Arts and Humanities: GCSE

(asked on 1st November 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to address the change in the uptake of arts and humanities subjects at GCSE (a) among disadvantaged students and (b) generally.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 8th December 2016

The Government believes that every child should experience a high quality arts education throughout their time at school.

Our ambition is to increase the number of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, entering English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects at GCSE, including geography or history as humanities subjects. Since the introduction of the EBacc attainment measure in performance tables in 2010/11, the proportion of pupils entering the humanities pillar of the EBacc has increased from 47.7% to 73.7% (2016 provisional).

Last month, we announced a multi-million pound investment in music and cultural education to improve access to the arts for all children, regardless of their background, and to develop talent across the country. This includes:

  • £300 million over the next four years for a network of music education hubs

  • £29 million a year until 2018 for the Music and Dance scheme which provides support for talented young musicians and dancers to attend world-class institutions

  • £4.1 million a year until 2018 for cultural education programmes

  • £500,000 a year until 2018 for In Harmony, an orchestral training programme for pupils in disadvantaged areas

  • £600,000 for other small music programmes across the country for each year until 2020

  • £13.5 million a year until 2018 for the Dance and Drama Awards Scheme. This scheme offers income-assessed support for tuition fees and living costs for students aged 16-23 at a number of high quality private dance and drama schools.

Reticulating Splines