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Written Question
Schools: Musical Instruments
Tuesday 17th November 2015

Asked by: Lord Berkeley of Knighton (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the availability of musical instruments and instrumental teachers in schools.

Answered by Lord Nash

Music education hubs are responsible for making sure that every child aged 5 to 18 in their local area has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through whole-class ensemble teaching and that clear progression routes in music are available and affordable to all young people. Music education hubs must also provide an instrument loan service to support pupils from families with low incomes.


According to data published by Arts Council England (ACE), 583,783 pupils learnt to play an instrument at school through whole-class ensemble teaching in the academic year 2013/14, an increase of 52,361 from 2012/13.