The state of Music Education in the UK

When I was at university I based my dissertation on music in primary schools and the role of the Music Coordinator in primary education.  Little did I know that 5 years later the subject will still be largely discussed during that time.

The recent programme featuring the concert pianist, Jason Rhodes has got me thinking about revisitng my dissertation to consider what has changed, what has stayed the same and if whether of my concerns or thoughts have featured in any discussions that have been had regarding music education.

Since it was written we have seen funding cuts, the emergence of music hubs, the National Music Plan recommendations and we are now seeing the emergence on the new National Curriculum.  My dissertation was written based on the old National Curriculum which makes this revisit very interesting as the new National curriculum (as mentioned before) is very vague in terms of delivery.  Also the removal of levels at each key stage can show how some parts of music education have changed to allow creativity. However , it will also look at how budget cuts has meant that many schools have seen their budgets decimated and the focus on literacy and numeracy to be increased meaning any creative subjects are simply pushed to one side being seen as unimportant or too costly.

The hope is that once this revision is done it will not only show that as mentioned previously it is important to have music coordinators/specialists in school if not only to satisfy the national curriculum to a good standard but also to give pupils a rounded education but also that despite efforts to improve music education with the introduction of the National Music Plan, there are still many schools who see it as a luxury