Music Education: State Schools

Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, as the Government’s important curriculum and assessment review continues, this is a timely debate. I am very grateful to my noble friend Lady Keeley for securing it and for the opportunity to contribute alongside so many noble colleagues. I particularly enjoyed listening to my noble friend Lady Debbonaire’s wonderful maiden speech, not least as I know full well her commitment to this cause.

Children have a right to know about the best music that has been written, from Bach to Bernstein to Beyoncé. Although 99% of adults will not earn their living as a musician, they will all listen to music, attend concerts or gigs and enjoy the stimulation of a beautiful song or symphony. Learning to compose and perform is every bit a blend of skill and intuition as learning to read books, a new language or the beauty of mathematics. My husband, a proud owner of both a master’s degree in mathematics and a piano, asked me to add that last bit.

The discipline of understanding a chord sequence sitting below a melody that makes you want to whistle or hum in the street is not just entertaining but an academic discipline in its own right. Music education is not about a top-set culture; every child can engage in music at whatever level makes most sense for them. Some children who find much of school difficult only attend because of their music teacher. They attend because, in a music lesson or extracurricular club, they can succeed and therefore feel that they belong in school. Many schools have deployed their pupil premium funding to provide music lessons for this very reason: so that disadvantaged children can feel successful. Precisely for this reason, their reading, writing and maths improve too.

With the curriculum review that a number of noble colleagues have mentioned coming to its final conclusions, now is the time to ensure that music education plays the fullest possible part in all children’s schooling.