The Campaign for the Arts’ analysis of 2026’s A-level results reveals that arts subjects now account for just 10.0% of all A-level entries – a record low, and the sharpest single-year drop in the arts’ share of entries since 2021.
The total number of A-level entries rose 2.7% this year, passing 900,000 for the first time. But arts entries fell by 1.8% to 90,985 – within just nine entries of their lowest level on record, set in 2021.
It means the arts’ share of A-level entries has now shrunk by more than a third since 2010, falling 34%. In 2010, roughly one in every six-and-a-half A-level entries was in an arts subject. In 2026, it is one in ten.
This year, the steepest declines came in the subjects that have already lost the most. Drama‘s share of entries fell 10% – the steepest annual fall of any year in this sixteen-year dataset – taking it to a record-low 0.8% of all entries, down 58% since 2010, with just 7,397 entries remaining. Music‘s share fell 8% to a record-low 0.6%: it has more than halved since 2010, and its 5,106 entries are the fewest on record. Media, Film and TV Studies‘ share is down 36% since 2010, and even Art & Design – by far the most-entered arts subject – slipped to its smallest share of A-level entries ever recorded, at 4.7%.
Even where raw entries rose, most arts subjects still lost ground. There were more entries this year in Performing/Expressive Arts, Design & Technology and Dance – but with total entries increasing across all subjects, only Performing/Expressive Arts actually increased its share of entries. Design & Technology’s was flat, and Dance’s share still slipped despite more students taking it.
At GCSE, while we have seen a huge decline in the share of arts subjects to nearly half since 2010, the most recent data shows this decline has plateaued. Since 2023, there has been little change in the proportion of entries in arts subjects at GCSE, and this is true within different arts subjects. This means we are now seeing a difference in trends between a still-declining arts share at A-Level and a stagnating share at GCSE.
Recent research from Cambridge University has shown a decline in young people’s preference for creative subjects over the course of their secondary education. Many described being steered away from creative subjects by teachers and parents as they got older, and being told that creative careers were risky or not for them. The continuing decline in A-level entries while GCSEs have stabilised may reflect this saddening age-based trend of discouragement. The study also found that students’ economic background impacted their likelihood of choosing the arts as they progressed through the education system, and that this impact was worse for girls than boys.
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.”
The State of the Arts report, published by the Campaign for the Arts and the University of Warwick in 2024, reported that funding pressures and performance measures like the ‘EBacc’ (introduced in 2010) and ‘Progress 8’ (introduced in 2016), have contributed to a widespread marginalisation of the arts in English state-funded secondary schools. Every one of the arts subjects we track accounts for a smaller share of A-levels and GCSEs today than it did in 2010.
The Labour Government pledged to “revitalise arts education” in their response to the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, including by abolishing the EBacc and reforming Progress 8. The results of the public consultation on Progress 8 reforms are expected very soon.
What about Scotland?
What are the EBacc and Progress 8?
The EBacc, or English Baccalaureate, is used as a measure of school performance in England based on attainment and qualifications in the following subjects: English, mathematics, history or geography, two sciences and a language. Notably this does not include arts subjects. The introduction of the EBacc in 2010 was controversial due to the exclusion of all arts subjects. As a result of this exclusion, Government targets regarding the percentage of pupils achieving the EBacc, and spending cuts, schools have been incentivised to shift focus and resources towards EBacc subjects, marginalising the arts.
Progress 8, which measures pupils’ performance across eight qualifications, is weighted towards the EBacc subjects. For this reason, it is likely to be contributing to a deprioritisation and diminution of arts subjects in English secondary schools.
Is the same trend happening in state and independent schools?
The data used for this analysis, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications and AQA, does not distinguish between different types of schools, colleges and other exam or assessment centres.
This decline isn’t inevitable. We’re currently running a petition urging the new Prime Minister to:
✏️ Put the arts and culture in his 10-year plan
🚀 Commit to building a country where the arts are available from childhood, accessible to all and thriving everywhere
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