BLOG: ROB ELKINGTON – DIRECTOR, ARTS CONNECT
Each year the Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) of which I am a Board Member, produces A Report Card, which gathers together and analyses the publicly available data on the health of expressive arts subjects in schools in England and tracks the changes since 2010. While there is no data on primary schools at all, the headline findings present a stark picture emerging at secondary level for young people having the chance to deepen their interests and study an arts GCSE. In 2009/10 Expressive Arts subjects made up 14% of GCSE entries, but by 2023/24, that figure had more than halved to just 6.8% nationally.
Furthermore students in the most deprived areas of England are far less likely to study Expressive Arts subjects at GCSE or post 16 and the West Midlands is one of three regions most impacted, along with the North West and North East.
The report card also shows a growing crisis in teacher training and recruitment in specialist arts teachers. This indicates that children and young people in our region are the least likely to access progression pathways in their arts education, least likely to access enrichment and career development and have their entitlement to high quality arts at all as part of their education. Where they grow up is determining their creative futures despite the incredible efforts of so many inspiring school staff and arts and music partners who are resisting this trend. It is a system issue and the result of political choices and policy reaching back 15 years.
The aim of the Report Card is to put trusted evidence and sharp analysis in the hands of those who can use it and are in a position to influence change – teachers and school leaders, politicians and policy makers, those working in the arts and even parents. The CLA offers a vision for this change through the Blueprint for Change (WHAT) and a Capabilities Framework (WHY) which is a digest of the skills and capacities that the arts can give children and young people, backed by research evidence.
You can sign up for the CLA Newsletter and access all the resources and a growing body of research and evidence that can support you in protecting and developing the arts in education. Please use it!