Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools receive adequate funding to provide equitable access to arts education alongside English Baccalaureate subjects in (a) Cornwall and (b) England.

This government is clear that arts subjects should be part of every child’s education.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will advise on how the department delivers a broader curriculum for every child, including arts subjects and English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects. The department will also support children to study a creative or vocational subject to the age of 16 and ensure accountability measures reflect this.

Schools have autonomy over how they spend their core funding and can decide how to best allocate their resources for the benefit of their students. The department does not provide schools with dedicated or ring-fenced funding for either arts subjects or EBacc subjects. Schools do not report back on the funding they have allocated to different subjects.

Overall core revenue funding for schools totals almost £61.8 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. More specifically, through the Dedicated Schools Grant, Cornwall is receiving £406.3 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25.