We want the arts to be...
The percentage of children taking part in dance, drama, music and art plummeted in England over the 2010s
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc), used to assess student attainment at 16, excludes arts subjects entirely
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We are deeply concerned by the evidence we received around the downgrading of arts subjects in schools, with all the consequent implications for children’s development, wellbeing, experiences, careers and, ultimately, life chances … We remain deeply concerned about the gap between the Government’s reassuring rhetoric and the evidence presented to us of the decline in music provision in state schools, for which the Ebacc is blamed and which affects students from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds disproportionately.
– DCMS Select Committee, Changing Lives: the social impact of participation in culture and sport report, 2019
State schools in England are missing millions of pounds of promised Government funding for arts activities
The Arts Premium was a Conservative manifesto pledge “to fund enriching activities for all pupils”. It was due in September 2021, but schools are still waiting for the funding to arrive.