Arts subjects now total a mere 10% of all A-level entries, reaching a record low in the published 16-year data set and facing the sharpest single-year drop in the arts share of entries since 2021.

While dance did increase its number of A-level entries this year by 1.6% to 974 students, when put in context of the 2.7% increase in the total number of A-level entries, the subject actually decreased its percentage share of entries by 1%.

Jack Gamble, director of the Campaign for the Arts, said: “Without deliberate action to restore the place of the arts in schools, the creative opportunities available to young people will keep narrowing, year after year. It’s high time we started to turn this around.”

He added: “The deepening decline of arts subjects at A level shows why the government must deliver on its pledge to ‘revitalise arts education’. That will require the already-planned curriculum and assessment changes, but also specialist teachers and sustained investment.”