Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that GCSE students are able to study expressive arts subjects alongside those subjects included in the English Baccalaurate; and whether studying such subjects will require taking more than the current average number of GCSEs taken in England.

The Government remains fully committed to ensuring pupils receive a well-rounded education. All state-funded schools must provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. We expect that all pupils should have the opportunity to study a range of subjects at primary and secondary school, including creative subjects.

The EBacc is intended to be studied as part of a broad and balanced curriculum at Key Stage 4. It has been designed to be limited in size to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for other subjects. On average, pupils in state-funded schools enter nine GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, rising to more than ten for more able pupils. This information is available in the school and college performance tables found at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/. For many pupils, taking the EBacc will equate to seven GCSEs; and for those taking triple science, it will equate to eight. This means that there will continue to be room to study other subjects, including expressive arts. The proportion of pupils in state-funded schools taking at least one GCSE in an arts subject has increased since the EBacc was first introduced, rising from 46% in 2011 to 50% in 2015.[1]

[1] Statistical release: EBacc and non-EBacc subject entries and achievement: 2010/11 to 2014/15