Double campaign success!
1. Government commits an extra £18m to music education!
2. Government backs down on recommendation to local authorities:
1. Government commits an extra £18m to music education!
2. Government backs down on recommendation to local authorities:
These are the key facts setting out the background behind this campaign
Fact 1: All political parties should support music education. The Government’s commitment to music education has, since getting off to an excellent start in the Henley Review (7 February 2011) and subsequent National Plan for Music Education (25 November 2011), been unclear.
‘Following the confusion caused by the EBacc and other mixed messages around the value the Government places on music education, we now need an unequivocal commitment from the Department for Education that it supports music education and is fully behind the National Plan for Music Education.’
Fact 2: The Department for Education is now saying that local authorities should stop funding music services (Source: Paragraph 4.5 or Page 22 of the consultation):
Hubs received £14,344,043 from Local Authorities in 2012-13 (Source: Key data on Music education hubs 2013). In 2010-11 this figure was £17,337,019 and had previously been as high as £25,000,000. (It should be noted that whilst not all this funding is directly linked to the Education Services Grant (ESG), and different local authorities spend their funding in different ways, the message in this consultation is clear, and causes great concern.)
‘Last week we celebrated as music was included in the Government’s GCSE reforms, but this week, we find that the Government is backing additional cuts to the music education budget worth millions.’
Fact 3: The flagship National Plan for Music Education is at risk. National funding for music education hubs is already declining from £82,562,467 in 2010-11 to £58,000,000 in 2014-15, a drop of more than £24,500,000. (Source: Parliamentary answer) and we still don’t know if, and by how much, funding will continue from 1 April 2015.
‘The National Plan for Music Education supported by the Department for Education, was a visionary strategy for music education in England. The demand that local authorities should stop funding music services risks derailing this flagship Government initiative.’
The Government's own National Plan for Music Education commits to supporting children having the opportunity to sing and learn a musical instrument (core role 1). This funding is a key part of that and is needed for the plan to become a reality (p11, National Plan for Music Education).
Fact 4: Music is central to society, education and economy.
- There is a wealth of evidence out there about the educational value of music, much of it summarised in the 2009 paper by Professor Sue Hallam of the Institute of Education The Power of Music.
- The creative industries are worth £36.3 billion a year to the UK and the music industry is worth between £3.5 billion and £3.8 billion depending on which measure you use. The CBI backed the place of music in school accountability measures.
- Music education is backed by the public: 87% backed the continuation of music education hub funding (Thursday 18 July 2013) and 91% of adults want children to be have the chance to learn a musical instrument at school. Most importantly, 77% think the amount that music education currently costs the taxpayer [as specific funding] is reasonable (ISM, 25 February 2010 and Guardian, 26 February 2010) and 97% of people who gave an opinion believe children should be taught music in school (YouGov, February 2011).
More background information
The National Plan for Music Education in England promised ring fenced funding for the three years ending in 2015 (p4, National Plan for Music Education). This funding supports the provision of access to music education for all.
This funding goes towards a network of local music education hubs which deliver music education locally alongside classroom learning in schools. This includes instrumental lessons and singing.
Councils are having to cut even more with their main budgets being cut by at least 30%.
Some councils are cutting music education budgets altogether, with the Department for Education recommending (Thursday 27 March 2014) that hubs should no longer be funded by local authorities.
We need this national funding to keep music services alive.
The National Plan for Music Education in England promised ring fenced funding for the three years ending in 2015 (p4, National Plan for Music Education). This funding supports the provision of access to music education for all.
This funding goes towards a network of local music education hubs which deliver music education locally alongside classroom learning in schools. This includes instrumental lessons and singing.
Councils are having to cut even more with their main budgets being cut by at least 30%.
Some councils are cutting music education budgets altogether, with the Department for Education recommending (Thursday 27 March 2014) that hubs should no longer be funded by local authorities.
We need this national funding to keep music services alive.
Other speed bumps standing in the way of the National Plan for Music Education
Combined with these local authority cuts, the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) league table has not helped. Despite a successful campaign to protect creative subjects in school accountability measures, 37% of music teachers cite the continued publication of the English Baccalaureate as a major factor in putting pupils off selecting music as an option at GCSE.
59.8% of music teachers (from an ISM survey of 500 music educators conducted January 2011) believe that the EBacc league table has had a harmful or very harmful impact on music education in schools. You can find out more about the campaign to secure the place of music and other creative subjects in the EBacc at the Bacc for the Future campaign site.
Of those who noticed an impact, 76.5% said fewer pupils were selecting music as an option at GCSE, 27.1% noticed timetabling changes, 26.7% cited staffing changes (for both permanent and freelance staff) and 51.8% noticed a change in the attitudes of other teachers towards music. (These are the results of an ISM survey.)
Figures also show that 46,368 students took GCSE music in 2012 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, down from 48,099 in 2011. In England the decline is from 43,127 in 2011 to 41,511 in 2012.
Combined with these local authority cuts, the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) league table has not helped. Despite a successful campaign to protect creative subjects in school accountability measures, 37% of music teachers cite the continued publication of the English Baccalaureate as a major factor in putting pupils off selecting music as an option at GCSE.
59.8% of music teachers (from an ISM survey of 500 music educators conducted January 2011) believe that the EBacc league table has had a harmful or very harmful impact on music education in schools. You can find out more about the campaign to secure the place of music and other creative subjects in the EBacc at the Bacc for the Future campaign site.
Of those who noticed an impact, 76.5% said fewer pupils were selecting music as an option at GCSE, 27.1% noticed timetabling changes, 26.7% cited staffing changes (for both permanent and freelance staff) and 51.8% noticed a change in the attitudes of other teachers towards music. (These are the results of an ISM survey.)
Figures also show that 46,368 students took GCSE music in 2012 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, down from 48,099 in 2011. In England the decline is from 43,127 in 2011 to 41,511 in 2012.