Another body that has been central to lobbying efforts is Campaign for the Arts, whose CEO Jack Gamble was previously an associate director at the Arcola Theatre. I ask about his reaction when the initial Ofqual data was published back in June showing that creative subjects have sunk to their lowest historical levels, and he answers that “it’s really concerning, but not wholly surprising”.

The situation stems, says Gamble, from “structural problems that need addressing, some of which it looks like the government is starting to address, others of which need more attention than they’re getting”.

Those government actions include the recent drive to embed technical, vocational training into secondary education – which many have said could benefit the culture sector. Gamble is one of them. “These new pathways could help to address the technical, digital and other skills shortages in the UK’s creative industries, which the government has rightly prioritised in its Industrial Strategy,” he says.

“At the same time, education is about more than careers, and young people are more than the local labour market’s future recruits. So we must also guarantee every child a high-quality arts and cultural education, whichever pathway they choose.”

But he points out that even if creative subjects do become a central part of the new curriculum, which early indications imply they will, there will still be a mountain to climb when it comes to the key challenge of teacher recruitment. A report from the National Foundation for Educational Research earlier this year showed that drama met only 42% of its government-set recruitment target in 2025-26, down from 49% the previous year. Music meanwhile hit only 65% of its target during the same period, and is projected to fall to 49% next year.

“There are big questions about the fact that we don’t have enough skilled teachers to deliver high quality arts education,” says Gamble. “Then there’s a broader challenge also around teacher retention, so once we’ve got skilled teachers in place, whether they stay.”

All of which means, he adds, that though renewed government efforts may prove effective at slowing the downward trend in arts subjects, “they might not be sufficient to really start to see a reversal”.