Equity has joined leading arts and education organisations in calling on the Government to ensure the arts are a "fundamental part of every child's school experience".
Alongside organisations including the Royal College of Art, the Chartered College of Teaching, the Musicians' Union and the National Education Union, Equity has co-signed a statement to the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, coordinated by the Arts and Minds Campaign.
The statement argues that current government proposals, including scrapping the EBacc and introducing a new enrichment framework, do not go far enough, warning they amount to little more than "tinkering around the edges" and could even "entrench the status quo".
The incoming Secretary of State for Education now has the opportunity to meaningfully improve access to arts education at all levels of the system across the country to ensure that a career in the creative industries is a realistic ambition for children and young people from all backgrounds.
Tom Peters, Head of Policy Equity
Before becoming Education Secretary, Lucy Powell MP said: "Subjects like music, art, sport or drama must be available to all our children, not just some."
The joint statement calls on the Government to:
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Rethink current proposals for the Progress 8 accountability measure.
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Pause the use of Ofsted to assess enrichment benchmarks.
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Reinstate teacher training bursaries for arts subjects.
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Address decades of underfunding in arts education.
Tom Peters, Equity's Head of Policy, said:
“Against a backdrop of continual underfunding and failure to recruit specialist staff, warm words from the government will do little to materially improve access to a creative arts education for children and young people. Whilst the commitment to scrap the EBacc is a welcome and necessary step, further reform must credibly address these issues.
“The government has rightly recognised the creative industries as an industrial priority sector. The incoming Secretary of State for Education now has the opportunity to meaningfully improve access to arts education at all levels of the system across the country to ensure that a career in the creative industries is a realistic ambition for children and young people from all backgrounds."
The full statement reads:
We welcome the government’s commitment to ending the unacceptable gap in educational experiences left by the previous government. Promised reforms, including the removal of the EBacc, stand to meaningfully improve access to arts education for the most disadvantaged students in the country.
Unfortunately, we are concerned that its actions fall short of what is needed to fully restore the status of arts subjects. While ending the EBacc was supposed to open the door for more children to study the arts, other announcements and policies amount to little more than tinkering around the edges and may even entrench the status quo.
Progress 8 reforms
The recent proposals on the Progress 8 accountability measure risk perpetuating the low value given to arts subjects in schools.
Our specific concerns are:
The proposed framework risks incentivising schools to offer only one arts subject.
Schools that do not offer any arts GCSEs can continue to do so under the current proposals.
Lack of funding for staff and resources will reinforce the existing hierarchy of subjects.
“Every Child Can” and new enrichment framework
Meanwhile, the recently announced enrichment framework and “Every Child Can” programme is concerning on several counts. Support for the arts sits alongside four other areas and total funding amounts to less than £16 per pupil. This is a long way from giving every child the chance to benefit from arts activities throughout their school life.
Adding the enrichment activities to Ofsted inspections from this September — and before the new curriculum framework has been finalised — is also highly problematic. There is a real danger of further embedding the culture of underfunding and accountability with schools stretching their limited resources to meet yet more inspection demands.
What the government must do next
To fully deliver on its promises, the government must tackle the wholesale causes of the current status of arts in schools and work with the arts education sector to deliver a meaningful expansion of arts provision. The arts should not be an add-on or an optional extra; they should be a fundamental part of every child’s school experience.
This means:
Rethink current proposals for the Progress 8 model
Pause the use of Ofsted for enrichment benchmarks
Reinstate teacher training bursaries for arts subjects
Redress decades of underfunding
Only then will the status of arts subjects be fully restored and only then will every child have the chance to “live a richer, larger life” through the arts.
For more information about Arts & Minds visit their website here.
