Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to deliver a Music and Arts Pupil Premium to schools.

Schools are expected to fund the delivery of music and arts teaching from their core budget. The government has committed to putting education back at the forefront of national life, with a further £3.2 billion going into schools’ budgets, with £1 billion for children and young people with high needs. Overall core revenue funding for schools totalled almost £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year.

Over and above core school funding, the government is investing £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, which includes the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced last month our intention to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school, including through the government’s network of Music Hubs. Our intention is to launch in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. One of the responsibilities of the National Centre will be to lead the Music Hubs programme.

Future funding for music and arts education is subject to the ongoing spending review and more details will be published in due course.