Britain’s rich musical tradition cannot be denied. This was the country that gave the world The Beatles, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Benjamin Britten, to name but a few. But where future generations of musicians, composers and singers will come from remains a subject for debate and, for some, notable concern.
This is because there are fears that music education has become, at worst, non-existent in many state schools. The subject is not listed in the government’s English Baccalaureate (EBacc), the league table measure that has become a key priority for ministers and which only contains traditional, academic subjects among its qualifying GCSEs.
But even putting that aside, there is a national shortage of specialist music teachers and less and less time is being devoted to the subject on school timetables.
Where instrument learning remains, parents are usually expected to pick up the tab – but at up to £36 an hour in some parts of the country, the costs are prohibitive to many families.
Meanwhile, some music hubs have placed orchestral instruments, such as the bassoon, French horn and tuba, on an “endangered” list, offering discounts in tuition fees, because they are either not deemed to be fashionable or because the funding for tuition is not available.
Henry Vann, head of external affairs at the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), which promotes the importance of music and protects the rights of those working within music, said they have been monitoring the state of music education in schools.
One of the causes for the downturn in provision, he told SecEd, was the mixed messages coming from the government.
Funding for music education has fluctuated and declined in the past three years, from £75 million in 2012/13 to £63 million in 2013/14. Ministers reversed a decision to reduce it to just £58 million in 2014/15 following pressure from the Protect Music Education campaign. This meant that funding returned to the 2012 levels for 2015/16 with the total amount allocated by the Department for Education reaching £75 million.
“Ministers often say all the right things about the importance of music, but then they introduce a list of subjects in the English Baccalaureate that excludes it,” Mr Vann continued.
Concerns about the impact of the EBacc on music were also outlined in a government-commissioned review of music education carried out by Darren Henley in 2010 (Music Education in England), which eventually resulted in the National Plan for Music Education (The Importance of Music), published by the Department for Education in 2011. This promised a commitment to creating regional music hubs, which have now been set up, to coordinate and provide most of the music education to schools. However, this did not address the review’s concerns about the narrow list of academic subjects contained within the EBacc and therefore being prioritised in schools.
“The national plan also said that music should not become the preserve of those who can afford it, but this is exactly what is happening with instrument tuition,” Mr Vann added. “Once we lose this musical infrastructure in schools it will be hard to get it back, and that ripple effect cascades through the education system.”
Since the EBacc’s introduction in 2010 as a league table measure, its importance has grown. The proportion of pupils entering the EBacc nationwide has risen from 23 per cent in 2012 to 39 per cent in 2015, and the proportion of pupils achieving the EBacc over the same period has risen from 16 to 24 per cent.
The Conservative Party’s 2015 General Election manifesto included a pledge to introduce “an expectation that every child should study the EBacc subjects by 2020”. Accordingly, education secretary Nicky Morgan stated in June that she would like to see every student taking subjects that would qualify them for the EBacc and a consultation was launched in the autumn setting out how the Department for Education intends to achieve this goal.
The proposals make plain that the vast majority of pupils currently in year 7 should, in five years’ time, be entered for the EBacc at GCSE.
The consultation closed in January and the government’s response is expected in the Spring.
In a response to the EBacc consultation, the ISM launched its Bacc to the Future campaign to highlight the omission of music and to promote its benefits. The organisation’s chief executive and campaign coordinator, Deborah Annetts, said: “The government cares about the creative industries, about jobs and growth and about the value of music education. This has been demonstrated by their support for music education hubs and other critical programmes.
“It is therefore troubling that a policy has been proposed which is so at odds with this, and which will make the EBacc all but compulsory for secondary school pupils. This is contrary to the advice of industry, artists and educators.”
In research published earlier this year, Sue Hallam, professor of education and music psychology at the University College London Institute of Education, found “compelling evidence” for the benefits of music education that go beyond the joy of learning a musical instrument or singing in assembly.
