Music: Education
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that music remains central to the mainstream curriculum; whether it has undertaken any formal assessment of the impact of music education on attainment in maths, English and other subjects; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policy on music education of the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report in November 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould
The department is committed to revitalising arts education. Music will therefore remain a statutory subject in the national curriculum from key stages 1 to 3, and all state-funded schools, including academies, will have a duty to teach the revised music programme of study from September 2028.
Alongside other arts subjects, music is an important element of the rounded and enriching education every child deserves, and essential to developing their creativity and finding their voice. In terms of wider benefits of studying music, the Education Endowment Foundation review of arts participation highlighted the commonly reported evidence on studying music on mathematics outcomes, alongside the wider benefits of arts participation. This can lead to an average of three additional months’ academic progress.
The government will consult on the revised national curriculum later this year, following the government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review in November 2025.
We will establish a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education in September to support teachers. We also recently consulted on an improved version of Progress 8 accountability measure that maintains a strong academic core alongside ensuring breadth and choice to age 16, including in music.
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