Report reveals 90% of secondary schools are cutting creative subjects

Nine out of 10 secondary schools in England are making cuts to their provision of creative subjects, according to a BBC survey.

More than 1,200 schools (40% of the total in the country) responded to the survey and 90% said they were cutting back on lesson time, staff or facilities in at least one creative arts subject, usually because of the increased emphasis on core academic subjects.

Four out of the 10 schools said they were spending less money on facilities, three out of 10 had reduced timetabled lessons and some had even cut the number of specialist staff. Music, art, drama and design and technology have all been affected and three in 10 schools said they may have to stop offering at least one creative GCSE.

One teacher said: “I've had to make some decisions about whether I can afford to run certain classes, and I know that there are schools that have cut GCSEs in art, music, drama, photography."

However, a Department for Education spokesperson told the BBC that between 2016 and 2020 the government will have spent £400m on arts and music education. "Since 2011, the proportion of pupils in state funded schools taking at least one arts subject has increased."

The spokesperson added that in council schools music is a compulsory subject up to Year 9 while "academies are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, which Ofsted consider in their inspections".