Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
support music education in state schools.
(Con)
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order
Paper. I declare interests as chairman of the Royal College of
Music and a governor of Brentwood School.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education ()
My Lords, the Government are committed to high-quality education
for all pupils and music is integral to this. We are working with
experts to refresh the national plan for music education for
publication later this year. This follows the publication of the
Model Music Curriculum last year. We will also invest around £115
million a year, for the next three years, in music, arts and
heritage education, including the network of music hubs working
across England.
(Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer. The sad, blunt
truth is that music education in state schools is on life
support. The number of pupils taking A-level music is down by a
third since 2014—sadly, often because it is simply not available
as a subject. GCSE applicants have come down by 17% over the same
period and 29% of state schools have seen a reduction in the
number of qualified music teachers, while the number of trainees
is falling inexorably. Is my noble friend aware that while 50% of
pupils in private schools get sustained music education, just 15%
of state school pupils do so? Should this not be at the top of
the levelling-up agenda? We need a national plan soon, so can she
tell us more precisely when that is coming? Can we also be
assured that practitioners and musicians will be able to have
their say before it is implemented?
(Con)
The Government share my noble friend’s concern about the
importance of music education in all of our schools. We see it,
along with other arts subjects, as integral to a good, strong
curriculum. In relation to the numbers that my noble friend
quoted on the music GCSE, I point out that while he is right that
uptake of the GCSE has declined, uptake of the VTQ—the vocational
qualification—has increased, so actually there are almost 53,000
children today taking either the GCSE or the VTQ, compared to
almost 50,000 in 2016. On the timing of the announcement of the
plan, as I said, it will be later this year. I will take his
recommendations on further consultation back to the
department.
of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, I will follow directly from the question of the noble
Lord, Lord Black. The Minister may be interested to know that my
daughter is a professional musician who spends part of her
working life, like so many of her colleagues, teaching in an
independent school where the list of peripatetic and full-time
music education staff takes up half a page on the school’s
website. This shows that parents value music education and, in
that case, are prepared and able to pay for it. Does the Minister
think that parents of state school pupils care any less about
music education? I am sure that she does not. None the less, she
will be aware that my daughter’s own children, who attend state
schools, do not have access to anything like the provision which
my daughter is part of providing in an independent school.
(Con)
I agree with the noble Baroness that parents in every school care
about the richness and breadth of the curriculum which their
children undertake. The music education hubs that were created in
2012 now work with around 91.4% of primary schools in this
country and almost 88% of secondary schools. Since 2018, there
has been a sharp increase in both music tuition and whole-class
ensembles.
The (CB)
My Lords, the effect of the accountability measures on the arts
is becoming increasingly clear as the years pass by. The
narrowing of the curriculum at key stage 3 has led to a reduced
uptake in music courses at key stages 4 and 5. In some cases,
courses are not even being offered. If the Government truly
believe in a broad and balanced education, then the EBacc and
Progress 8 measures will need to be fundamentally reassessed.
(Con)
I cannot agree with the noble Earl. The EBacc was designed to be
limited, absolutely to allow for the study of other subjects—many
of which I know the noble Earl rightly cares a great deal
about.
(LD)
My Lords, does the Minister have any figures on the number of
schools without qualified, musically trained teachers attached to
them? I declare my interests as a former chair of the Voces8
Foundation, which has been going into primary schools,
particularly where there is no teacher present with any musical
training, to introduce some basic singing.
(Con)
I do not have that specific figure to hand, but I am happy to
write to the noble Lord with it.
(Con)
Would my noble friend agree to receive a small group from the
Royal School of Church Music, which reaches out to children in
all parts of the country, many of whom go to state schools where
they are not properly tutored in music? It does enormous
work.
(Con)
I would be delighted to meet the group.
(Lab)
My Lords, could the Minister join me in congratulating Nicola
Benedetti on becoming director of the Edinburgh International
Festival? Bear in mind that she is on record as saying that
“Music teaching is vital to a child’s education.”
Moreover, is the Minister aware of the concerns of musicians,
such as Lloyd Webber, that music is being
squeezed out of state school syllabuses and is increasingly
coming to be seen as the preserve of only the rich? Music has the
ability to enrich all children’s lives, throughout their
lives.
(Con)
I remind the noble Viscount, as I am sure he knows, that music is
compulsory in all maintained schools from the ages of five to 14.
After the age of 14, all pupils in maintained schools must be
offered the opportunity to study at least one subject in the
arts.
(CB)
My Lords, my grand- daughter went to a splendid primary school,
Eleanor Palmer, in Camden, where every child aged nine had to
learn a musical instrument—whatever it might be; the recorder or
anything else—for a year. Does the Minister think that is
something that could be pushed in primary schools?
(Con)
We believe that the network of music hubs we have set up gives
children choice, including specialist individual music tuition in
an individual subject, and for other children perhaps group
singing or other activities.
(Lab)
My Lords, unfortunately, the noble Lord, Lord Black, has had the
same answers in the same kinds of debates for many years, since
he has been asking this really important question. It is very
clear that music education enhances memory, improves dexterity,
includes collaboration and is a major part of learning. Indeed,
it has been shown repeatedly that it improves and facilitates
learning in other subjects. However, not even sufficient
instruments are available in primary schools, despite what the
noble Baroness asserts. There should be far more done to ensure
music is an essential part of the curriculum. Does the noble
Baroness agree?
(Con)
I absolutely agree that it is an essential part of the
curriculum: that is why it is compulsory in all maintained
schools. I go back to the work of the music education hubs, which
have had fantastic outreach into schools but have also linked
schools and the children in those schools with music groups in
their communities, so they can expand their interests.
(Con)
My Lords, is my noble friend aware, following my noble friend
Lord Black’s point, that whereas 85% of independent schools have
school orchestras, only 12% of state schools do? While the music
hubs she has mentioned indeed do a good job in providing
individual instrumental tuition, the best way of encouraging
young people to love music is to give them the opportunity to
play in school-based orchestras and ensembles. Will the new
national plan please take this into account?
(Con)
The new national plan is being led by my noble friend Lady Fleet,
leading a team of experts from the industry, education and other
relevant fields, with a focus on making sure that music education
is available to all those children noble Lords have referred to,
both regionally and in terms of disadvantage and diversity.
(Lab)
My Lords, the figures enunciated by the noble Lord, Lord Black,
are indeed compelling. They are very largely the result of the
English baccalaureate being introduced and will not be offset by
the updated national music plan, to which the Minister referred.
In the 2019 Tory manifesto, there was a pledge to introduce an
arts premium in all secondary schools, with the aim of
“enriching” the experience of all pupils. That was reinforced in
2020 in the Budget by the Chancellor, offering a £90 million arts
premium. Both of these promises have been reneged on. Should we
be concerned that the man who, as Education Secretary, introduced
the English baccalaureate is now the man entrusted with
delivering the so-called levelling-up agenda?
(Con)
I think we should be extremely comforted that the man who
introduced the English baccalaureate and has been one of the
leading energetic forces of reform is leading the levelling-up
agenda.
