Welcome to another packed edition of our Newsletter. This week has been full of big education sector news. On 23 February we saw the long awaited publication of the Schools White paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving. As well as substantial long-term reform of the SEND system, and parallel SEND consultation, the government launched the consultation on Key Stage 4 performance measures, including Progress 8. There’s also a more detailed account in the White Paper on enrichment.
It will take time to unpack all of this so our full analysis will be available soon, but we summarise the key points in our news items below – including the demise of the EBacc, which has been applied in performance tables for the final time.
Meanwhile, in this Latest News section we also report on a lot of other policy detail which we think deserves close attention as we all get prepared for a great deal of change in our sector.
Our digest this month features:
- The funding announcement for the National Centre for Arts and Music Education
- Schools White Paper and SEND reform
- Consultation on Key Stage 4 performance measures, including Progress 8
- How the government is supporting local authorities with SEND costs – and how schools must now create areas for SEND pupils
- The EBacc appearing in performance tables for the last time
- Diversity issues with curriculum drafting
- The interim evaluation of the Music Hubs following their restructure
- Child poverty figures to be revised down
- The launch of a Young Creatives Commission in partnership with the Roundhouse
- How Skills Classifications are starting to embrace the Arts
- The creation of a new Brit School-inspired college in Bradford
- A new Radio 4 documentary about Drama education
Also in Latest Thinking, Professor Pat Thomson considers the term ‘Expressive Arts’. One of the very few things we did not get from the Curriculum and Assessment Review was the naming of the ‘Expressive Arts’ as a curriculum area (unlike in Wales where the term has been adopted). This is probably due in part to the complexity of Dance sitting within PE and Drama within English, but we remain committed to the term as it lends heft to the Arts curriculum area and reflects something important about Arts subjects being characterised by self-expression in ways that other subjects are not.
We also have our regular Research Spotlight article from Professor Thomson, who this reports on a new paper which asserts that culture should be seen as part of essential infrastructure, rather than discretionary, and makes the case for culture as a collective public good, making links to CLA’s own Arts Education Capabilities Framework.
National Centre for Arts and Music Education: funding announcement
The Department for Education has now published the full Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the National Centre for Arts and Music Education – you can see the updated tender details here.
The contract value is £13 million excluding VAT over three years, from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2029, with the possibility of extension on an annual basis for up to a further three years to August 2032. The timings are as follows:
- Full Invitation to Tender published – 18 February
- Tender closing date – 27 April (noon)
- Award decision date – 19 June (est.)
The Centre will be established from September 2026. Responsibility for oversight of the Music Hubs network will transfer to the Centre from 1 September 2027. The existing Music Hubs capital grant overseen by Arts Council England will be extended to the end of April 2027, and the National Centre will not therefore need to assume responsibility for that grant. Future revenue funding for Music Hubs is separate to the contract value (and significantly in excess of it) and will therefore be confirmed separately.
The public notice describes the Centre as a strategic system leader, working nationally, regionally and locally to strengthen arts provision in schools and to revitalise arts education so that every child can access a rich, high-quality arts education. The priorities are set out as:
- Priority 1: Providing strategic national leadership in revitalising arts in schools, mobilising a coalition of partners to generate and direct investment to support equitable access, particularly in under-served communities.
- Priority 2: Supporting excellent teaching, including through a new online CPD offer and enabling access to existing high-quality teacher development provision.
- Priority 3: Promoting arts education to school leaders, teachers, parents and young people, including progression routes and career aspirations.
- Oversight of the Music Hubs network, including acting as fundholder and monitoring performance in alignment with the Centre’s priorities.
The Department has made clear that it welcomes participation from a wide range of organisations, including SMEs, VCSEs and consortia bids. It will be interesting to see which partnerships and configurations come forward in response.
The Centre lands in a significant period of education reform. The government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, published in November 2025, set out forthcoming changes to the National Curriculum, qualifications, accountability, and enrichment. Further policy development is being developed through the new Schools White Paper, changes to Attainment and Progress 8 measures, and enrichment framework guidance.
CLA COMMENT
CLA consulted widely on the role of the Centre in 2025 and published a Centre sector-generated vision/framework in autumn 2025, having previously shared it with DfE. This set out a bold ambition for the Centre as a catalyst for equity, quality and long-term system change in Arts education.
Confirmation of funding brings welcome clarity even if the funding level is not what was hoped for. £13 million over three years represents a markedly different level of investment from the annual funding that sustained the regional Bridge organisations between 2012 and 2023 – when Arts Council funding exceeded £10 million per year across the network. Even allowing for efficiencies associated with a single national model, the scale of the remit now described is substantial, encompassing national system leadership, teacher development, promotion, and oversight of the Music Hubs network.
The public description of Priority 1 now places clear emphasis on mobilising a coalition of partners to generate and direct investment to support equitable access, particularly in under-served communities. This signals that the Centre will be expected not only to coordinate activity, but also to play an active role in aligning and attracting investment into Arts education.
When the Centre was first announced in March 2025, a fundraising dimension was less explicitly articulated. In our vision/framework document we suggest that the Centre should operate as a non-commercial, not-for-profit entity created for the public good and sufficiently independent to encourage philanthropic investment rather than deter it. We have always recognised that additional investment beyond core contract funding would be necessary if the full ambition for arts education is to be realised nationally.
