Today, the Department for Education published The Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) Final Report, alongside a formal response to the recommendations made by Professor Becky Francis and the CAR Panel. The Royal Ballet and Opera welcomes the Government’s commitment to creating a world-leading curriculum with the arts at its heart.

Steps to increase the prominence of the arts in the curriculum are long overdue. Reforms include the removal of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), a performance measure for schools that tracks students’ attainment in a limited set of GCSE subjects: English language, English literature, mathematics, sciences, history or geography, and a modern foreign language. Also being reformed is the Progress 8 accountability measure, which assesses how much progress students make across eight subjects between the end of primary school (Key Stage 2) and the end of Year 11. Alongside further measures to enable equal access to the arts, removing these barriers has the potential to transform the life experiences of a generation of young people. In particular, for those who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to engage with music, dance, or design.

The Government has clearly demonstrated that the arts must be an entitlement within the national curriculum for every pupil, not an optional extra. This commitment can be seen with the intention to refresh and strengthen programmes of study for music, dance and design, while providing support for teachers and school leaders to embrace creative subjects.

Looking ahead, the Royal Ballet and Opera stands ready to work with teachers, school leaders, Music Hubs, and the National Centre for Music and Arts Education to support the implementation of a new, arts-rich curriculum. Ensuring teachers have the tools, experience and confidence to deliver high-quality music, dance, and design education is key.