Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with the Department for Work and Pensions, to increase funding for music tuition for children from low-income families to match increases in the cost of lesson tuition at school music schools.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

This government is committed to ensuring that high-quality music education is not the preserve of the privileged few.

In the 2026/27 academic year, we will continue to invest £76 million revenue grant funding annually for the Music Hubs network, alongside continuing to invest £25 million capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology. The network provides services to schools, including group tuition, one-to-one tuition and instrument loans.

In the 2026/27 academic year, we are increasing means-tested bursary funding by £1.3 million to £37.8m for the Music and Dance Scheme to support around 2,100 high achieving young musicians and dancers to access to specialist performing arts education such as Chetham’s School of Music.