Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) access to and (b) funding for creative subjects.

The Department wants all pupils to have access to high-quality creative education. Music, art and design, dance and drama, and design and technology are all statutory subjects in the National Curriculum.

Between 2016-20 the Department is investing nearly £500 million of funding for a diverse portfolio of music and creative arts education programmes including Music Education Hubs, the Music and Dance Scheme and the Dance and Drama awards. In early January, we also announced funding of £85 million for music and arts in 2020-21; £80 million for music hubs coupled with further investment in film, dance, theatre and design.

The Department believes that the arts help young people to learn creative skills and widen their horizons, so our Manifesto committed to offer an ‘arts premium’, worth over £100 million, to secondary schools to fund enriching activities for all pupils.