Arts education for culture, health and the wealth of the nation

Here we share the data and reasons why creative arts degrees should be better represented and why their wider value should be reported. 

We immediately wrote responded and have also written a formal complaint. We said: 

Are we becoming a society that measures everything on earnings and nothing on our contribution to health and wellbeing; to culture and to the creative industries that are still the jewel in the UK's crown? And are we expecting the impossible and asking for all young people to become high earners; is this the only measure of a healthy and just society? 

Or should we measure how learning pathways contribute to empathy and understanding, to building experiences, spaces and places that people want to participate in or live in? Rather than describing creative arts courses as dead end, please consider measuring and sharing their ‘real’ value and worth.

This is why:

Creative Arts courses are the pipeline into our thriving creative industries

• The UK creative industries contributed around £124 billion in gross value added (GVA) in 2023 – equivalent to about 5% of the entire UK economy. Around 2.4 million jobs in the UK are in creative industries — about 7 % of all jobs, and rising. (Creative Industries, House of Lords, 6 February)
• Recent research using ESS 2022 data shows that 65% of hard-to-fill vacancies in the creative industries are due to skills shortages, compared to 41% across all sectors (Carey et al, 2025) (Written evidence by Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre)
• Productivity (GVA per job) in arts and culture is about 30% higher than the UK average, and creative industries benefit neighbouring businesses and local economies.

Creative Arts Contribute to Health and Wellbeing

Breathe Arts Health Research found measurable health benefits from cultural engagement.

Arts participation linked with better health behaviour; 'Society-wide benefits range from £18.5 million per year (arts-based museum activities and general health for older people) to £8 billion per year (general engagement and general health in adults).'

The arts are not nice to haves– the creative arts are preventive health tools with measurable benefits.

 

Arts and creative learning support Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and in turn our civic responsibility

Creative arts education is not just about future earnings – it shapes citizens, contributors, and compassionate humans.

Studies show that involvement in creative art fosters: greater empathy and compassion for others, improved emotional intelligence, boosted self-awareness and confidence. Analysis of the national Taking Part dataset undertaken by Kantar Public, in relation to the ‘Big Society’ policy agenda, found people who have given to cultural and sporting sectors are also significantly more likely than the general population to believe that they have some degree of influence over their local cultural facilities.

'Value' here is measured in lives improved, wellbeing enhanced and communities strengthened, not just salaries.

 

Student loans, creative arts and bursaries

As reported in TES, 20 February, Michele Gregson, CEO and general secretary of NSEAD said: 

'Anyone leaving university and thinking about their career options has every reason to be concerned in 2026. The burden of student loan repayments is becoming a national scandal. Usurious repayment terms hit those who start off with the least the hardest. And that is especially true for those who have taken a creative arts pathway. We know that money isn't everything – there are so many other reasons why people opt for a creative career – but the truth is, young people are having to make hard choices. Graduate earnings in the arts mature later, and the reality for many is a constant hustle, trying to get by as a freelancer or sole trader.'

Working in education is an attractive choice. Or it should be.

For those wishing to train to teach art and design, the inequality continues. Since training bursaries were first introduced in the late 80s, art and design teachers have only had access to a bursary three times. After years of hard campaigning by NSEAD a bursary at the lowest level was first offered in 2020. Then it was taken away. Then re-instated. Then taken away again this year. The impact on morale is enormous – this sends a clear message to would be and practising teachers: the arts don't count. 

We know that most art and design teachers starting out today, will not be able to pay off their loans for their BEds or BAs or for their bursaries required to become a teacher. Only those that have the means to support themselves need apply. 

The impact on morale is enormous – this sends a clear message to would be and practising teachers: the arts don't count. And, only those that have the means to support themselves need apply.'

 

Our letter, copied below, asks that the real and positive value of creative arts education is given the airtime and the right to reply that it deserves.  economically yes, but also we call for the BBC to share and measure arts subjects for their ‘real’ value and worth – for culture, health and the wealth of the nation.

Dear BBC Complaints,

Re: Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg (22 February) – Interview with Laura Trott MP

We are writing regarding the 22 February edition of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, in which Laura Trott MP, Shadow Education Secretary, described creative arts degrees as ‘dead end’. Her comments, framed primarily around student loans and repayment, presented a reductive view of creative education and failed to acknowledge the broader personal, cultural and economic contributions of arts education.

This framing is not new; previous governments have similarly measured the value of higher education predominantly through graduate earnings. However, such a narrow metric overlooks the substantial and well-documented benefits of creative education. We therefore ask that the BBC ensures arts education is give fair and balanced representation – representation that reflects its full value.

We write as past Presidents of the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD). Year after year, evidence demonstrates that arts and creative education contribute significantly to health and wellbeing, to cultural life, and to the UK’s internationally respected creative industries – industries that remain one of the nation’s jewels in the crown and economic strengths. It was not lost on us that this interview was conducted on a professionally designed set, with production, filming, styling and visual presentation created by many graduates of art and design degrees.

Beyond these wider societal contributions, the creative industries generate substantial revenue and employment across the UK. During the interview, Laura Trott suggested that all young people should become high earners. Yet many teachers, including our art and design teacher members, will not be able to repay student and PGCE loans over the course of their career. This reality deserved to be challenged.

We were concerned that neither the interview nor the subsequent panel discussion questioned or interrogated the rhetoric of creative arts degrees as ‘dead end’. No contributor was invited to respond directly to this claim. As a result, creative arts education was publicly diminished and without counterbalance.

Since the broadcast, many of our members – art educators who are taxpayers, professionals, and graduates themselves – have contacted NSEAD expressing dismay at the portrayal of their subject and profession.

We therefore call on the BBC, in line with its public service remit, to ensure that creative arts education is fairly represented and appropriately contextualised in future discussions. Creative arts education is not dead end and does not lead to ‘dead end’ careers. It produces skilled professionals who contribute meaningfully to culture, wellbeing, innovation and the economic prosperity of the nation.

Yours sincerely,
Michele Gregson

General Secretary and CEO, National Society for Education in Art and Design

 

Listen to the programme here and the interview with Laura Trott (25.23)