A group of school students take part in an art class

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Labour slams government’s arts education provision

Shadow Arts Minister Barbara Keeley says Labour would ensure all children have access to high-quality arts education as she criticises government for the ‘systematic exclusion and downgrading of arts subjects’.

Patrick Jowett
3 min read

Labour has accused the government of damaging the creative industries’ talent pipeline and stifling children’s creativity by failing to provide arts and culture education.

The party says the arts are being squeezed out of schools, as a result of tightened budgets, teacher shortages and the reprioritisation of arts and culture subjects through school accountability measures like English Baccalaureate (EBacc) entries.

“Despite the clear benefits of the arts for young people and for the creative economy, there has been a systematic exclusion and downgrading of arts subjects and experiences within the state-funded education system,” Shadow Minister for the Arts Barbara Keeley said.

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Keeley, Labour MP for Worsley and Eccles South, commented ahead of speaking at a panel on arts education at the Theatre and Touring Summit in London today (26 June), where she plans to call on the government to reverse the decline in provision, while setting out Labour’s plan for arts education.

“Labour will give every child a broad and balanced education which nurtures creativity,” Keeley said.

“Our approach to education will ensure that every child and young person has access to high-quality arts, culture and creativity in their lives and is given the skills, knowledge and understanding to progress and to thrive.”

Keeley added the government’s squeeze on arts, culture and creative subjects is “self-defeating”.

“It is not right that these subjects are increasingly becoming the preserve of the few whose families can afford fee-paying schools when the benefits to students, society and our economy are so manifold”.

Arts subjects in decline

Keeley’s speech is also set to lay bare the decline of arts education, with the numbers of students taking arts GCSEs falling by two-fifths between 2010 and 2022.

Provisional entries for GCSEs in summer 2023, shared by the government, indicates that numbers to arts exams are continuing to fall.

Entries to GCSE drama exams this year dropped by 7.4% compared with summer 2022, while arts and design entries fell by 3.3% and performing and expressive arts fell by 16.4%, the most of any non-Ebacc subject.

Meanwhile GCSE music exam entries, which hit their lowest ever level last year, have decreased by a further 11.8% this year.

Entries to A-Level creative subjects are also down. The number of A-Level entries to arts and design subjects fell by 2.8%, drama fell by 6.7% and music fell by 6.8% in summer 2023, compared with the year prior.

The figures are likely compounded by a decline in the number of arts teachers. Drama teachers in state-funded secondary schools in England have decreased by over a fifth since 2011, while there has been a 15% decline in music teachers and a 12% decline in arts and design teachers over the same time period.

Meanwhile, the number of people beginning training to teach arts subjects is also below government targets.

Labour has attributed the decline to the narrative at the top of government that the arts “play second fiddle to subjects, leading to low morale among teachers and a drop in arts provision”.

The National Society for Education in Art & Design said Labour’s comments were “well said”.

“Cuts to arts in schools have been at the service of the academically narrow EBacc; austerity measures; Covid lost learning and now the cost of living crisis,” the trade union posted on Twitter.