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The National Curriculum in England only unlocks every decade or so. We are currently in the midst of an ‘unlocking’ – the curriculum is being re-drafted for every subject and there is to be a significant shift in direction.
The EBacc school performance measure is gone and there are important and welcome new principles which will determine what the new curriculum will look like. We hope these will ensure an improved outlook for arts subjects. They include a commitment to arts subjects as an entitlement for all; more teacher autonomy; and the inclusion of stronger representation of the diversity that makes up our modern society to enable more children to see themselves in the curriculum.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review published in November 2025 called for the government to maintain an evidence-led approach in developing and delivering this new curriculum. It also called for the government to embrace a variety of evidence, including robust longitudinal data and research.
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) – the only performing arts organisation with Independent Research Organisation status – and the Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) have long maintained that foregrounding data and evidence is vital in providing a comprehensive picture of barriers and progress in expressive arts teaching in schools in England – as well as for building our understanding of the personal and societal value of studying arts subjects.
Snapshot of the arts education landscape
Now CLA’s latest annual Report Card, and a brand-new set of Rapid Evidence Reviews co-commissioned by the CLA and the RSC, offer even greater insight into the impact of the arts on young people and the status of the arts in schools.
Since 2024, the annual CLA Report Card has provided a crucial snapshot of the arts education landscape, enabling us to see the consequences of previous governments prioritising non-arts subjects through school performance measures.
Last week we published the results of a series of Rapid Evidence Reviews in Dance, Music and Drama in education. An existing Rapid Evidence Review of Art, Craft and Design (published in 2022) will be updated during 2026 but in the meantime has been incorporated into an overarching analysis of the new reviews.
A Rapid Evidence Review, or RER, is a research method designed to gather, analyse and summarise existing research on a given topic. These RERs have been developed through collaboration between the CLA and the RSC in its capacity as an Independent Research Organisation, with the support of the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership.
The four reviews collectively provide a substantial new evidence base of 1,176 studies: 463 for Art, Craft and Design; 71 for Dance; 351 for Drama; and 291 for Music. They span different methodologies, contexts, age groups and geographical locations, though primarily focused on English-language research from the US and UK.
We have never before had such a comprehensive synthesis of available research into the impact of expressive arts subjects. What the reviews reveal is that each discipline is a powerful support for the social and emotional development of children and young people.
The four expressive artforms develop social learning and build connections through the collaboration inherent in music-making, dance, art-making and drama. They act as languages that transcend cultural and linguistic differences, breaking down social barriers and creating inclusive environments where young people from diverse backgrounds find common ground and mutual understanding.
Each discipline offers distinct knowledge and skills, but the research reviews consistently demonstrate that the benefits of Art, Craft and Design, Dance, Drama and Music education extend far beyond the development of artistic practices.
Significant benefits
Agency and personal development emerged as the most significant benefits across all four reviews. The four artforms offer distinctive yet complementary pathways for empowerment and active citizenship. They each deliver substantial cognitive benefits that are relatively consistent across artforms. Identity formation benefits from the approaches offered through the pedagogies of the different artforms, and health and wellbeing benefits span both physical and mental dimensions across all four disciplines.
All offer alternative pathways to success and engagement for children who may not benefit from other academic subjects. The reviews also all support the CLA Arts Education Capabilities Framework, which provides a shared language and understanding of the seven benefits that expressive arts subjects and experiences bring to children and young people, enabling them to achieve and to thrive: agency; wellbeing; collaboration; communication; empathy; creativity and interpretation.
We hope both the RERs and the Capabilities Framework provide the arts, cultural and education sectors with a shared language we can all use about the impact of expressive arts subjects and experiences on children of all ages. The more we can speak consistently and with evidence-supported confidence about why these subjects and experiences matter, the more likely they become an embedded part of every child’s school experience.
As well as providing a shared language of impact, the RERs have identified significant gaps in existing research and outlined a future research agenda. We are mindful that, although we have a new government ambition to revitalise arts education, the long tail of EBacc damage to arts subjects is continuing to impact subject choices. Our Report Card data will be informed by the arts-limiting policies and measures of previous governments for some time, even if the reformed Progress 8 measure is set to remove some disincentives for studying arts subjects.
Commissioned survey data
In recognition of this context of change, the CLA Report Card this year expands the areas covered to offer a more comprehensive understanding of barriers and progress in expressive arts teaching in schools in England. For the first time we have commissioned survey data to present a snapshot of expressive arts teaching in primary schools.
