Earlier this month, the Government announced changes to the National Curriculum for Music in England, as part of a broader review of the National Curriculum. This followed campaigning from individuals and organisations for a number of years, which highlighted how the current system ‘downgrades’ Arts subjects and limits students’ access to Music education.
In this month’s blog, we look in more detail at the challenges with the existing system, the changes that have been recommended and how the sector has responded to the news.
Changes to the National Curriculum
On 5th November 2025, the UK Government announced its findings following a 16-month review of the National Curriculum in England. A key outcome of this review is that the Government will be scrapping the EBacc (English Baccalaureate), a measure introduced in 2010 that has been shown to have negatively impacted the take up of Arts subjects. Organisations such as the Independent Society for Musicians (ISM) and the Campaign for the Arts have been calling for this change for many years through the Arts and Minds campaign and other lobbying.
The review panel suggested changes across all school subjects, but the Government has given particular prominence to the Arts in their response to the findings, pledging to:
“revitalise arts education as part of the reformed national curriculum and through high-quality support for teachers of these subjects”.
It is important to note that the review only focused on the National Curriculum and Assessment system. It did not review enrichment, core funding, the Early Years Foundation stage, careers advice or varying pedagogical approaches – and it only impacts England, as education policy is devolved in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Overall, the review identified that “much of the existing framework is effective and should therefore remain in place”, and therefore suggested “evolution not revolution”. However, several areas were identified for improvement.
One area for development is stronger representation of the “diversity that makes up our modern society”, particularly relevant in Dance and Drama. The review highlighted that it is important for children to see themselves reflected in their course materials.
The importance of oracy was identified, suggesting a need to strengthen Drama in schools. At present Drama is included within the English curriculum, but the review recommends that Drama should have greater specificity in early Key Stages. Dance was similarly identified as currently being part of PE, with a need for it to be highlighted as a specific discipline in earlier Key Stages.
EBacc and Progress 8
The EBacc was introduced in 2010 to measure the number of students entering GCSEs in English Language and Literature, Maths, Sciences, Geography or History, and a language. It specifically excludes the Arts. Here at the Music Workshop Company, we have supported the ISM and other campaigns to have this reviewed due to the negative impact on Arts subjects.
Programme 8 was introduced in 2016, and it aims to demonstrate how much a secondary school has helped students to “progress” over a period of five years by comparing the GCSE results to Key Stage 2 SAT results. It focuses on the EBacc subjects, which has again impacted other subjects negatively.
The focus on a narrow group of subjects has contributed to damaging attitudes to certain other subjects, suggesting that those included in the EBacc matter more. Evidence has shown that schools have chosen to divert money, resources and curriculum time to these subjects, negatively impacting areas such as the Arts.
The expert panel’s final report said:
“It is clear that the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measures have to some degree unnecessarily constrained students’ choices. This has affected their engagement and achievement, and limited their access to, and the time available for, arts and vocational subjects […] As such, we recommend the removal of the EBacc measures but the retention of the EBacc ‘bucket’ in Progress 8 under the new title of ‘Academic Breadth’.”
Champions for Music
There are some key recommendations for Music in the review. It could be argued that the changes to the prominence of music in the curriculum is partly due to singer songwriter Ed Sheeran. Back in March, Sheeran wrote an open letter to the Government requesting greater investment in music education and echoing calls for the removal of the EBacc. His letter was supported by many from across the music industry including Harry Styles, Annie Lennox and Sir Elton John. In April, staff from the Ed Sheeran Foundation were vocal at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Music Education. They used their research to reach out both to MPs and the music education community to highlight the challenges and encourage working together to improve music education as a whole.
Following the announcement of the review findings, Sheeran said that the curriculum reforms "give young people hope and the opportunity to study music.”
He continued:
"Without the encouragement I received in school, especially from my music teacher, I wouldn't be a musician today.
"My music education went beyond learning and playing. It helped me find confidence in myself, and music itself was - and still is - so important for my mental health."
He added that there was still "a lot more to do to support music education, especially our music teachers".
The ISM have been fighting the EBacc for 15 years. Their Chief Executive Deborah Annetts said:
“The EBacc has done immeasurable damage to music and creative subjects, and that’s why the ISM has been determinedly campaigning against it since it was introduced back in 2010. For the government to now acknowledge the damage the EBacc has done to creative subjects and scrap it is truly a historic moment and one that should give us hope for the future of education.”
Music Mark’s CEO, Bridget Whyte, said of the review findings:
“This is a significant moment for education in England, and for music within it. But is it only the start of the process and over the coming months and years Music Mark looks forward to connecting government with the music education sector through its membership and in partnership with the other Subject Associations, to develop the right conditions to deliver the aspirations this review and government response have.”
The review’s findings for the Music Curriculum
The review identifies the need for access to music in early childhood years – an area that has been well researched (as outlined in our article by Dr Dawn Rose).
Youth Music highlights the benefits of greater collaboration between the music industry and music education. It calls on music education and music industry organisations to:
“not to reinvent the wheel with new, short-term initiatives which can often be more about organisational profile than the impact it makes for young people. Instead, think strategically, work with and for young people, reimagine the music curriculum in schools and be ambitious. We should view music as an imperative in children and young people’s education, breaking the taboo around what has culturally been deemed a ‘soft subject’. Music industry organisations, particularly the major labels, are in a financial position to make change.”
Two vital areas for the success of this review are, of course, funding and the workforce.
Funding is always a challenging topic in the Arts, particularly in Arts Education, but the review does identify some additional funding to be distributed by the Department for Education and Department for Culture, Media and Sport through Arts Council England. To enable this funding to make a real difference, collaborative working will be key, and there will be an important role for Music Hubs and Local Cultural Education Partnerships in supporting networks.
For the workforce, one main challenge is the lack of music teachers and people training to become music teachers. Youth Music also highlight the need for a more diverse cohort of music teachers.
At MWC, we welcome the review and support its findings that Arts subjects need additional financial support, recruitment of and support for specialist teaching staff, and changes to the EBacc. We look forward to seeing how the changes translate into reality on the ground, and will be ready to support schools seeking to expand their students’ access to music education.
Further Reading
Share this post: