Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had on ensuring that the Music and Dance Scheme continues to support the same number of students for future scholarships.

The government fully supports the arts and the development of a skills pipeline into the creative industries. The department is providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) this academic year. The MDS currently provides bursaries for over 2,000 students. The number of students supported in future will be considered in due course. Any introduction of multi-year funding agreements will also be considered in due course.