Arts: Secondary Education

(asked on 24th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of the arts and creative development subjects to secondary school pupils' education recovery following disruption caused by the covid-19 outbreak; and, with reference to page 4 of the costings document for the Conservative and Unionist Party manifesto 2019, if he will make it his policy to deliver an arts premium to secondary schools in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 30th November 2021

The government is committed to high-quality education for all pupils, and the arts and music are integral to this. With the significant impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning, the department’s priorities have inevitably had to focus on education recovery in the recent Spending Review. The government remains committed to the ambitions in the Plan for Cultural Education published in 2013, and will give consideration for a future arts premium in due course.

In recognition of the merit of these subjects and how they contribute to a broad and balanced education in and out of school settings, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next three years, though our music, arts and heritage programmes.

With the real terms per pupil increases to core school funding and the additional £1 billion new funding announced specifically for recovery, schools will continue to have the flexibility to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum and enrichment activities.

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