Oral Answers to Questions

Barbara Keeley Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think we’ve got the story. The extra chapter was fine.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

9. What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of music education in schools.

[The Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on her appointment as shadow Minister for music and tourism.

The Government expect every school to teach music for at least an hour a week, supported by our music hub network, including the Greater Manchester hub led by the Bolton Music Service, and backed by £25 million of capital for instruments and a new £10,000 bursary for trainee music teachers.

[Barbara Keeley]

Last month, Ofsted reported:

“There remains a divide between the opportunities for children and young people whose families can afford to pay for music tuition and for those who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds.”

It also said that

“half the primary schools visited did not…offer any instrumental or vocal lessons”,

and that what lessons existed were being taught by non-specialist teachers in two thirds of primary schools. This is a damning reflection of the substantial decline in the provision of music education in England over which Conservative-led Governments have presided. What urgent action will the Government take in response to these findings?

[Nick Gibb]

From September next year, every music hub will be required to support music tuition for disadvantaged pupils. We are investing £2 million in a music progression programme in education investment areas to support up to 1,000 pupils to learn an instrument. From 2018-19 to 2022-23, between 96.4% and 94.7% of all hours taught in music were taught by a teacher with a relevant post-A-level qualification. There are now 7,184 full-time music teachers in our secondary schools, which is up from 7,000 last year.