Whether sufficient partnership and philanthropic funding can be secured to strengthen long-term financial resilience remains to be seen. Much will depend on the credibility, leadership and convening power of the successful bidder or consortium. What is clear is that the funding envelope now confirmed will require careful prioritisation and strong collaboration across the sector.
The ordering of the Centre’s priorities also differs from the emphasis communicated in 2025, when supporting excellent teaching appeared to be positioned first. CLA’s interpretation is that this change is likely to reflect sequencing linked to the wider reform timetable rather than a shift in relative importance. With first teaching of the revised National Curriculum expected from September 2028, and new GCSEs from September 2029, establishing national alignment and partnership capacity in 2026–27 provides the groundwork for curriculum implementation and teacher development to scale effectively. In that context, the sequencing feels logical.
As we have consistently stated, the Centre will succeed only if it is a collective endeavour, built on ambition, leadership, equity, experience, and expertise on behalf of all children and young people. The opportunity now is for the sector to engage constructively with this next phase and to ensure that revitalising arts education translates into sustained and equitable access to high-quality provision across England.
‘Every child achieving and thriving’ – the new schools White Paper
The long-anticipated Schools White Paper, ‘Every child achieving and thriving’, was published on 23 February. The government says it will spend billions to make mainstream schools in England more inclusive for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). A government statement on the SEND proposals can be found here.
The funding is part of a major overhaul of the SEND system in England, with plans for a series of school reforms. The funding includes over £1.6bn which will go directly into schools, early years settings and colleges over the next three years, along with £1.8bn to provide more access to experts such as specialist teachers and speech and language therapists.
Here we give a summary of the ambition set out in the White Paper, a summary of the proposed SEND changes, and we also highlight coverage of enrichment. Schools Week has provided a good analysis of the wider proposed school reforms.
White Paper scene setting
The White Paper sets out a vision for nurseries, schools, trusts and colleges to prepare the next generation to “shape our world together”. There is an emphasis on families: we are told that the White Paper sits alongside the government’s “wider plan to rebuild our public services. This will support children and families at each stage and in every sphere of their lives, so that schools are not alone in working for the brighter future our young people deserve.”
“Our children have the strongest foundations when love and support at home is built on with stretching, enriching and inclusive school experiences. Great schools deliver this for every child.” Schools are described as “incredible agents for change: a universal public service that can reach every child and every family.”
Government is seeking to set the conditions which enable every family and every school to support children’s success:“This white paper is not simply a vision of the change we want to bring to our schools, but a call to parents, schools, local services, and everyone working with children and young people to join us in building a future where every child can achieve and thrive.”
There is recognition of “waves of technological change” transforming society and the economy and recognition that children need “strong foundations of knowledge … [children and young people] are active participants in their learning– debating, questioning, challenging and pursuing their own inquiry … not passive recipients of information.”
There is also an emphasis on needing a strong sense of belonging in this world of change and reference to the evidence CLA has cited in the past that “Out of 27 European countries, the UK is last in how happy 15-year-olds are with their life.” We are told that “Children’s outcomes are still – too often and too much – determined by background or circumstances, and this has led to a failure to close attainment gaps.”
And there is recognition that “despite the best efforts of dedicated staff, our school system is not serving all children well. Around one in five children are missing a day of school every fortnight. The number of children saying they belong at school has declined. Teacher and leader turnover is highest in schools with the highest proportion of disadvantaged pupils, where children could most benefit from stability. Disadvantaged children – especially white working-class children – and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are not succeeding as they should, with too many children not stretched to achieve all they can”
SEND proposals and consultation process
The government is consulting on its SEND proposals. The consultation document explains the changes and asks for comments from everyone with an interest in how to improve help and support for children and young people with SEND across the 0 to 25 years system. Details of the consultation, which closes on 18 May, can be found here.
The main changes have been covered widely in the media, including by the BBC and there is an excellent summary in Schools Week. In brief:
- EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans) are changing: The big change is that, by 2035, only children with the most complex needs will qualify for EHCPs. Until 2015, the proportion of pupils with EHCPs in schools was relatively stable at 2.8%. Since then, it has nearly doubled to 5.3%. Children who already have an EHCP, or who have been assessed as needing one, will keep them until they finish whichever phase of education they are in. At that point – starting from September 2029 – they will be reassessed. Parents will still be able to apply for EHCPs, which will be delivered by local authorities, and challenge the decisions made about what support their child can get at tribunal.
- Individual Support Plans (ISPs) are to be introduced: The government’s new vision is that pupils with SEND, including those who don’t have EHCPs, will have new ISPs. These documents will set out a child’s needs, what support they should receive and what it hopes to achieve. The government described them as “flexible” plans that set out what the child needs day to day – as opposed to an EHCP, which is the framework giving them legal entitlement to support.
Children with EHCPs will also have ISPs, which will set out how the content of the EHCP will be delivered. All children will have a legal right to an ISP, and their nursery, school or college will be responsible for consulting with parents and drawing them up. They will be reviewed at least once a year. If parents are not happy with what’s in a child’s ISP, they will have to go through a school complaints system first before being able to complain to the local authority, or to the government.
New layers of support
The two different documents – EHCPs and ISPs – sit alongside three new layers of support for children with SEND. There’s “targeted” support, which might involve pupils receiving help in small groups, and reasonable adjustments such as the provision of coloured paper or laptops for children with dyslexia, for example.
