Music: Curriculum

(asked on 6th September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of falling numbers of GCSE and A-level music entries on the delivery of a broad and balanced curriculum.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 9th September 2021

Music education is a statutory subject from ages 5 to 14 in the National Curriculum, and pupils have an entitlement to study at least one arts subject at Key Stage 4 in maintained schools.

The proportion of pupils in state-funded schools in England taking at least one arts GCSE since 2010 has fluctuated across years, but has remained broadly stable.

It is up to individual schools and colleges to decide which A level courses to offer, and as part of that they may wish to work together with other providers in the area to combine resources and maximise their offers.

In March 2021, the Department published the Model Music Curriculum, a detailed non-statutory music curriculum for Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, developed by an independent panel of experts and musicians, with the aim to refresh music lessons with rich and diverse content.

The teaching of a broad and ambitious music curriculum will form a key part of the refreshed National Plan for Music Education.

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