Our new Teacher Tapp survey of 2,900 primary teachers – commissioned in the absence of government data collection for the arts in primary schools – indicates significant differences in the hours given to arts subjects for state and independent primary schools; a decline in the hours of arts teaching, which is higher for schools with more pupils accessing free school meals; a scarcity of Drama and Dance subject leads; and a worrying number of state schools (43%) with no external cultural partnerships.
We first revealed evidence of the association between disadvantage and being less likely to pursue arts subjects and experiences from the age of 14 in our 2025 Report Card, when we termed it the ‘arts entitlement gap’. We can now see how this gap starts in primary and has been travelling upwards as children progress through the system. Entrenched socio-economic factors remain significant determinants in arts subject take-up at 14, 16 and 18.
The latest government data continues to indicate that where a child grows up and their socio-economic status impact whether they will access/pursue arts qualifications; the type of qualifications they will select; and sometimes which arts subject they choose.
The regions with the highest percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals – the West Midlands and the North East – have the lowest proportion of arts GCSE entries. Schools in the most deprived fifth of local authorities are more likely to have no entries in some arts subjects at GCSE: 54% of schools in the most deprived fifth of local authorities have no GCSE Music entries, compared to 21% of schools in the least deprived fifth of local authorities. This disparity is similarly stark for Dance, Drama and Design & Technology.
Data on arts subject take-up in relation to entrant characteristics such as ethnicity and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is also new for our 2026 edition. Pupils with SEND are under-represented in most arts subjects at GCSE, but not in Art & Design or Drama. SEND participation for vocational entries, such as BTECs, at age 16 is more consistently positive. Pupils eligible for free school meals are under-represented in all arts GCSE subjects and over-represented in every arts subject Level 2 vocational qualification. Black and Asian students are under-represented in every arts A Level. We need to do more work to fully analyse these trends.
Continuing barriers
All this new evidence enriches our understanding of what has been happening to arts education in schools between 2023/24 and 2024/25, and over time since the EBacc was first introduced in 2010. There continue to be barriers to arts opportunities and experiences at every turn for children and young people in the state sector in England.
This year the numbers provide a slightly more positive picture in some cases and a less encouraging picture in others. We continue to tell the overall story across all expressive arts subjects, but some data sets are moving in different directions. For example, at GCSE there are two instances of positive increases in arts take-up (one of these is Dance where numbers are very small in the first place; the other is Music), but then there are falls across the board in arts vocational qualifications entries at age 16. The situation is more uniformly challenging at A Level with a 9.8% decline – although the fall is made larger by a particularly high drop in Media/Film/TV Studies. The fall in arts take-up at A Level is significantly higher over time since 2010 at 25%.
Our first Report Card in 2024 revealed that the number of young people taking arts GCSEs had fallen by 42% since 2010; this figure now stands at 41.7%. The outlook for some subjects is more challenging than for others. Dance and Drama GCSE entries have fallen by 55% since 2014 and 41% since 2010 respectively. Art & Design remains the subject least affected by the receding tide, although healthy take-up is likely driven by schools switching from more costly Design & Technology courses for which GCSE take-up has shockingly declined by 71% since 2010. We have taken the decision this year to present the full analysis for each subject as well as the broader overview across all arts subjects.
The picture for teacher recruitment and retention is more positive this year. Last year we reported on a significant decline in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment for arts subjects. Data for 2026 shows that applicant numbers are now increasing, except for Drama – although this is offset by the recent scrapping of the Art & Design and Music teaching bursaries (worth £10,000 but only briefly available), and by declines over time since 2010 in ITT applicants, particularly for Music and Design & Technology.
Our new data on teacher qualification levels is particularly interesting at a time when the government might want to consider the role of artists as part of the arts teaching workforce. This raises questions about providing the education understanding and skills needed for artists to enable inclusive, high-quality learning. We are seeing a decline in the number of students pursuing Creative & Design apprenticeships and the Report Card data continues to have implications for the diversity of our creative industries.
Significant gaps remain
We now have more data and evidence on arts education than ever before, yet significant gaps remain. For instance, beyond entry figures for qualifications at age 16 and 18, and our own 2026 primary survey, there is little insight into the extent of children’s access to expressive arts subjects and experiences at primary level, and in the first three years of secondary education.
Education reform will take time to deliver; new GCSEs won’t come on stream for teaching until 2029. Meanwhile the education and cultural sectors can use this data and evidence to support programme development and planning, evaluation and case-making.
Our most pressing concern should always be those children and young people whose circumstances make it more challenging for them to access the arts. The ‘arts entitlement gap’ revealed by our Report Card remains stark and the arts Rapid Evidence Reviews reveal why closing it must continue to be our shared priority.
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