Then there’s “targeted plus” support, which will give a child access to specialists like speech and language therapists and educational psychologists, as well as to dedicated SEND spaces within schools called “inclusion bases”.
The third level is “specialist support”, for children with the most complex needs. When a child receives “specialist support”, they will be given a “specialist provision package”, which will be created by education, health and care experts and will spell out what they need.
However, only children with “specialist provision packages”, as part of the specialist support layer, are intended to qualify for new EHCPs. The government wants children to be able to switch between these three layers if and when their needs change. It says by 2028 “national inclusion standards” will be in place.
CLA COMMENT
Proposals to reform the SEND system is set to be one of government’s defining policy changes and on 21 February five former education secretaries of state called for Labour MPs to back the education reforms.
It is interesting to note that following the launch of the White Paper, on 25 February Sir Kevan Collins was announced as the Education Secretary’s delivery adviser with a focus on SEND reform and reviewing how the department engages with councils. Collins was previously catch-up tsar during the pandemic under the Conservative government, but resigned over a lack of funding. After the last election, Labour appointed him as school standards tsar and non-executive board member, and he was promoted to lead the DfE board last year.
There is some information about enrichment in the White Paper in a section entitled ‘An enriching school day for all’. The DfE had already announced plans for new enrichment benchmarks (see Schools Week) which schools will be judged on by Ofsted. The White Paper tells us that the enrichment framework will be published later this academic year, setting out benchmarks “on what good enrichment looks like”. Ofsted’s inspection toolkits will then be updated in September, to take account of these benchmarks.
Arts and culture form one of the five enrichment areas, as we knew, and this area is described in the White Paper as being “For example, taking part in and having live experience of music, art dance, theatre and other expressive arts, and visits to museums and galleries.” It is encouraging to see the use of “expressive arts” as a term here.
We are taking time to digest the reforms set out in the White Paper, and its implications for our sector, and will provide a full response soon. Meanwhile, do share your views: info@culturallearningalliance.org.uk.
Key Stage 4 consultation
The government is seeking views on proposals to improve key stage 4 academic performance measures. The consultation closes on 4 May – details can be found here. The government is seeking views on:
- Improving existing Progress 8 and Attainment 8 measures through a refreshed Progress 8 curriculum model
- A better way to recognise the progress of pupils with low prior attainment as part of improvements to the wider suite of additional performance measures
- Extending targeted RISE support to primary and secondary schools with low achievement
The government is planning reform to the Progress 8 key stage 4 performance measure in a bid to encourage uptake of a broader range of subjects, including Arts subjects.
The proposals aim to deliver a strong and fair accountability system, which will improve outcomes for all children, provide reliable information to parents, and support school improvement. Schools Week has a summary of the proposed reforms.
Reform is focused on the “progress made by pupils who enter secondary school behind their peers”. DfE says it is considering whether it could spotlight the performance of the low prior attainers cohort “via a bespoke ‘best-fit’ progress measure”.
Government could also make an adjustment to the baseline used for pupils with English as an additional language (EAL).
CLA COMMENT
In November 2025 the government announced in was going further with key stage 4 reform than had been recommended by the Curriculum and Assessment Review, which did not advocate for changes to Progress 8.
As with the SEND reforms and the wider White Paper content, we are taking time to digest the newly landed consultation and its implications for our sector – we will provide a full analysis and further commentary soon. Meanwhile, do share your views: info@culturallearningalliance.org.uk.
Government support for local authority SEND costs – and inclusion areas for SEND pupils
Before the launch of the White Paper, the BBC reported that the government will allocate £5bn to clear up to 90% of shortfall that a number of local authorities have for their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) expenditure.
Over the last year we have highlighted the growing issue of SEND expenditure for local authorities and that there are a record 1.7m pupils in England receiving some support for special educational needs in school, and the number of those receiving the higher level of support through education, health and care plans (EHCPs) has more than doubled in a decade.
Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), welcomed the plans, calling it a “recognition that these costs are not of councils’ making and have accrued due to a broken system that is urgently in need of reform”. She added that fully writing off the historic and future deficits “remains critical”.
The Department for Education (DfE) said that “to deliver lasting change for families, our reforms must be built on strong foundations and that’s why we are working in partnership with councils.” The DfE has stated that its Schools White Paper will “set out our full plans to bring forward an inclusive education system that enables all children to achieve and thrive, while ensuring financial sustainability for councils.” The government has said it will set out further details on how it plans to deal with any deficits built up from April 2026 to April 2028 – when the statutory override is due to expire – in the upcoming Schools White Paper.
In covering the news, Schools Week highlighted concerns from the Institute of Fiscal Studies and the reaction of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). Luke Sibieta, from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said the intervention “may now reduce the incentives faced by councils to contain costs, in anticipation that the government may feel compelled to step in again”.
Pepe Di’Iasio, ASCL General Secretary, said it was “important to remember that these deficits were accrued in the first place because there is not currently enough money in the system to meet the level of need. “This must fundamentally change if the reforms are to be successful.”
Meanwhile, as reported in The Guardian, ministers have announced that secondary schools in England must provide specially designed areas for neurodivergent children and pupils with special educational needs. Universal “inclusion bases” are spaces set away from classrooms where children with additional needs can get support for some lessons. They are seen as a key part of government plans to overhaul special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support.
