Accord­ing to research by Cam­paign for the Arts, the num­ber of stu­dents opt­ing for arts sub­jects in high school has plummeted by 40 per cent since 2010 and this year’s data show little sign of the trend being reversed.

Over the same period, the num­ber of hours of arts teach­ing has fallen by 23 per cent and with more than half of teen­agers not enga­ging with any cre­at­ive activ­it­ies out­side of school it means few see it as the basis of a future career.

Jack Gamble, dir­ector of the Cam­paign for the Arts, said: “The 16-year decline in arts sub­jects at both GCSE and A-level shows why the Gov­ern­ment must now deliver on its pledge to ‘revital­ise arts edu­ca­tion’. That will require prom­ised cur­riculum and assess­ment changes, but also spe­cial­ist teach­ers and sus­tained invest­ment.

“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. For their sake and for the health of our entire soci­ety and cul­ture, it’s high time we star­ted to turn this around.”