Arts and cultural education for children and young people in England

Arts education encompasses the teaching and learning of subjects including art and design, music, drama, dance, media arts, and related creative disciplines. It forms a significant part of the UK’s education and cultural landscape, taking place across primary, secondary, further, and higher education settings, as well as locations such as extracurricular settings for young people or lifelong learning courses for adults.

Arts education for children and young people is largely a devolved matter, with the administrations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland offering varied provision via their respective national curriculums, through extracurricular structures (such as music education hubs) and through targeted programmes.

This briefing focuses on arts education which is funded by the UK Government for children and young people in England. It also gives an overview of education provided by the devolved administrations.

Arts education in the school curriculum

State-funded maintained schools in England must currently follow the national curriculum. Subject requirements differ by age and stage. An outline of what the national curriculum includes can be found on the Department for Education website.

Academies and free schools do not currently have to follow the national curriculum, but many do in full or in part. Provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 will mean that in future, academies and free schools will also have to follow the national curriculum.

Independent fee-paying schools do not have to follow the national curriculum.

In 2025, an independent review recommended changes to the national curriculum, including to arts subjects. The changes are due to be phased in over several years.

Core government arts programmes

The majority of flagship arts education programmes are funded either by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport or the Department for Education, and managed by Arts Council England.

They offer a range of activities, from providing financial support and targeted training for skilled young people to offering children the opportunity to discover local history.

Evaluations have found they can often help young people access education they would not otherwise have been able to receive without the programme.

Recent changes and future prospects

In recent years, there have been a number of changes to the government-supported arts education landscape in England. This briefing outlines some of the headline shifts in relation to arts education for children and young people, such as the defunding of the National Youth Music Organisations and the confirmed removal of the English Baccalaureate. It also considers future directions for arts education under the 2024 Labour government.