The Guardian article states that “Ministers have been promoting a more inclusive education system, ahead of the publication of a landmark schools white paper, widely seen as the most high-stakes policy reform the government has attempted since the welfare rebellion last year”.
The inclusion bases already exist in some schools. They are part of a £3.7bn investment to redesign the system and create up to 60,000 bespoke places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools. According to a DfE spokesperson they could be set up in spare classrooms or be purpose-built.
New guidance published this spring will set out expectations that schools should improve inclusivity and accessibility, which could mean creating breakout rooms, accessible changing facilities, outdoor learning spaces such as sensory gardens, as well as improving lighting, acoustics and ventilation.
Avnee Morjaria, lead author of a research report on reforming the SEND system said: “It is vital that children with SEND feel school is a place where they can belong and inclusion bases are an important part of making schools more inclusive.”
CLA COMMENT
This news appeared before the release of the government’s White Paper. What is clear is that SEND is the most challenging education issue for the government right now, and that the situation – and the solutions – are complex. The BBC reported on 16 February that “Almost every MP will tell you it’s an issue that regularly tops their inboxes; last month, the prime minister acknowledged SEND was probably raised with him more than any other topic in the House of Commons.”
The Schools White Paper was delayed last year so that more time could be spent on it. It is clear that Ministers favour inclusive mainstream education for more children with special educational needs, where from the early years they get the support they require within local mainstream schools, with specialist school places for those with complex needs. The introduction of inclusion bases within schools are part of that approach.
The BBC reports that the Office for Budget Responsibility recently forecast a £6bn funding shortfall for SEND provision by 2028/29, and the all-party parliamentary group on SEND – as well as some teaching unions – warned before the White Paper was published that school funding will have to increase.
For the first time in 2026 our Report Card (to be published in April) will feature SEND data in relation to Level 2 and Level 3 Arts subjects take-up. We look forward to sharing this information which will broaden understanding of current access to Arts subjects and experiences for children and young people with SEND across England.
Confirmation in parliament that the EBacc is gone
The EBacc is no more. In the end, after all the many objections from our sector and more widely, it went quietly, with no fanfare. When the government updated its performance table statistics on the attainment of primary, secondary and post-16 pupils for 2024 to 2025 on 5 February, it was the final time the EBacc measure would be applied.
In the House of Commons on 23 January, Education Minister Georgia Gould responded to a question from Ruth Cadbury MP (asked on 14 January) about the timetable for the removal of the EBacc: “To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish an estimated timetable for the removal of the English baccalaureate.”
The Minister replied that “As part of the government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report, published on 5 November 2024, we announced our intention to remove EBacc headline and additional measures at key stage 4. This will take effect for the key stage 4 performance measures for the 2025/26 academic year, to be published in autumn 2026.”
Why is this so significant? The accountability measure has had a huge impact and looking back to how it worked is illuminating in relation to how compliance pressures drive school behaviours.
To achieve the EBacc students had to study at least seven GCSEs in the five areas: English language, English literature, maths, double science or biology, chemistry and physics, history or geography and a language. The Department for Education had set a target of 75% of pupils entering the EBacc by 2022 and 90% by 2025.
The Coalition Government introduced the concept of the English Baccalaureate in 2010 in the belief that EBacc subjects – not the Arts – were essential to improving teaching and learning and young people’s life chances. This was modelled on the Russell Group list of ‘facilitating subjects’ that were then recommended to maximise chances of securing a place at one of their member Universities – the list excluded Arts subjects and disincentivised Arts subject take up. When the Russell Group dropped the list in 2019 there was no corresponding government change to the EBacc.
Schools were required to publish the number of students that achieved A-C grades across the subject areas at GCSE English, Maths, Science, Modern Foreign Languages and Humanities (History and Geography).
As we have reported in the past, the initial introduction of the EBacc had an immediate and significant impact on what children studied at secondary school – an early poll from Ipsos
Mori showed that 27% of schools cut courses as a direct result of its implementation.
Historic analysis from the Cultural Learning Alliance in 2013 revealed that this disproportionately affected Arts courses – especially for pupils in disadvantaged areas.
In 2013 plans for Attainment 8 and Progress 8 were announced, which included the EBacc within them. As a reminder:
- Attainment 8 – Pupils’ grades in their eight highest GCSEs were combined to produce a number score. These eight Best GCSEs had to include their grades in Maths and English Language or English Literature GCSE. Maths and whichever of English Language or English Literature was higher was then double weighted. A further three of the 8 Best GCSEs needed to be drawn from English Baccalaureate subjects. The final three slots could be any subject.
- Progress 8 – Students’ progressed from a baseline when entering secondary school and the results in their eight Best GCSEs. Five of the GCSEs had to be in EBacc subjects. The remaining three could be from EBacc or non-EBacc subjects.
Currently Progress 8 scores cannot be calculated or published for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years because the necessary Key Stage 2 (KS2) prior attainment data is missing due to Covid-19 cancellations in 2020 and 2021. Consequently, the government is not replacing it for these years but is planning reform. As part of its response to the Curriculum Review, it has outlined its intention to overhaul the performance measure, and we are awaiting consultation details.
This is one of the government’s measures designed to boost Arts take-up and runs counter to the Curriculum Review’s recommendations which proposed that that the subject make-up of Progress 8 be left alone. Having scrapped the EBacc – as proposed by the Curriculum Review – they will also “develop and consult on an improved version of Progress 8 and Attainment 8 that balances a strong academic core with breadth and student choice.”
