This month we bring you news of the new Music Education Plan from the Department for Education; recommendations for policy makers from the Centre for Cultural Value; Arts in Schools from the Gulbenkian Foundation; the DTEA Seize the day event to tell decision makers about the importance of drama and theatre education; an invitation to attend an Erasmus+ Youth Learning Through Arts seminar in Brussels; and an ask from Durham University to fill in a survey to assess the impact of the Durham Commission.

At the end of March 2022 the Department for Education published its first White Paper for six years. Tightly focussed on literacy and numeracy, it sets out ambitions and plans to improve behaviour and attendance, teacher recruitment and retention, and for all schools to join a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). It also includes a pledge for the Department to work with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and Arts Council England (ACE) to develop a National Plan for Cultural Education: something that the CLA has been calling for since 2014. This post gives you the headlines.

This month we bring you an update to our 20 years of cultural education policy timeline; news of research from Engage on Art & Design Education in Scotland; changes to Education Scotland, including a new national education agency; Future Fwd conference, and the Researching the Arts in Primary Schools blog.