Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of (a) performing arts teachers and (b) associated curriculum hours in schools and further and higher education institutions.

Information relating to ITT recruitment performance in England is published annually in the ITT census, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-census/2022-23. In 2022/23, there were 329 postgraduate trainees who started an ITT course in drama, 301 in music, and 1,405 in physical education. Performance versus target in 2022/23 for drama was 113%, for music was 64%, and for physical education was 143%.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of subject teachers in state funded secondary schools, is collected each November as part of the annual school workforce census. Information is published in the ‘school workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Those who are designated as teachers of dance are included within the total for physical education/sports teachers.

As of November 2021, there were 8,976 teachers of drama, 7,003 teachers of music, and 23,708 teachers of physical education/sport at Key Stages 3, 4, and 5 in state funded secondary schools in England. In a typical week, they taught 85,003 hours of drama, 86,480 hours of music, and 290,033 hours of physical education/sport. Drama, music and physical education/sport teachers designate any teacher timetabled to teach the subject for any period in a typical week in November. These teachers do not necessarily have a specific post-A level qualification. This timetabling does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the Department.

The Department does not hold data on the number of teachers who teach performing arts in further education institutions.

For 2022/23, the Department increased funding for world-leading specialist HE providers by an additional £5 million, from £53 million in 2021/22 to £58 million in 2022/23. This is on top of the increase of £10 million the Department provided in 2021/22. The Department wants to ensure that specialist institutions, many of which specialise in arts provision, receive additional support, and that grant funding is used to effectively support students.