Following consultation, a response is likely in the summer “so that schools can take the revised measure into account when determining subject choices for pupils who will start their GCSEs in September 2027”. This means the new Progress 8 measure would first apply to GCSEs sat in 2029.
CLA COMMENT
After years of campaigning by CLA, subject associations, the NEU’s Arts and Minds Campaign, and many others, the EBacc has finally been scrapped. And our Report Cards will be the historical record of the damage it inflicted on Arts subjects over many years in setting a damaging narrative that Arts subjects were unimportant in terms of their impact on pupil outcomes.
The government elected in 2024 has set a new course for Arts education: recognising its value, removing measures that limited Arts take-up, introducing a National Centre for Arts and Music education and an enrichment entitlement that includes the Arts.
In 2024, the Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) published the Blueprint for an Arts-rich Education for Every Child. The Blueprint set out the policy changes needed to secure equitable access to high-quality Arts education. The English Baccalaureate – a term derived from medieval Latin – has been consigned to history, and we have a new Arts entitlement in sight.
In November 2025, the Government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review confirmed a significant shift in direction that aligns closely with the ambitions set out in our original Blueprint. The focus now moves to delivery at scale.
CLA will shortly be consulting on a new document, From Blueprint to Delivery: A Strategy Map for Arts Education. It will describe the guiding principles, the system requirements and the delivery levers that are now needed to translate policy ambition into sustained practice across schools, colleges and communities. Watch this space!
Diversity issues with drafting the new curriculum
Since the announcement of the curriculum drafting teams for the main subject areas which we covered in last month’s newsletter, we and others picked up on the lack of diversity among the specialists chosen to lead on this work. Schools Week has helpfully covered this and has also picked up the disparity in the number of drafters for each subject.
The article states: “Sector leaders have criticised the ‘limited breadth and diversity’ of experts recruited to help write the new national curriculum. The Department for Education has chosen 46 ‘curriculum drafters’ following a public tender. The government said they were chosen ‘based on the best fit for the role, taking into account expertise in subject knowledge and in school leadership’.”
The list’s release has prompted questions about diversity and the way the experts are unevenly split across 13 subject areas. For example, there are 10 experts helping to draft the PE curriculum, compared with just one for languages and two for English.
In Schools Week, Ian Cushing, a reader in critical applied linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University and a fellow of the English Association (EA), described the selection of two drafters for English as disappointing “No subject should have its content designed by such a small number of individuals, and certainly no subject should have its content designed by exclusively white men.” He said it was “insulting” to a teaching workforce made up primarily of women. He added that English helps pupils to explore social issues including race, class, gender, disability, linguistic diversity, and colonialism.
“We need a curriculum designed by people who have lived experience and expertise in those things…[and] allows people from diverse backgrounds to see, feel, and hear themselves represented in it.”
Dr Rebecca Fisher, the chief executive of the EA, said it “regrets that the DfE did not appoint a larger and more diverse group” to take in the discipline’s “deep expertise and experience”. Allana Gay, a co-founder of BAMEed, a black, Asian, and minority ethnic educators’ network, said actions since the Curriculum Review “indicate that once again truly inclusive practice is going to the fringe rather than being embedded into the curriculum”.
Shehlha Zafir, a curriculum director for English at a multi-academy trust, and BAMEed co-lead for the West Midlands, said she was “genuinely disappointed at the lack of diversity and representation” in the list. She is worried that the next iteration of the national curriculum would continue to have “unconscious biases built in because of the make-up of this group. This group reinforces the whiteness of the curriculum,” she said. “Diverse voices may be invited to join the discussion, but they do not have a seat at the table.”
CLA COMMENT
When we covered this in January, we reported that Dr Steve Ball, then Co‑chair of the Drama and Theatre Education Alliance (DTEA), shared concerns about Drama not having have any specialist drafters involved in the process – and the decisions not reflecting diverse specialists who represented the wider community. Adam Milford, Co-Chair of DTEA, also called for the involvement of more practising teachers.
We are hoping that DfE will recognise that more diverse voices and current teaching experience will be required across all subjects, including Arts subjects, as well as more specialist voices for Drama.
We know it is DfE’s intention to involve other specialists in the process as it evolves. The new curriculum won’t be published until 2027 for first teaching in 2028, with updated GCSEs being ready for 2029, so there is time for the government to get this important input right.
Music Hubs interim evaluation published
The Department for Education’s 90-page interim evaluation of England’s restructured Music Hubs programme was published in February. You can see Schools Week coverage here.
CLA evidence is referenced in the introduction on page 12.
Music hubs are groups of music services, schools, councils, community groups, music organisations and others that support schools to develop high quality music education and provide progression for young musicians through teaching and help with sourcing instruments and professional development.
DfE commissioned NatCen to evaluate the restructured Music Hubs programme, introduced in September 2024 under the 2022 National Plan for Music Education, which was published by the previous government. The restructure included reforms which reduced the number of Hub partnerships from 114 to 43, with most serving larger geographical areas and providing support on inclusion, teacher development, music technology, and progression.
Responsibility for the Music Hubs – and £79 million per year of core funding – will transfer from Arts Council England to the National Centre for Arts and Music Education in the summer of 2027.
