Education: Conservatoires

Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe Excerpts

Wednesday 10th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe]

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, for securing this very timely debate, and wish him many enjoyable and spine-tingling musical moments in his new association with Trinity Laban. It is clear from the debate that there are many of us in this House who share his concern over the impact of funding cuts and short-term funding formulas on our conservatoires. As other noble Lords have said, a conservatoire education may be expensive, like medicine or dentistry, but it is part of our cultural lifeblood. I strongly support my noble friend’s call for a long-term funding solution that recognises the legitimate high cost of conservatoire training and places it among mainstream higher education.

At this stage in the debate, it would probably be enough to say amen to all the points that have already been made, but I join our choir tonight to emphasise just two points. I was dismayed to learn that the US federal loan board is withdrawing loan facilities for study at UK institutions that do not offer their own degrees. It questions their legitimacy as listed bodies within the UK higher education sector. It affects a number of conservatoires, including Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity Laban, whose awards are validated by City University, as well as others such as Glasgow School of Art. This has serious implications. The US is an important source of international students for our conservatoires, but these students depend heavily on getting study loans from US federal authorities. Can the Minister say whether the Government can assist in any way in convincing the US to change its position?

Secondly, the closure of post-study work visas, which enabled conservatoire graduates to gain experience as independent artists and performers before returning home, is a further blow. The proposed alternative for graduates on a salary of over £20,000 means little in the music and performing arts sector where, as the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, and others have said, graduates have a portfolio career and are usually paid in one-off performance fees or commissions.

The education and training offered to the world’s most gifted practitioners is of necessity lengthy and expensive. So, in harmony with others in this debate, I ask the Government why these institutions continue to be subject to short-term, make-do-and-mend funding arrangements.