The final report and recommendations of the Curriculum and Assessment Review have been published. The announcement that the English Baccalaureate is to be scrapped has been widely welcomed by those working within arts education.
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) was introduced in 2010 as a performance measure for schools in England. It was a new accountability measure that tracked how many students achieved a certain level in a core set of ‘academic’ subjects at GCSE level. The impact on the take up of arts subjects at GCSE has dropped drastically with arts subject associations calling for the abolition of this harmful and divisive measure. NSEAD have been leading the call to end the Ebacc for 15 years, gathering evidence and analysis to successive Secretaries of State.
NSEAD General Secretary Michele Gregson said
‘The Ebacc created a hierarchy of subjects in our schools, with the arts being marked as low status. The consequence has been a reduction in curriculum time, fewer pupils opting for arts at Key Stage 4, teachers losing their jobs, and a whole generation denied real choice. Finally, our politicians have woken up to the damage done by this divisive measure, and have taken action. It has taken 15 years of vocal, well evidenced and creative campaigning to get here. Well done everyone who has raised their voice and united to end the Ebacc.’
NSEAD will be responding to the full report and the recommendations made by the Curriculum and Assessment Review panel and the implications for art and design education.
Some key moments on this very long road:
NSEAD have been campaigning alongside friends, partners and allies, to end the Ebacc since its introduction in 2010.
- In July 2011 NSEAD Patron and Ebacc activist Bob and Roberta Smith created his artwork A letter to Michael Gove, decrying the minister's education policies, which the artist sees as an attack, not just on art and design education, but on creativity itself.
- In September, 2012 subject associations including NSEAD came together in The 'Bacc for the Future' campaign launched by the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), where we reported on the impact on our subject.
- December 2012: NSEAD and Sharon Hodgson MP established the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for art, craft and design in education, was established, reporting on the impact of Government policy on our subject.
- In November 2013 the Ebacc was the focus of Bob and Roberta Smith’s The Art Party Conference, held in Scarborough, this was a riotous assembly of artists, performers and educators, making the point: art matters. NSEAD’s Lesley Butterworth gave a rousing speech, highlighting the dangers of creating a hierarchy of subjects in our schools.
- December 2013: Sharon Hodgson MP and NSEAD established the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for art, craft and design in education, was established, reporting on the impact of Government policy on our subject.
- Autumn 2013 our member magazine AD featured NSEAD Patron and Ebacc activist Bob and Roberta Smith, and a scathing take down of the Government’s arts strategy - ‘Diminish the role of art and design in the economy by making art and design a second-class subject in schools’.
- In 2016 our survey (shared with the then Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb) revealed the reduction in GCSE entries, teaching hours, and specialist teachers.
- In February 2023 the arts subject associations came together again, with NSEAD and One DanceUk working alongside ISM and the Edge Foundation, to renew our calls for reform. The APPG for Music Education heard evidence of the perilous state of arts education in English schools.
- In June 2023 The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Art, craft and Design in Education published the Art Now inquiry report, which highlighted the decline in the time for art and design education and the impact on teacher morale.
- In the summer of 2024, ahead of a General Election, universities and organisations representing arts education, came together for an historic Compact agreement in Birmingham, pledging our commitment to eradicate the EBacc and to champion arts education, captured in the Creative Arts Manifesto.
- And in February 11, 2025, the Arts and Minds campaign was launched with an event at Tate Modern. The campaign, led by the National Education Union (NEU) and a coalition of over 20 organisations, including NSEAD aims to secure a broad and balanced arts curriculum in schools, with the abolition of the Ebacc a key campaign aim.