The evaluation tracks how the new model is being implemented, what outcomes it is achieving for schools and young people, and the lessons that can be learned from the first year of operation (September 2024 to July 2025). Its key findings are as follows:
Key Finding 1: Strong relationships and high-quality provision maintained
The evaluation finds that the new Music Hubs model successfully preserved valued relationships between Hubs and schools during the transition. Teacher satisfaction with Hub relationships improved from 73% to 80% rating them as good or excellent. Communication quality also strengthened, rising from 71% to 80% positive ratings. Three-quarters of parents expressed satisfaction with Hub services, praising affordability and quality. Almost all Hubs reported providing progression opportunities, while parents highlighted significant benefits for children’s confidence, wellbeing, and social development. Nearly half of parents indicated their children could not have accessed music opportunities without school or Hub support, demonstrating the critical role Hubs play in widening access to music education.
Key Finding 2: Persistent funding and workforce challenges
The evaluation identifies that despite operational strengths significant barriers threaten the sustainability of the Hubs. Funding constraints emerged as the most critical challenge, affecting schools’ ability to purchase Hub services and also Hubs’ capacity to deliver provision. More than 75% of Hubs described recruiting peripatetic music teachers as very or fairly difficult, although retention challenges showed modest improvement. The £25m capital grant for instruments – while welcomed for improving access – faced criticism for administrative complexity, poor timing, and inflexible spending parameters. These procedural difficulties detracted from the grant’s positive impact on instrument quality and accessibility, particularly for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
Key Finding 3: Uneven progress in partnership working and inclusion
While most Hubs felt well-prepared to deliver strategic functions around partnerships, school support, and inclusion, the depth of collaboration varied considerably. Only 42% found it easy to align priorities across partner organisations by year-end, down from 70%. Schools rarely led music projects or acted as equal partners with Hubs. Inclusion support increased modestly, with more schools receiving targeted help for disadvantaged pupils, though overall take-up remained limited. Geographical barriers persisted, particularly affecting rural schools and families, where transport costs and distance continued to restrict access despite the larger Hub partnerships intended to address such inequities.
Key Finding 4: Early signs of system stabilisation
By July 2025, 37% of Hubs reported completing their setup, with most others progressing steadily. Teachers noted clearer, more consistent communication and stronger relationships overall. The restructure began creating more strategic collaboration across wider geographical areas, though development remained ongoing. Valued services – including lessons, ensembles, instrument loans, and performance opportunities – continued throughout the transition, demonstrating delivery resilience. Teachers and Hub staff expressed optimism about long-term benefits, expecting improved consistency, expanded professional development access, and increased pupil participation. These emerging positive indicators suggest the new model is establishing foundations for a more coordinated approach to music education, though sustained investment and attention to persistent challenges will be essential for realising its full ambitions.
Key Challenges Facing Music Hubs
- Funding Pressures: Funding constraints emerged as the most severe challenge, affecting both demand and supply. Rising costs and limited budgets restricted schools’ ability to purchase Hub services while constraining Hubs’ capacity to deliver provision. Decreasing real-terms funding made it increasingly difficult for Hubs to meet delivery costs, potentially excluding disadvantaged pupils from accessing opportunities despite remission policies.
- Workforce Capacity: Over three-quarters of Hubs reported significant difficulty recruiting peripatetic music teachers with necessary skills and experience. While retention showed modest improvement, ongoing workforce pressures threatened delivery sustainability and service quality across the system.
- Administrative Burden: The Capital Grant process, despite improving instrument access, was widely criticised. Half of Hub leaders rated the funding process as poor or very poor, citing excessive paperwork, poor timing, inflexible spending parameters, and lengthy approval cycles that prevented strategic resource allocation.
- Geographical Barriers: Rural schools and families faced persistent access challenges. Transport costs, travel distances, and unreliable internet connections limited engagement with Hub activities. Nearly two-thirds of parents reported their children would struggle to reach Hubs independently, highlighting entrenched inequalities.
- Partnership Alignment: Only 42% of Hubs found it easy to align priorities and working practices across partner organisations. Differences in governance structures, operational approaches, and organisational cultures complicated collaborative delivery within larger Hub partnerships.
CLA COMMENT
We anticipated that the review would address issues around funding, workforce capacity and geographical access but the main take-away is that the Hubs are highly valued. We sought responses to the interim review from Hub leaders, music teachers and others.
Leaders are pleased that the report highlights the many continuing strengths of the Music Hub network, in particular the breadth and quality of provision and the positive responses from school partners and parents. This is being achieved despite a decade of real terms funding cuts and short-term funding cycles.
Hubs differ in governance and legal status across the country and there is concern that the challenge of visibility is about those new entities; long standing music services and cultural partners are very visible and it those that schools and parents connect with.
The frustration that leaders point to is that the restructuring process has done little to address the challenges detailed – funding pressures, geographic variance, awareness, and workforce challenges. These were all present and growing issues for the sector well before the new Hubs structure was announced.
The view is that this is a good audit of the way things are, and leaders look forward to seeing how the recommendations are applied. Hubs desperately need longer term thinking to fully realise the benefits of new structures and to be able to take advantage of the opportunities presented by new strategic partnerships.
The final report is due in autumn 2027, covering the first three years of the new hub structure.
