want necessarily to be in. But this is changing the culture of school education to the extent that arts subject are valued less, as is confirmed by both teachers and, significantly, by students, in the extensive new study Time to Listen by Nottingham University, published jointly by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Tate, and which the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Hudnall, referred to yesterday. Subjects are valued less so they are not offered—it becomes a vicious circle. Moreover, the Sussex research finds that even where music is offered, in some schools students can be discouraged from taking up that option in order to concentrate on EBacc subjects. But also, at a time when schools are strapped for cash, the teachers will not be taken on either, which is why I am extremely sceptical about the Minister’s statement yesterday in answer to the Oral Question of the noble Lord, Lord Black, that there is no crisis because of a low vacancy rate for music teachers. That says nothing at all about whether music teachers should not be taken on, but may speak volumes about the priorities that schools are forced to have to meet the EBacc goal.

It is becoming clear too that the effect of the EBacc culture is not confined to GCSEs. The knock-on effect, as the noble Lord Black pointed out, affects the pipeline of talent. He spoke about A-level music entries dropping by 3% in the last year and a frightening 38% since 2010. At the other end, music is fast disappearing from primary schools, and the Incorporated Society of Musicians has also commissioned a study on this from Kevin Rogers, who was the last county inspector of music in the country—which already says something in itself. He shows that accountability measures are responsible for this decline.

The hope in all of this lies in what I think is a discernible change in the public mood, which is one of increasing concern. The Nottingham University study calls for parity between the arts and other subjects at key stage 3, a proper recognition of the arts in the Ofsted inspection process, and a minimum proportion of time dedicated to creative subjects. It also calls for an arts premium for all schoolchildren and a review of the importance of the arts—this is significant—among Russell Group universities.

I hope that the department will finally listen. Much is at stake, not least the future of music as well as the other arts, many of which interact with and depend on each other, and I ask that the department talks to the DCMS, which should be very worried, as we all should be, about what a continuing and deepening marginalisation of the arts and creative subjects in schools will mean in the long run for the health of the creative industries. Add to that the cuts and the serious problems of Brexit, particularly for musicians, and we have a potentially huge problem.

My noble friend Lord Berkeley of Knighton would have been here today except that, somewhat ironically perhaps, he is working with music students at Wells Cathedral. He asked me to say this:

“Given the success of our creative industries and particularly in music, it does seem disastrous for our future success that this and the next generation of students are being deprived of the touchpaper that can light a creative career”.


Above all, schools should be offering an education which gives students as many opportunities as possible to find themselves—that is an important aim—including subjects which are participatory and sharing, and music as a practice is this. In a letter to the Times in August Sir Simon Rattle and others said that,

“we urge the government to reverse its EBacc policy and take action now to keep music in our schools”—

and, one might add, thereby to provide music for every child in the country. Music should not become a preserve of the rich. It is time that the Government looked at other models of education which will properly deliver a rounded, balanced education—one fit for the 21st century.