Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2014-04-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on the teaching of instrumental music lessons in (1) maintained schools, and (2) academies.

Lord Nash

The new national curriculum for music is designed to ensure that all pupils in maintained schools have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, to perform and to progress to the next level of musical excellence. Music remains a statutory subject for all children between the ages of 5 and 14.

At key stage 1, children should be taught to play tuned and un-tuned instruments musically. At key stage 2, they should be taught to play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, playing musical instruments with increasing fluency, and expression. At key stage 3, pupils should build on their previous learning through playing and performing confidently with increasing fluency and expression.

At key stage 4, children have an entitlement to study an arts subject, and maintained schools are required to offer at least one arts subject, which can include music.

Academies’ funding agreements require them to offer a broad and balanced curriculum. We trust headteachers to understand the benefits of, and deliver, a high-quality music education.

In addition, we are providing £171 million funding for 123 music education hubs across the three years 2012-15 to improve the quality and consistency of music education in England. One of the hubs’ core roles is to ensure that every child aged 5-18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through whole-class ensemble teaching. Hubs must also provide opportunities for pupils to play in ensembles and perform from an early stage, and ensure that clear progression routes are available and affordable to all young people.

In the first year of the music education hubs, nearly half a million children were given the opportunity to learn a musical instrument for the first time and hubs organised almost 15,000 school choirs, orchestras and bands in conjunction with schools. More than a third of those children who learned a musical instrument for the first time have continued learning to play. As hubs work with more schools, we want to see that number rise.