UK Standard Skills Classification produced
The Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) reported in 2025 that while the creative sector is rapidly growing (2.4m jobs), better classification is needed for the Arts, culture, and heritage workforce. Its Skills Matches in the Creative Industries research report identified sector growth placing considerable demand on the skills system to ensure a ready supply of talent armed with the skills creative businesses need to compete, innovate and grow.
The UK Standard Skills Classification (SSC) interim report now outlines a new 4-level framework (3,343 skills, 22 domains) to better map creative, Arts, and cultural occupations.
Previous criticism has noted that existing, broader codes (e.g., in retail/sales) fail to distinguish specialised art, craft, and music roles, leading to underestimation of their economic contribution.
The new SSC uses a hierarchical structure (Domain > Area > Group > Skill) to improve detail for specific roles, aiming to better capture skills in design, fashion, and artistic creation.
The system utilizes AI-generated labels from job vacancies to define specific occupational skills, allowing for more precise identification of creative skills.
Improved classification supports the government’s Industrial Strategy, Invest 2035, directing investment toward addressing skills gaps and promoting inclusion.
The classification initiative is important for addressing workforce imbalances, such as the class gap in Arts careers.
The UK Standard Skills Classification (SSC) is a set of standardised lists of the skills, knowledge and tasks required for UK occupations. The SSC is a hierarchical classification based on 3,343 separate skills that are required for the competent performance of specific job tasks.
There are three skills domains of particular relevance:
| Skills Domain 2: Design and Creating | Designing architecture, building systems Designing landscapes, mining and water systems Designing industrial machinery, equipment and systems Designing industrial processes, materials and techniques Designing non-technical consumer products Designing technical solutions and prototypes Designing digital interfaces and user experiences Creating visual designs, graphics and animations Creating and editing original written material Creating performing arts content and designs |
| Skills Domain 13: Educating and Training | Developing instructional plans and materials Teaching academic subjects Teaching creative subjects and skills Teaching work related subject and skills Teaching and coaching sports and recreation |
| Skills Domain 18: Communicating and performing | Communicating complex, technical or sensitive information Communicating effectively with new groups or audiences Performing musical, dance and theatrical routines Communicating, translating and interpreting in different language |
CLA COMMENT
Skills classification is yet one more area in which the Arts and creativity have long been marginalised, and this new classification does aim to improve identification of creative roles – such as specialised artists, designers, and performers – often hidden within, or excluded from, broader, non-creative occupational codes.
We are mindful of all the barriers to Arts progression that have been in place in recent years. We are now seeing a shift in how the contribution of the Arts to personal development and the creative economy is valued and recognised – from the scrapping of the EBacc, to an improved Arts curriculum – and here in the skills domain. All of these changes are important and are a recognition of the value of an Arts-rich education.
Child poverty figures to be revised down
The BBC reports that official figures on the number of children living in poverty in the UK are expected to be revised down over concerns they have not been accurately reflecting household income.
For more than 30 years poverty statistics have been based on an annual survey of households across the UK. But officials believe those taking part in the survey have been under-reporting how much they receive in benefits.
Labour’s child poverty strategy was launched at the end of last year and is based on figures showing that child poverty levels had reached a record high of 4.5 million children. From next month, child poverty estimates will use data from benefit records, which is likely to mean figures dating back to 2018 will be lower than previously stated. The Department of Work and Pensions has stated that improving the accuracy of its statistics will not change its commitment to tackling poverty.
The Resolution Foundation think tank told the BBC that it was likely that “the UK’s child poverty rate in recent years will be revised down” as a result of the new approach. The Foundation estimated that the number of children in relative poverty could have been about 500,000 lower in 2016-17 than official figures showed. The revision is not expected to have a big impact on the government’s that its policies could lift 500,000 children out of relative poverty by 2030.
Action for Children, which campaigns to end child poverty, welcomed any improvement to how poverty data is collected and interpreted. “But whichever way it is measured, hardship among families with children has been getting worse in recent years,” Lucy Schonegevel, the charity’s director of influencing, told the BBC. She said while “better data will give us a clearer picture, it must ultimately lead to better outcomes for children”.
CLA COMMENT
This data is important for CLA as it’s such vital context for our work, as is the fact that one in five children in the UK has a probably mental health problem (NHS data). CLA’s work is built on data and evidence and our CLA Report Cards are based largely on government data sets.
Whatever the numbers – and they remain staggeringly high – our Report Cards make clear that family socioeconomic status is a significant social determinant in whether a child will pursue expressive Arts options from the age of 14: there is a clear relationship between poverty and access to Arts subjects, opportunities and experiences – and this creates the Arts entitlement gap that all want to see closed.
Young Creatives Commission launched – call for evidence
The Young Creatives Commission is a national commission led by Centre for Young Lives in partnership with Roundhouse. It aims to promote access to and increased participation in the Arts by putting the Arts on a par with sport for youth engagement, and to open pathways into creative careers for greater diversity in the creative industries.
The Commission will produce clear, evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, funders and industry leaders, alongside interim and final reports focused on improving access, participation and opportunity for young people. This work is in part a response to the government’s National Youth Strategy (December 2025).
The premise of the Commission is thatcreativity should be a part of every young person’s life and is integral to their education and development. It describes the Arts as being uniquely transformative, helping young people find their identities and passions, boosting mental health and wellbeing, and providing technical and transferable skills for employment.
In its most recent announcement of an Enrichment Framework, the Government pledged that “young people across the country will have greater access to high-quality Arts education, wider creative and sporting activities”.
