08 February 2017 Arts and the EBacc: CLA response to NSN report The Cultural Learning Alliance welcomes Toby and Ed’s contribution to the wide-ranging national debate and analysis of the impact and purpose of the English Baccalaureate. It is good to see both the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department for Education actively engaged in this debate, and thinking deeply and seriously about the value of arts and culture to children and young people’s lives. We particularly welcome the joint statement that ‘Government strongly believes that the arts and culture should be for everyone and not just a privileged few. They are hugely valuable in and of themselves, and they have the potential to be forces for openness and social mobility’. In the coming months it would be good to see government working on the development of policies that reflect this commitment, such as a shift from STEM to STEAM, and the inclusion of a creative industries education strand in the emerging Industrial Strategy.