Time to rebalance: the future for music provision

The troubling news that further university music departments are shutting down follows a trend started in 2004. There have been 10 music department closures since then compared to three in the previous 15 years. There are complex reasons for this – not least because an ever-broader range of music courses has emerged nationally. The rise of vocational courses (musical theatre, for example), being taken up by aspiring professionals, also means that so-called academic music courses are having to work harder to persuade students of their value.

An uncomfortable truth, however, is that since 1992, when the majority of higher education institutions became ‘universities’, it has been in the interests of these institutions to retain customers (i.e. students). This has caused steep grade inflation and, frankly, less scrutiny of those entering higher education in the first place. In the 1970s and 80s, between 8% and 19% of young British adults went into higher education, compared to 50% now. The number of degrees awarded has increased fivefold and the number of first-class degrees has quadrupled. Music forms part of this pattern, and music departments have had to attract more students with fewer skills. I've seen it with my own eyes.