The newly appointed National Lead for Visual and Performing Arts said she would wait to hear the views of inspectors from across the country before drawing conclusions about the national state of arts education.
Figures reveal that children living in the most deprived areas and those with lower attainment are the most likely to lose their option to study arts subjects when the English Baccalaureate becomes compulsory.
Over 100,000 children a year will lose the chance to study the arts when the EBacc becomes compulsory in schools, and the least privileged will lose out most. Is this a conspiracy or a cock-up, asks Liz Hill.
New research revealing declining exam entries for arts subjects comes as Education Minister Lord Nash denies that arts take-up in schools has slowed since the Government introduced its controversial EBacc policy.
In its long-overdue response to a public consultation on the implementation of the EBacc, the Government has ignored calls for a broader, more balanced curriculum and upped the pressure on mainstream schools to enter more pupils for the prescribed suite of GCSEs.
With fewer students studying creative subjects at school, the UK’s Bridge organisations have taken on the challenge to promote the arts. Sarah Mumford explains what is happening in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Manifesto pledges would see the party deliver on earlier proposals for 90% of pupils to study the EBacc, and establish a new curriculum fund to develop “knowledge-rich” classroom resources.
A survey of teachers has found that school funding cuts are having a disproportional impact on the arts and other subjects that fall outside of the English Baccalaureate.
Simon Rattle and Maria Balshaw are among the signatories to a letter highlighting a continued drop in teacher numbers and hours dedicated to creative subjects.
New research paints a grim picture of growing job insecurity as schools prioritise the EBacc agenda over creative and vocational subjects, and steer students away from the arts.
Royal & Derngate has put forward proposals for a new free school that will specialise in the cultural and creative industries – the first to be run by a theatre.
The Creative Industries Federation has laid into Government plans to make the EBacc compulsory, demanding an audit of education and training in the UK.