The Government’s National Youth Strategy for out-of-school and youth work activities aims to build skills and opportunities for life and work, reversing years of decline by funding youth centres, grassroots sports, Arts and music programmes in the communities that need it most.
In the Government’s Plan for Change and expanded Creative Careers programme, young people will learn the creative skills they need to succeed – “to create good jobs, choices and chances for all our young people”.
The Commission will explore a continuum of provision and opportunities for young people (ages 10-25) in England. It will promote raised awareness of the importance of culture and the Arts, increased levels of participation and involvement among young people, and greater diversity and inclusion for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in creative industries careers. The Commission will:
- Build a clear model for access: Develop a practical model and set of recommendations aligned with the government’s national youth strategy, focused on increasing young people’s access to Arts and creative spaces in their local communities.
- Strengthen the role of the Arts: Highlight the role of the Arts in education reform, mental health and community engagement, and support partnerships that help creativity be understood, valued and accessed on a par with sport.
- Tackle barriers to participation: Identify the barriers that limit participation in the Arts and widen gaps in access, and propose solutions that improve inclusion, representation and diversity in creative opportunities and careers.
- Support learning beyond the classroom: Explore how non-formal learning, youth work, and enrichment activities can support skills development and career pathways, narrowing the gap for participation by disadvantaged young people.
- Inform decision-making with evidence: Provide clear, evidence-based proposals to support policymakers, funders and industry leaders in making practical, informed decisions across the Arts and creative sectors.
The Young Creatives Commission is gathering evidence from across England to understand the barriers young people face in accessing the Arts, and what works in increasing participation and opportunity. This includes research, consultation with young people and organisations, evidence sessions with experts, and engagement with communities and creative spaces.
Insights gathered through this work will directly inform the Commission’s findings and recommendations.
The deadline for submitting evidence is the 12April 2026. Please follow this link to submit your evidence.
CLA COMMENT
CLA looks forward to submitting evidence to the Commission and to reporting on its progress. Putting the Arts on a par with sport for youth engagement is a valuable approach. And we’re delighted that the Centre for Young Lives is working with the Roundhouse on this Commission given their deep expertise in working with and learning from young people.
Location for Brit School-inspired college confirmed
A new creative Arts college inspired by the world-famous school which has produced talents like Adele and Amy Winehouse will open on the site of a former car park in Bradford.
As reported by the BBC, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) – the trade body for the UK’s recorded music industry which runs London’s Brit School – announced in 2023 it would open a facility in West Yorkshire for 500 pupils aged 16 to 19.
On 6 February, Bradford Council announced the school would open on the Jacob’s Well car park site near Bradford Interchange after it sold the land to the Department for Education.
Originally planned to open in 2026, it now expected to welcome its first pupils in 2028.
The free-to-attend college will offer a vocational curriculum including music and music technology, performance, production Arts, film and media production and digital design. The college will be spearheaded by BPI. It will be based on the successful model of The BRIT school in London, which has been supported by the industry for 30 years.
The location will mean that the school is a short distance from cultural venues such as the Alhambra Theatre, the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford Live and St George’s Hall. Based on the Croydon model, it will offer free, industry-supported training in dance, music, theatre, and production.
Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “We’re really excited to have this new specialist college opening in Bradford to further build on our cultural offer, which is already second to none. It will mean our young people have access to world-class training and great industry networks. I can’t wait to see some of the stars of the future who make their names here in our city.”
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “This new college is going to be a gamechanger for young creatives across the North. “BRIT School stars like Olivia Dean and Lola Young, who dominated at the Grammy’s, show what can happen when talent is given the right education and support. “I’m thrilled that creatives in West Yorkshire will get those same opportunities to develop their skills, back their ambition and take their talent to the world.”
COMMENT
This is positive news for Bradford following its year as UK City of Culture in 2025. The Brit School in London has many notable alumni and is widely recognised for its contribution to the UK’s creative industries, so having a equivalent in the north of England is an excellent way for Bradford to expand its Arts provision into the future, and will be welcome news for talented young creatives currently being educated in key stage 3 in secondary schools in the region.
New Radio 4 documentary about Drama education
Drama in Schools: An Unfolding Tragedy describes Drama as having “exited stage left” from many school timetables in recent years. Using CLA’s own data, the programme charts the decline in the number of pupils in England sitting Drama GCSE and A Level since 2010 and asks why this matters and why we should care.
The actor Christopher Eccleston investigates the demise of Drama and asks whether it can be rekindled in the wake of the Curriculum and Assessment Review which calls for a new approach to valuing Arts subjects.
Eccleston shares his own personal experience of Drama lessons at school which he says transformed his life. He sits in on drama classes at Towers School in Ashford in Kent to hear the experiences of pupils and speaks to CLA and to theatre practitioners from the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company (our own CLA Associate, Jacqui O’Hanlon) and from the National Youth Theatre. He also speaks to STEM UK about the importance of striking a balance between learning about STEM subjects and the Arts.
cLA COMMENT
It is good to hear a leading actor share his own working-class experiences and the profound difference getting involved in Drama has made to his life and career. The documentary is a rallying call for the Arts entitlement gap to be closed: every child and young person should have access to Arts subjects, opportunities and experiences – these cannot be the preserve of children who are privately educated. Our own Arts Education Capabilities Framework sets out why the Arts are so valuable and how they have personal and societal benefits.
