News

After some months of turbulence, a general election has now been called for the 12 December. This post details six different ways that you can help to make the case for the arts and cultural learning in this landscape.

This month we bring you news of the new £9,000 Art & Design PGCE bursary; cultural learning election manifestos; DfE analysis of GCSE entries and new guidance on Character Education; plus international practice, research and advocacy links.

The Durham Commission on Creativity and Education has today launched a report and recommendations for the promotion of creativity in education in England.

Today we launch our new Briefing The Arts for Every Child: why arts education is a social justice issue.

The CLA’s recent summary of cultural education policies over the last 20 years reminds me of a personal milestone.

This would seem the perfect time to look back over the last 20 years of cultural learning policy in England: the initiatives, the funding, the key players and the changing policy climate.

This month we bring you news of three former education secretaries calling for the end of the EBacc; Bob and Roberta Smith calling for every child to study an arts GCSE; DfE removing the Facilitating Subjects reference on the EBacc webpage; MP Ed Vaizey calling for arts at the heart of the curriculum; details of all the new Arts and Education Ministers; two reports from the Sutton Trust and Teacher Tapp, and the Nuffield Foundation, on teacher recruitment; that Arts subjects are the most likely to be taught by specialist teachers in secondary schools; and Arts qualifications being de-funded.

-38% decline in arts GCSE entries 2010 to 2019

-4% year-on-year drop in arts GCSEs 2018 to 2019

-29% decline in arts A Level entries 2010 to 2019

Department for Education figures published in June 2019 show that between 2010 and 2018 the number of hours the arts were taught in England’s secondary schools fell by -23% and the number of arts teachers fell by -22%.

This month we bring you news of the Curriculum for Wales consultation; a Science Minister speech on the importance of Arts; Arts Council England’s draft ten year strategy; provisional A Level and GCSE arts entries for 2019; the University of Leeds to be first UK Centre for Cultural Value; the CBI calling for a creative subject to be added to the EBacc; and the Sutton Trust Elitist Britain report.