Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure all academy trusts offer opportunities for pupils to (a) learn and (b) participate in (i) music, (ii) sport and (iii) art activities.

The government believes in a high-quality education for all pupils. Integral to this is learning and participation in music, the arts and sport. This is reflected in the National Curriculum, which includes the following subjects: music, art and design, English which incorporates literature and drama, and physical education which incorporates dance.

Whilst academies are not required to follow the National Curriculum, they must provide a broad and balanced curriculum in accordance with Section 1 of the 2010 Academies Act, which can be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/32/section/1. This means that academies are required to teach a curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school.

Academies are also subject to the Ofsted education inspection framework which came into effect in September 2019. The framework has a strong emphasis on ensuring that schools provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils; and building pupils’ cultural capital informs Ofsted’s judgement about the quality of education. This applies equally to academies and maintained schools, and to special schools.

Finally, in the School Sport and Activity Action Plan update published in July 2023 and the National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022, the government sets the same expectation on academies as it does maintained schools. The same will be the case for the forthcoming Cultural Education Plan.