Education: Music A-level Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Department for Education

Education: Music A-level

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts
Monday 24th June 2019

(5 years, 4 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Agnew of Oulton Portrait Lord Agnew of Oulton
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

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.

Earl of Clancarty Portrait The Earl of Clancarty (CB)
- Hansard - -

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 Portrait Lord Agnew of Oulton
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

My Lords, it is correct that some universities have withdrawn the list of facilitating subjects, but they have replaced it with a website which gives children pointers to the sorts of subjects they need to study if they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.