Why Arts Education Matters More Than Ever

Cultural Learning Alliance: Report Card & Evidence Review

With words like Resilience, Identity, Agency, Empathy and Curiosity, associated with many reports highlighting the value of the arts, it is no surprise that these ‘pop’ within the latest Report Card from the Cultural Learning Alliance, published on 13th May 2026.

Music Mark’s Bridget Whyte was asked to respond to the report, as well as a Rapid Evidence Review (published just a day later on 14th May), at an event in Parliament hosted by Jo Platt MP. Here are the key points she put across in her short speech:

Reading these reports my first reflection was that there is so much to take in – so much valuable data which can help organisations like Music Mark support the sector! And it is such a great document to present to the incoming National Centre for Arts and Music Education as it starts work from this September!

Reports like these are essential! Sadly, on the ground, the ‘Govian’ mantra of STEM – of ‘core’ subjects, of a hierarchy of subjects with arts as the poor relation, is still prevalent! Convincing both school leaders and parents who have had this mantra drummed into them since 2010 is hard, so we need reports like this to help us with changing hearts and minds.

Throughout my working life in pursuit of enlightening those who don’t yet ‘get it’, I regularly talk about ‘Music for Music’s Sake and Music for Goodness Sake’.

We must not lose sight of the importance of arts subjects as subjects of study in their own right – for music to be taught to enable this amazing language to be unlocked for all children and young people – for them to explore the music they know and the music they don’t know yet! For them to have a better understanding of the subject, to be able to value and enjoy it throughout their lives, regardless of what they do after they leave school.

But we cannot underestimate the power of explaining how arts subjects can support wider learning, health and wellbeing goals schools and parents have for their children and young people. They are key! Without this research it has the potential to sound flippant, but these reports demonstrate that arts education should be THE core, at the heart of education. They should be the priority as everything else can be supported through arts and creativity! It can unlock maths, support language learning, bring history and other humanities to life and let’s face it every child is already using technology to support their musical learning – so use that to help them learn and navigate the digital world they live in!

In addition, we know the importance of arts in supporting belonging, identity and active citizenship. When there is so much turmoil and concern amongst children and young people – environmental, political, societal – the arts are (to quote the Rapid Evidence Review) ‘powerful tools for emotional regulation and wellbeing’. The review evidenced that there is consistent documentation of ‘improvements in self-esteem, reductions in anxiety and overall enhanced emotional wellbeing’. Surely any school leader or parent would want to provide learning which supports that!

It is great to have new data within the reports about primary arts education. The stats are stark though and I do wonder if a National Centre for Arts and Music Education will be able to affect change across over 16,000 schools?! The Music Hub network is working hard to support primaries and I would suggest they are engaging with more than the one-third reported. But their work continues despite year on year real terms cuts to their funding which can hamper their ability to make a difference and provide the support and enhance provision.

The ‘Attainment Gap’ reporting across the report is a wake-up call for everyone to consider their role in closing that gap. Indeed I will be thinking about how Music Mark’s role in supporting the Hub Network, schools and further and higher education institutions can close the gaps identified. In particular, following our successful first HE Conference in Cardiff last week, I picked up on the data about tertiary education and the importance of the ‘modern universities’ providing arts courses to ensure post-18 access to those form the global majority.

Cuts reported to enrichment activities offered to pupils is worrying. Perhaps as the government puts more focus on an enrichment entitlement, the report’s highlighting of funding being the key reason for cuts, the DfE and DCSM will perhaps need to think about where the funding to increase opportunity is going to come from.

But what I wanted to highlight to close my speech was around our teaching workforce. The Report Card is so right in stating that the ‘government will struggle to revitalise arts education without trained and specialist arts teachers across primary and secondary’.

As we look towards a new curriculum and a refocus of priorities for schools, the notes about Teacher Education and Professional Development are interesting, especially in light of the planned National Centre for Arts and Music Education and its role in this space. How do we ensure that what the Centre provides isn’t tokenistic? Quoting from the Rapid Evidence Review ‘sustainable approaches to building teacher confidence and capability’ and identifying ‘what constitutes effective pedagogy across different art forms and contexts and how to disseminate this knowledge’ surely need to be at the heart of the centre’s thinking as they develop their plans.

Other speakers at the event included Sir Anthony Seldon, Geoff Barton, Jacqui O’Hanlon and Feversham Primary Schools Head Teacher Naveed Idrees – all of whom made impassioned points about the importance of arts education and the CLAs publications. There was a call for the arts education sector to speak as one, for young people’s voices to be heard within this ongoing debate about their education, and the importance of arts education in supporting the development of the whole child (engaging with both sides of their brains).

A quote attributed to the writer CS Lewis stuck with Bridget as she left the event:

‘You cannot go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending’.

In highlighting this report to its Membership and the wider Music Education sector, Bridget and the Music Mark team hope that it can help change how young people complete their education now and into the future!

Find out more about Music Mark’s advocacy work for the Music Education sector on our Advocacy page