The Labour party has unveiled a comprehensive set of policies aimed at revitalizing creative education in schools. The policies strongly emphasize prioritizing subjects like music, art, design, and drama.
In a speech at the Labour Creatives event, Sir Keir Starmer underscored the significance of ensuring access to creative subjects and pledged that a Labour government would prioritize creativity within the curriculum.
Central to these proposals is the commitment to reform the Progress 8 secondary accountability measure, as announced by Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, earlier in the week.
Progress 8, which heavily favors the English Baccalaureate without including any arts subjects, will be restructured to incorporate a creative or vocational subject.
Starmer criticized existing accountability measures, attributing them to a “creativity crisis” in schools and vowed to rectify this by ensuring that arts education is duly recognized and valued.
The speech outlined a range of additional initiatives, including a comprehensive curriculum review aimed at embedding creativity and oracy into all aspects of learning.
A Growth and Skills Levy will be implemented to facilitate the training of young creatives, complemented by the establishment of a new national entity, Skills England, to provide opportunities for young individuals from diverse backgrounds and regions.
Technical Excellence Colleges will be established to align training programs with the evolving needs of the creative industries. The Labour Party’s proposals extend to supporting workers within the creative sectors, enhancing workers’ rights, addressing issues of late payments, and eliminating unpaid internships.
Accessibility to arts and culture is also a priority, with commitments to cap resale prices of tickets and to expand arts and cultural activities across the country.
In response to the announcement, Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of ISM, lauded the initiative, emphasizing its potential to enhance access to arts education in schools significantly.
In collaboration with partners across the arts education sector, the ISM had previously launched the Save Our Subjects campaign in 2023, advocating for a review of accountability measures and reforms to Progress 8.
Labour’s proposals represent a comprehensive and ambitious agenda to reinvigorate creative education in schools and foster more excellent opportunities and inclusivity within the arts and cultural sectors.
