Music: Education

(asked on 9th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Music Education, the Incorporated Society of Musicians and the University of Sussex Music Education: State of the Nation, published in January 2019; and what steps they have taken to improve music education in schools.


Answered by
Baroness Berridge Portrait
Baroness Berridge
This question was answered on 21st December 2020

The government agrees with the report’s stated ambition that all pupils should receive a high-quality music education.

That is why music remains compulsory in the National Curriculum from ages 5 to 14. Music is also stated as one of the subjects that schools should continue to teach as part of a broad and ambitious curriculum in the guidance on the full opening of schools earlier this autumn. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

To support teachers in providing high-quality lessons, the department has worked with an expert panel to develop a non-statutory model music curriculum for Key Stages 1 to 3. This expands on the National Curriculum programme of study and acts as a benchmark for all schools. The model music curriculum will be published shortly.

The department has also invested nearly £500 million of central programme funding between 2016 and 2020 on a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes. This includes £300 million for Music Education Hubs that provide specialist music education services to around 90% of state-funded schools. It also includes almost £120 million for the Music and Dance Scheme, which currently supports over 2,300 exceptionally talented children and young people to attend specialist music and dance schools and training centres each year. More information about this is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multi-million-pound-culture-boost-for-children-in-schools.

In January 2020, the department announced a further £80 million investment in Music Education Hubs for the 2021-22 financial year to ensure that all children, whatever their background, have access to a high-quality music education.

The government remains committed to continued support for music education, and following the one-year Spending Review settlement, our partner organisations will be updated soon on funding for the 2021-22 financial year.

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