End ‘untold damage’ of state school arts cuts, artists plead
More than 700 singers, actors and dancers sign a letter calling for the government’s curriculum review to stop the arts becoming a ‘preserve of the wealthy’
Shirley Ballas, Dame Arlene Phillips and the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber are among hundreds of artists calling on the government to reverse cuts to music and drama in state schools.
In a letter to The Times, more than 700 creatives say that a government-commissioned curriculum and assessment review must serve as a “turning point” for arts education in Britain.
Creative subjects have disappeared from state schools since 2010, the letter says, making access to art, dance, design, drama and music education the “preserve of the wealthy”.
The review of curriculum and assessment in England was ordered by Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, last year. The panel, led by Professor Becky Francis, is expected to publish its interim findings next week and its full report in the summer.
The letter is also signed by Deborah Annetts, chief executive of the Independent Society of Musicians, the actor and theatre director Bertie Carvel, the former Labour leader Lord Kinnock and the opera singer Nicky Spence, along with hundreds of artists, politicians, teachers and academics.
Policies that measure schools on children’s attainment in core subjects, humanities and science but not the arts have done “untold damage to our children and their life chances”, the letter says.
It adds: “Although the government emphasises the importance of the arts, we have yet to see action. The interim report must signal clear and imminent action.”
The report could recommend widening the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), a measure blamed for squeezing out arts GCSEs, according to sources close to the review. The EBacc requires children to study a suite of highly academic subjects but excludes the arts.
GCSE and A-level entries for arts courses have plummeted since the EBacc was introduced in 2011 and critics say the arts have increasingly become the preserve of the wealthy.
All primaries should be ‘singing schools’
Separately, a report published on Friday has called for every child to have three years of free music or singing lessons.
It says all primaries should be “singing schools” where music, drama and visual arts are as integral as literacy and numeracy.
Teachers should have the time and resources to encourage primary school pupils to sing, make music, paint, draw, create, play and act, according to the Centre for Young Lives think tank and the Child of the North initiative.
The recommendations include the government putting creativity and the expressive arts “at the heart” of the primary school curriculum.
• National curriculum: Ex-education secretaries urge radical change
Baroness Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives and a former children’s commissioner for England, said: “A career in the arts, music and cultural industries must not become the preserve of only the most advantaged. Creativity and the expressive arts should be part and parcel of every child’s education from primary school, not just a small minority.”
The report calls for a £150 million arts premium fund to develop the existing primary school workforce and train new teachers to provide arts learning.
It added that the government should expand arts and music education, including offering free music or singing lessons for three years for every primary school child who wishes to learn.
It said: “Schools should not merely be places of ‘reading, writing and maths’ but spaces where young people can express themselves, explore diverse identities and develop the critical thinking skills needed to thrive. Embedding creativity into the curriculum is essential.
“Every primary school should be a ‘singing school,’ where music, drama and visual arts are as integral as literacy and numeracy.”
The organisations have called for the arts to be integrated in subjects such as history and science, and for Ofsted to recognise the importance of creativity and the arts in its inspections.
by: Nicola Woolcock, Education Editor, The Times
Published 14th March 2025
