Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the decline in the number of entries to GCSE and A-Level
qualifications in the performing arts over the last decade.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, this Government remain committed to pupils receiving a
high-quality cultural education, including in music, dance and
drama. GCSE entries in arts subjects as a proportion of all
entries went from 11.8% to 9.7% between the academic years
2011-12 and 2021-22, while A-level entries in arts subjects over
the same period went from 13.1% to 11.2%. Over half of pupils in
state-funded schools currently enter for at least one arts GCSE
or technical award.
(Lab)
I thank the Minister for that Answer and I will give her some
figures back. There has been a reduction of 25% in entries for
GCSE music, 30% for drama and, significantly, 60% for performing
arts, with similar figures at A-level. Are any steps being taken
by the department to ensure that this trend is reversed in future
and, specifically, have the Government considered the merits of
reimagining publicly funded performing arts provision, as is
being done, for example, in Wales? Is it not time the Government
guaranteed access to arts, music and drama clubs for every child,
irrespective of background and wealth?
(Con)
The noble Baroness cited a number of statistics, but I would say
in response that, since 2016, uptake of the speech and drama
vocational technical qualification has more than doubled, as has
uptake of the music VTQ. My understanding is that the performing
arts GCSE no longer exists, but the broader point the noble
Baroness makes is being addressed through our cultural education
plan and the national plan for music education, which aims to
reach just the children the noble Baroness refers to.
(LD)
The Minister will be aware of the importance of the creative
industries to our national economy. She will also be aware that
the EBacc does not include creative subjects. She will also be
aware that schools are under great financial pressure, so to save
money why would they have creative subjects if pupils do not have
to enter exams as part of the EBacc? Is it not time to realise
the damage that the EBacc is doing to the creative subjects in
our education system? Might the Minister not consider being more
relaxed about how schools face GCSEs and A-levels and not be
hidebound by an EBacc?
(Con)
I do not accept either that the EBacc is damaging entries and
activity in relation to creative subjects or that it is wise to
judge the value of the EBacc only in relation to creative
subjects. It is clear from all research and evidence that our
children in need a broad grounding, which the EBacc offers.
The (CB)
My Lords, can the Minister confirm whether discussion of the
national curriculum and of accountability measures will be within
scope of the cultural education plan, to which she has just
referred? These matters are clearly vital, as the present
discussion demonstrates.
(Con)
More of the details on the cultural education plan will be
published shortly, but my understanding is that it will highlight
the importance of high-quality cultural education and the
important role that wider cultural institutions can play, working
with schools. I know that my noble friend recently visited West
Bromwich and saw an example of that, where the Shireland Academy
and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra are opening a new
school with a particular focus on music education.
The
My question is about the variability of access. I think we all
recognise that the statistics quoted are going the wrong way.
What we observe particularly is that it is far worse in some
parts of the country than others. That is something I
particularly observe in the north, where I serve. The DCMS
Committee’s report last year spoke about how the creative
industries themselves are saying that there is a shortage of the
skills that we need. What is being done about this and,
particularly, how do we know about the situation? In about 2014,
Ofsted changed the way its inspections investigated the arts. For
instance, dance was looked at as part of PE. Does the Minister
think that this lack of joined-up thinking has had an impact on
where we are now and, in particular, on the way that some parts
of the country are suffering much more than others?
(Con)
The most reverend Primate is right that there are currently
differing levels of engagement, take-up and opportunity in
relation to the creative industries around the country. I
respectfully disagree with him on the fact that we are not joined
up. Actually, a great deal of work is going on between DCMS and
the Department for Education in relation to the creative
industries sector vision and the cultural education plan, to
which I referred. In relation to Ofsted, it did a deep dive into
a number of cultural and arts subjects in 2019 and highlighted
their importance within the curriculum.
(Con)
As my noble friend may know, our noble friend very kindly attended a
dinner which I hosted last week for the Royal School of Church
Music. He was of course wearing his arts and heritage hat. Has
the Minister had a chance to talk to the Royal School of Church
Music? It is bringing music of a very high quality to many who go
to primary schools where they hardly have the opportunity to
learn any music. We all ought to be working together on this one
to bring quality music to children throughout the whole of the
United Kingdom.
(Con)
My noble friend is right that we absolutely should be working
together. I thank all the charities and voluntary organisations,
which are so varied and bring so much richness to our children’s
lives, including the Royal Society of Church Music.
of Hudnall (Lab)
On that point, will the Minister join me in paying tribute to the
extraordinary work being done by many arts organisations across
the whole country in engaging with schools and the education
system? However, often what they are doing is filling a gap, and
their ability to engage is very dependent on individual head
teachers’ willingness to make time and resources available for
what they have on offer to be delivered to their young people.
Will she acknowledge that at the moment the deficit that is being
discussed in this Question is being filled largely by arts
organisations, which are themselves under enormous pressure?
(Con)
I just do not fully accept the deficit that the noble Baroness
describes. I absolutely agree with her that arts organisations
bring an important, valuable and different perspective, but
schools themselves are also doing an extraordinary job. As we can
see from our incredibly successful creative industries, we are
getting something right.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister has given responses that say, “Yes, we
like the things outside the formal GCSE structure”. Will the
Government go a step further and identify those who are
interested in arts activity—that is, performing—and positively
channel them towards those who are doing it outside? If you are
not going to give exams or structure, you must at least help
people get to those who will do it voluntarily.
(Con)
If I may, the Government like “both/and”. We have the arts
clearly in the national curriculum and over half of children in
schools are doing either GCSE or a vocational technical
qualification —but, in terms of the richness of children’s
education, the opportunity to engage outside brings a great deal
of added value.
(CB)
My Lords, when might we see the arts premium that was promised in
the Conservative Party manifesto?
(Con)
I was hoping the noble Baroness might ask when we were going to
see the cultural education plan, which I know she is keen to get
on with—and I take this opportunity to thank her for agreeing to
chair the expert advisory panel for that. We absolutely remain
committed to cultural and music education and the arts but, with
the impact of Covid on children’s learning and the importance of
focusing on their recovery, sadly we have had to reprioritise
education recovery within this spending review period.
