Arts Professional

11 Jun 2026

Plummet in A-level music and drama entries requires ‘urgent action from government’

Article
by
Theo Bosanquet

Analysis by Campaign for the Arts in 2025 showed the share of total entries in A-levels arts subjects contracted by 0.5%, reaching the lowest level in 15 years.

The uptake of A-level drama has fallen by 53% while music has fallen by nearly 50% since 2010, the year the EBacc was introduced, incentivising schools to focus on a set of subjects that excluded music and all arts subjects.