Music: Education

(asked on 27th April 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure music lessons in schools are affordable.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 1st May 2020

The Government believes that music is an important subject and that all pupils should receive a high quality music education, at least up to age 14. That is why the subject is compulsory in the national curriculum and why this government provided funding of over £300 million for Music Education Hubs between 2016 and 2020 and in January 2020 I announced a further £80 million investment by the Government in these hubs for 2020-21.

In 2011 the Government published ‘The Importance of Music: A National Plan for Music Education’, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-importance-of-music-a-national-plan-for-music-education.

The document set out a vision for how music education should look up to 2020 and introduced the plans for the music education hubs. The vision is to enable children from all backgrounds to have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, to make music with others, to learn to sing, and to have the opportunity to progress to the next level of excellence. In January 2019, the Government committed to refreshing the Plan to ensure music remains at the forefront of school life and made clear that the Plan would be refreshed.

At the same time to ensure all pupils are able to enjoy high quality lessons it was announced that schools are to receive a new model music curriculum created by an independent panel of experts. As well as ensuring all pupils can benefit from knowledge rich and diverse lessons, it is hoped that the curriculum will make it far easier for teachers to plan lessons and help to reduce workload.

In the same period the Government also funded the Music and Dance Scheme with £120 million. The aim of the scheme is to help identify, and assist, children with exceptional potential, regardless of their personal circumstances, to benefit from world-class specialist training as part of a broad and balanced education.

Although the Department has not commissioned any recent studies, a Call for Evidence on music education was launched on 9 February 2020, and closed on 13 March 2020, the findings from which will inform the development of proposals for the refreshed Plan. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the refresh of the Plan is currently on hold but will be published in due course.

In terms of individual music tuition, in addition to support provided through the hubs, the Government also invests in organisations that help young people learn about different styles of music and to support the next generation of musicians. These programmes are:

  • In Harmony
  • National Youth Music Organisations (NYMOs)
  • Music for Youth.
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