How do we know what cultural learning can do? Here are some of the most compelling pieces of research that we have found…
If you have evidence of the impact of your cultural learning work and would like to share that with us, please email us with details – include a short description of the project and impact that has been evidenced. Enter the website details for the evidence report if there is one. Otherwise we’ll be in touch to receive a copy from you.
Time to Listen, RSC, Tate and the University of Nottingham, 2018
Tale (Tracking Arts Engagement and Learning) was a three-year research project investigating arts education in high schools in England from 2015 to 2018. The project partners – RSC, Tate and the University of Nottingham – worked across 30 schools with 63 teachers and 6,000 students. The report sets out the impact on students of arts-rich schools, what actions create these schools and the barriers to this happening.
Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Value: Enriching Britain: Culture, Creativity and Growth
Warwick Commission, 2015
The key message of the Warwick Commission’s final report, Enriching Britain: Culture, Creativity is that the government and the Cultural and Creative Industries need to take a united and coherent approach that guarantees equal access for everyone to a rich cultural education and the opportunity to live a creative life. There are barriers and inequalities in Britain today that prevent this from being a universal human right. This is bad for business and bad for society.
There is a section with policy recommendations for cultural learning.
Arts Council England Strategy Consultation: Children and Young People
During 2017/18 Arts Council England (ACE) commissioned four research reports, to better understand how children and younger people participate and enjoy arts and cultural activities across England. ACE wanted to know how young people access opportunities, what barriers might exist and whether culture is important and relevant to their lives.
Entries to arts subjects at Key Stage 4, EPI, 2017
This report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) examines student entries to arts subject qualifications at Key Stage 4 (KS4) over the past decade.
This covers a period of considerable change to school accountability measures, including the introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and of Progress 8. The report draws on data covering arts subject entries by KS4 cohorts between 2007 and 2016. It also includes comparisons between different regions, and variations by pupil characteristics, such as gender, socio-economic status, and prior attainment.
Understanding the impact of engagement in culture and sport, Culture and Sport Evidence Programme, DCMS, 2010
CASE was a programme of strategic research led by DCMS. This report explores the debates around cultural value, and considers the meaning of culture and the reasons why the evaluation of culture is such a difficult task. It also summarises the evidence we do have about the impact of cultural activities on children and young people’s attainment.
An independent report for the Welsh Government into Arts in Education in the Schools of Wales, Professor Dai Smith, 2013
This report gives the rationale and evidence as to why the arts in education should be at the heart of the welsh education system.
Creativity Vs. Robots: The Creative Economy and the Future of Employment
This 2015 report from Nesta is full of key information and evidence on the future of the workforce and the importance of creativity. It suggests that the world is on the verge of a robot revolution in which more and more once-steady jobs are replaced by machines. It makes recommendations as to what is needed for the the UK to generate a million new creative jobs in this landscape.
Understanding the Value of Art & Culture, Arts and Humanities Research Council
This report from 2016 presents the outcomes of the AHRC’s Cultural Value Project which looked at how we think about the value of the arts and culture to individuals and to society. Chapter 8 is note on arts education and highlights a large number of meta-reviews and evidence. The AHRC is now a part of UKRI
Teaching and Learning Toolkit Education Endowment Fund
The Toolkit is a live resource which is updated on a regular basis as findings from EEF-funded projects and other high-quality research become available. The toolkit ranks different interventions in order of effectiveness. Arts participation ranks about halfway up the table and you can read what the EEF say about its effectiveness here.
An American report that examines the academic and civic behavior outcomes of teenagers and young adults who have engaged deeply with the arts in or out of school.
This explores how the Creative Partnerships programme affected student wellbeing and the degree to which creative approaches became embedded in areas of the curriculum other than those directly involving creative practitioners. The researchers discuss approaches to creativity and creative learning.
The Costs and Benefits of Creative Partnerships, CCE, 2010
PricewaterhouseCoopers was commissioned by CCE to prepare a report that analyses the economic costs and benefits of Creative Partnerships. Expressed as a ratio of the benefits to the costs, they estimate that every £1 invested in the programme delivers £15.30 worth of benefits.
Summer Arts Colleges 2009 Final Outcomes Report, Arts Council 2011
Summer Arts Colleges comprise an intensive six-week programme intended for high-risk young people. This report evidences that generally, long-term participation brings about a significant reduction in the offending rate after the programme and increases in literacy and numeracy levels.