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Since 2012, the Department for Education and the Arts Council have worked together on a range of music and cultural education programmes. 

This announcement [supports] the Arts Council’s ambition of ensuring high quality cultural education exists for a broad and diverse range of young people.

Today, the Department for Education has announced continued funding for 2018-2020 music and cultural education programmes, this includes:

Museums and Schools will receive £2.4 million from DfE to provide quality engagement opportunities for school pupils in their local museum. In academic year 2016/17, 74,737 pupils benefitted from the programme.

Bridge Organisations will receive £1.23 million from DfE to connect children, young people, schools and communities with arts and cultural experiences and, in particular, increase the participation of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.   This is in addition to funding from the Arts Council as part of our 2018-22 National Portfolio. In financial year 2016-17, Bridge organisations reported supporting 1,520 schools with cultural education and training 570 teachers as Arts Award Advisors.

National Youth Dance Company will receive £400,000 from DfE to provide 30 new talented 16–19-year-old performers with intensive training and performance opportunities led by world-leading choreographers. This is in addition to £500,000 from the Arts Council England. In 2016-17, there were 40 dancers in the company.

National Art & Design Saturday Clubs will receive £260,000 from DfE to provide the opportunity to study art and design every Saturday morning at a local college or university, for free. This is in addition to £700,000 from the Arts Council England. In 2016-17, there were 1,112 club members at 53 locations.

DfE will spend £1 million on In Harmony to inspire and transform the lives of children in deprived communities, using the power and disciplines of ensemble music-making. This is in addition to £900,000 from the Arts Council England. Over 6,700 pupils in 42 schools were engaged in the programme in 2016-17.

Richard Russell, Chief Operating Officer, Arts Council England:

“We welcome this announcement of additional funding from the Department for Education, giving more pupils the opportunity to engage in cultural activities in and out of school and supporting the Arts Council’s ambition of ensuring high quality cultural education exists for a broad and diverse range of young people.

Projects such as National Youth Dance Company, National Art and Design Saturday Clubs, and Museums and Schools Programme create fantastic opportunities for children from a diverse range of backgrounds to participate in a range of different activities, and allow them to discover and develop their talents.”

This funding is in addition to confirmed funding for 2018-20 for:

Music Education Hubs will receive £150 million to support pupils to explore music and give them the opportunity to excel, regardless of their background. There are 120 Music Education Hubs around the country which helped over 660,000 young people to play a musical instrument in 2015/16.

National Youth Music Orchestras (NYMOs) will receive £838,820 to provide progression routes and pathways for talented young musicians to develop across a range of musical genres. This is in addition to funding from the Arts Council as part of our 2018-22 National Portfolio.  In 2016/17, 61,557 children and young people regularly participated with one of the 7 NYMOs. In addition, Music for Youth (one of the NYMOs) will receive £210,000 from DfE to provide high quality inspirational music experiences to young people across England through performance opportunities, participatory workshops and musical collaborations.