Commissioned by the Music Education Council and published by the International Music Education Research Centre, The Power of Music recommended that every child and young person should have access to quality music opportunities. Prof Hallam said the benefits include “listening skills which support the development of language skills, awareness of phonics and enhanced literacy; spatial reasoning which supports the development of some mathematical skills; and where musical activities involve working in groups, a wide range of personal and social skills which also serve to enhance overall academic attainment even when measures of intelligence are taken into account”.
But Ann Wright, of the VCM Foundation, which works on singing with hundreds of state schools via music hubs in London and Eastern England, said the decline in music education was becoming increasingly noticeable.
“Many secondary schools now start GCSE work in year 9 meaning pupils only get two years’ exposure to music if they don’t choose it as an option. Everything is results and league table-driven. Music departments are struggling to get children to sign up for GCSE which in turn affects take-up at A levels.”
Ms Wright added that one-off day trips relating to music often don’t go ahead because school leaders are reluctant for pupils to miss other lessons.
Cuts to school budgets have also had an impact on music provision: “We run training days for teachers which are funded by us so schools don’t have to pay but they remain reluctant to take these up because heads still need to find money for supply cover,” she said.
“The result of all of this is that music teachers feel very hard done by and find a school where arts are not supported a lonely place to be. They can only fight for their subject so much when it is low down as a priority.
“There is a very real risk now that talented children may never have the experience of playing an instrument and so go on to become musicians.”
Some state schools are bucking the trend, however. Don Gillthorpe, director of music and performing arts at Ripley St Thomas CE Academy in Lancashire, an 11 to 18 comprehensive of 1,700 students, said music was “a really important in the life of the school”.
He stressed there had to be a will to make it work: “The senior leadership team has been very supportive and believes it should be a big part of the school. In the last three years we have been developing the music curriculum and currently we have seven choirs, three jazz bands, an orchestra and a number of smaller ensembles.
“Uptake is high and we have around 25 pupils in the GCSE class and nine students doing A level. Last year three went off to a conservatoire. It is comparable to what happens in independent schools. My job is to fight for my subject and make sure it is high profile. Although we encourage students to take the range of EBacc subjects we have not noticed a downturn in music uptake. It is about teaching about the benefits of a music education and getting that message across.”
Pupils at Ripley St Thomas do their instrument tuition in-school or outside. The school offers 200 instrument lessons a week: “Two years ago we raised some money and bought 20 violins and 10 violas and started to teach these to year 7s because we were short of string players,” Mr Gillthorpe added.
Where families cannot afford fees, tuition is paid for out of Pupil Premium funding for those who are eligible and an instrument is provided. “Money should not be a barrier to learning,” Mr Gillthorpe continued.
“It would be wonderful if pupils came from primary school with some experience of playing an instrument but we have 55 feeder primary schools and year 7s arrive here with varying experiences of music.”
But while there are pockets of excellent work being done, concerns remain. The Association of School and College Leaders has warned that music and arts education risk becoming the “preserve of the elite” because of the EBacc proposals.
Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary, said: “It would be a tragedy if an unintended consequence of the EBacc is that it becomes impossible for schools to run music and drama courses. The danger is that these subjects will then end up becoming the preserve of the elite, accessible only to those who can afford private tuition.
“These subjects are important for young people and for the economy. Creative industries alone are worth nearly £80 billion a year to the UK and account for 1.7 million jobs. We agree with the government that learning core academic subjects is crucial to the future of young people. We think that the EBacc needs to be more flexible to leave room for creative and technology subjects.”
- Dorothy Lepkowska is a freelance education journalist.
Further information
- Music Education in England: A review by Darren Henley, Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2010): http://bit.ly/1Shs5PA
- The Importance of Music: A national plan for music education, Department for Education, November 2011: http://bit.ly/1TRcLsO
- Consultation on Implementing the English Baccalaureate, Department for Education, November 2015 (now closed): http://bit.ly/1QKLovo
- The Power of Music: A research synthesis of the impact of actively making music on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people, Prof Susan Hallam, January 2015: http://bit.ly/1WUxvPT