The Edge Foundation, ISM, together with NSEAD and other many other subject associations, in 2023 launched the campaign to save the arts and technology curriculum.
In 2022, the Edge foundation teamed up with the Independent Society of Musicians and Parentkind to survey parents on what skills they thought were important to teach young people to prepare them for the world of work. Supported by NSEAD the #SaveOurSubjects campaign aims to fight and to protect the arts and technology curriculum.
Arts and technology subjects are in serious decline in English secondary schools.
School accountability measures have devalued arts and technology subjects in our secondary schools - the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) excludes all arts subjects and Progress 8 heavily weights league tables towards EBacc subjects.
Arts and technology subjects are disappearing at a frightening rate, with a 40% fall in GCSE arts entries since 2010, and specialist teachers are in decline too. For a truly broad and balanced curriculum that supports the talent pipeline and teaches young people skills for the 21st-century workplace, we must #SaveOurSubjects.
Government must:
- Review the impact of accountability measures (the EBacc and Progress 8) on arts and technology subjects
- Reform the Progress 8 accountability measure, giving pupils more freedom of choice at GCSE
- Commit to the Arts Premium which was promised in the Conservatives’ 2019 general election manifesto
We urge you to join NSEAD, ISM, Edge and others in the campaign to help #SaveOurSubjects.
How to get involved:
In 2023 we sent an open letter to Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education. We asked for the government to:
- Review the impact of accountability measures (the EBacc and Progress 8) on arts and technology subjects
- Reform the Progress 8 accountability measure, giving pupils more freedom of choice at GCSE
- Deliver the Arts Premium promised in the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto
Find out more about #SaveOurSubjects and our campaign here.