Music: Education

(asked on 27th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations in the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Music Education Music Education: State of the Nation, published on 4 February.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Agnew of Oulton
This question was answered on 10th April 2019

We agree with the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s report 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 is providing funding of over £300 million for music education hubs between 2016 and 2020. A report published last year by Birmingham City University (attached) showed that in 2016/17 the hubs taught more than 700,000 children to play a musical instrument with their class.

The national curriculum does not apply in academies, but all state-funded schools have to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. We welcome Ofsted’s consultation on a revised education inspection framework which emphasises the importance of a broad and rigorous curriculum

We are also developing a model music curriculum, which will be made freely available to schools and have announced plans to refresh the National Plan for Music Education.

There is no evidence that the introduction of English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is responsible for the reductions in entries to music at GCSE. Since 2009/10, the percentage of the GCSE cohort choosing to take music has fluctuated, but remained broadly stable at between 6 and 7%. The EBacc has been designed to be limited in size in order to allow students to continue to study additional subjects that reflect their individual interests and strengths, including arts subjects. We have no plans to add a sixth pillar.

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