No arts premium for schools this year despite government promises

Schools minister Nick Gibb has confirmed that the 'arts premium' will not be provided for secondary schools this year.

This additional funding for arts subjects, like music, was promised by the Conservative government in their 2019 manifesto, and in the 2020 Budget. 

In a written response to a question from Labour’s Dame Diana Johnson, Gibb said: ‘Due to the focus on new priorities as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the arts premium is now subject to this year’s Spending Review.’

In the 2019 Tory manifesto, the government committed to investing in arts, music, and sport: ‘We retain our commitment to the core subjects and also want young people to learn creative skills and widen their horizons, so we will offer an “arts premium” to secondary schools to fund enriching activities for all pupils.’

Commenting on Gibb’s answer given on 9 September, ISM chief executive Deborah Annetts said: ‘Creative education enriches the lives and learning of students, but all too often schools don’t have access to sufficient funding to be able to deliver high-quality education in subjects such as music.

‘The arts premium would have gone some way to address this imbalance and there will be students who miss out because of it. That no official statement was made on the premium, despite it being a manifesto and budget commitment is sadly another example of the disregard shown by the Department for Education towards creative subjects in recent years.’

MT contacted the DfE for a further statement, but a spokesperson said that their response was ‘the same as minister Gibb’s in this instance as he represents the Department for Education in this area’. 

This update on arts funding in schools comes as music educators await the refreshed National Plan for Music Education, due ‘early next year’. Speaking on this in August, Gibb said: ‘Having the opportunity to be taught and play musical instruments is enriching and fulfilling. I, like many others, wish I’d had a stronger music education and had more of an opportunity to play instruments in my time at school.

‘That’s why we want all schools to have a rigorous and broad music curriculum that inspires their pupils to love music’.