To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the value to state school pupils of school visits to theatres, museums and galleries, and of the value of a creative education for all pupils.
My Lords, a creative education and enriching experience must be for all, not just the preserve of the privileged few. Drama and theatre studies students at GCSE and A-level are entitled to experience live theatre, and schools can and do decide which other visits to offer to other students. But it is also important that students can benefit during curriculum and lesson time. That is why the independent curriculum and assessment review will seek to deliver a broader curriculum and consider how best to support a young person to develop the knowledge and skills needed to thrive.
My Lords, there is evidence that the experience of attending live theatre helps children to learn, while structured arts activities at school increase cognitive skills across all subject areas. Companies like the Royal Ballet and Opera and the RSC are doing amazing work in opening their doors to schools, but the Sutton Trust still reports that state school trips were cut by 68% in the most disadvantaged schools in 2023. Further, since the introduction of EBacc and Progress 8 there has been a systematic downgrading of arts subjects and experiences in state schools. Can my noble friend the Minister tell me if it is a priority for the Government to start to reverse these trends and to ensure access to a creative education and arts experiences for all state school pupils in order to help build their confidence and skills?
My noble friend rightly identifies that there has been a decline in student entries into, for example, the arts and creative GCSEs, a reduction in the number of staff available to teach them, and a fall-off in the ability of schools to support students with visits and the type of experiences that she rightly outlines. That is why it is so important for this Government that we ensure that creative subjects such as art, music and drama are important elements of the education that every child deserves, and that we do better in ensuring that culture is an essential part of supporting children and young people.
My Lords, I declare my interest as a trustee of Tate. May I say to the Minister how reassuring it is to see an Education Minister addressing this Question? To make arts education as effective as possible, close working between the Department for Education and DCMS is essential. I am afraid that money involved. For example, visiting a theatre or museum costs schools money and many of these museums have to find money from their own budgets as well. Will the Minister meet with her counterpart in DCMS and look at a strategy in the round to engage our schoolchildren in meaningful visits to theatres and museums, with some financial support to help that?
The noble Lord is absolutely right. It is important for those of us in the Department for Education to work across government with DCMS colleagues in this area, and I assure him that that is already happening. We are making sure that, as he will know, the £444 million being invested in arts by this Government and the Arts Council is used to the best potential. He will also know that 79% of the national portfolio supported by that money is already delivering activities specifically for children and young people. We need to ensure that schools and children are able to benefit from that.
I thank you for being allowed to speak. Will the Minister take on board that museums often tell you certain things about development, for example, and the importance of design and technology? Unless you can develop the mouse to work with the computer—something we can all use easily—it does not happen and does not become a mass tool. That information is best conveyed by showing it. Can the Minister make sure that this is an important part of the curriculum for those subjects?
The noble Lord makes an important point about the benefits to children’s learning of being able to see the development and design of ideas; I wholeheartedly agree with him. That will be an important part of our thinking on how we support existing initiatives, so that children can benefit, and so that, through the curriculum, those opportunities are not only available but supported, particularly for disadvantaged children, who have too often missed out.
Can we also include, while we are at it, young people in the custodial system? I am here only because I did art and creative things when I was in a juvenile detention centre. Unfortunately, a lot of those opportunities have disappeared in our custodial system for young people.
I have no doubt that a broad education, which also enables children and young people to engage in creative activities, is one of the things that protects against some of the circumstances the noble Lord identifies. As I have my noble friend Lord Timpson sitting alongside me on the Front Bench—