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Schools: Music

Answer

The Government have shown a clear commitment to music and broader cultural education by commissioning reviews by Darren Henley, Managing Director of Classic FM, of both music and cultural education. Following the publication of Mr Henley's music education review, we published a National Plan for Music Education and committed to invest £202 million from 2012, covering the remainder of the spending review period, to improve provision. We asked Darren Henley to undertake this work because these subjects are important in developing an appreciation and understanding of the arts in all their forms, and because we believe this will ultimately benefit the economy and young people's employment prospects in the creative industries. Research provided by the sector skills councils shows that the skills most pertinent to future growth in the creative and cultural industries will be business, managerial and technical skills associated with the digital sectors of the creative economy. The Government are therefore spending £938,800, as part of a wider package for higher apprenticeships, to enable Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the creative industries, to develop a level 4 apprenticeship to meet skills needs in advertising, creative and digital media and fashion and textiles. We have also established a Creative Industries Council, with leading figures from across the creative and digital sectors, so that we can work to ensure that the UK continues to be a world leader in this area. We have no plans to research the links between the economic and employment prospects of pupils studying music or other creative subjects in schools. Our priority is to implement the National Plan for Music Education and to respond to Darren Henley's forthcoming review of cultural education.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

14769; 734 c188-9WA

Session

2010-12

Related items

Schools: Music
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Written questions
House of Lords

Subjects

Arts Education Music

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk