#SAVEOURSUBJECTS:
By Nansi Ellis
F E B 2 0 2 3
Why it’s time to reform Progress 8
Sir James Dyson told the Times Education Commission in January 2022: ‘Children are creative, they love building and making things but as they get closer to GCSEs and A-levels all that is squashed out of them. It’s all about rote learning, not using your imagination.’[1]
This is the perhaps inevitable result of education policies over the past twelve years that have focused on a ‘knowledge-rich curriculum’, which prioritises the recall of facts over the acquisition of skills and competencies. In addition, the introduction of two secondary accountability measures, the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and Progress 8, has encouraged schools to focus on ‘core’ academic subjects at the expense of subjects such as music, drama, art, dance, and design and technology This narrowing of the curriculum has had a dramatic impact on arts and technology subjects at secondary school level:
GCSE entries in arts and technical subjects are falling - The number of young people studying arts and technical subjects at secondary school continues to fall. Between 2010 and 2022, there was a fall of 40% in GCSE arts entries.[2] Design and technology
GCSE had 71% fewer entries in 2022 than 2010, while music saw a fall of 27%
There are fewer teachers teaching creative subjects - There has been a 23% drop between 2010 and 2021 of teachers teaching arts, and a 49% drop in design and technology teachers.[3]
A skew towards academic subjects - According to the workforce census for 2021, three in five teaching hours in secondary schools were for EBacc subjects, leaving two in five for arts, PE, RE or relevant vocational subjects. As a result, recent surveys have found that less than half of secondary school teachers think the curriculum is ‘broad and balanced’, with 82% highlighting that the accountability system is overly concerned with academic achievement [4]
Low funding - According to Labour, specific funding for music, arts and cultural programmes equated to just £9.40 per pupil in 2021.[5]
The Institute for Fiscal Studies[6] reported a 9% drop in funding per student between 2010 and 2020, forcing state schools to prioritise funds towards the delivery of EBacc subjects in order to comply with performance metrics.
W h a t ' s t h e p r o b l e m ?
WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS?
All students benefit from studying arts and technical subjects, which help to develop self-confidence, communication skills and improved cognition. Learning these subjects goes beyond creating successful students; it creates more successful human beings [7] Those particularly impacted include:
Pupils in state schools - Over the last 20 years we have seen a steady decline in the provision of arts and cultural education in the English state school system In the private (fee paying) system, however, we have seen the reverse, with an increase in investment, provision and value ascribed to arts and cultural education This two-tier system has led to increased inequalities in terms of access to, and the value of, a broad educational experience.[8]
Disadvantaged pupils - While the drop in arts subjects in state schools affects all pupils, it affects disadvantaged pupils more Young people in the wealthiest decile are three times more likely to sing in a choir or play in a band or orchestra weekly. Meanwhile just over 50% of young people in the wealthiest decile play a musical instrument, compared to under a third of those in the most deprived [9]
Black, Asian and ethnically diverse pupils - These pupils face significant obstacles to studying art at every stage of their educational journey, not least because of a striking lack of representation in the curriculum and in art educators. This has a ripple effect on the lack of representation throughout the arts sector: from entry level, technical, curatorial, to leadership, at which point only 2% of managers in visual arts organisations identify as BAME [10]
The arts create rounded learners - In developing its assessment of creative thinking, PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) has pointed out that this helps students ‘look at things from different perspectives, understand the limits of their and others’ views, and help transform their ideas into innovative solutions.’[12]
The arts play a major role in the UK economy - In 2019 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) estimated that the creative industries contributed £115.9 billion to the UK, accounting for 5.9% of the UK economy.[13] Since 2011, the gross added value of creative industries has been growing faster than the UK economy In 2019 there were over 2 1 million people employed in the creative industries sector, which was an increase of 3% from 2018
The arts have a positive impact on health, wellbeing and social cohesion - The Arts Council England is clear that the arts and creativity impact positively on health and wellbeing, on society and education, as well as the economy, while Adam Behr from Newcastle University points to the role of Britain’s creative industries as a source of cultural value and diplomatic soft power while also supporting individual wellbeing and social cohesion.[14]
W H Y D O W E N E E D T H E A R T S ?
The film producer Barbara Broccoli told the Times Education Commission [11] that reducing time for the arts is
a problem for the economy, it’s a problem socially, it’s a problem for every aspect of our lives. I think the attitude has to change towards creativity. We need to embrace it. Everybody, whatever business you’re in, is looking for people to think outside the box…
Employers highlight the importance of arts and technical subjects - In 2019 the Confederation of British Industry reported that businesses have noticed a narrowing of the curriculum in recent years and stated that ‘we need to provide a curriculum that instead of narrowing horizons, broadens them, and fosters skills such as creativity, resilience, communication, and problemsolving ’[15]
Parents believe that creativity is vital to the economy and crucial for wellbeing - In a Universities UK survey of over 2,000 parents with children of 18 or under, nearly two thirds agreed that creative courses at university benefit the UK economy, while more than two thirds said that students gain vital creative skills at university that are essential to powering the UK’s creative industries.[16] Parents were clear that creative activities were crucial to boosting wellbeing during the pandemic, while making music in particular helps people to make meaning in their lives and to create social connection [17]
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO PROGRESS 8?
The initial decline in arts subjects corresponds to the introduction of the EBacc as an accountability measure in 2010, which focused secondary schools’ curriculum on five ‘core’ subjects at GCSE: English, maths, the sciences, a humanities subject and a language
Progress 8 has reinforced the negative impact of the EBacc on arts and technology subjects. Introduced in 2016, it was designed (in part) to measure how well pupils progress between the end of primary and GCSEs, rather than focusing on the numbers who achieve 5 A* to C at GCSE level In Progress 8, a score is assigned to each pupil based on whether their actual GCSE scores in their best eight subjects are higher or lower than those achieved by pupils who had similar attainment at the end of primary school.
Those eight subjects are divided into three ‘buckets’:
English and maths (double weighted)
1. 2. 3 This leaves at most three and often just two slots for non-EBacc subjects.
Three other EBacc subjects chosen from the sciences, geography, history or a language
Three ‘other’ subjects, including EBacc subjects (However, English can only be double-weighted in bucket 1 if both language and literature are taken, one of which must sit in bucket 3)
As the Progress 8 score is used to calculate school league tables, many schools have responded by focusing on EBacc subjects We can see this in the figures[18] for GCSE entries in EBacc subjects, which grew strongly from 70.4% in 2015 to 81.4% in 2019, coinciding with when Progress 8 became the headline accountability measure, and a corresponding decline in non-EBacc subjects
English Maths
Bucket 1
English and maths (both double weighted)
Bucket 2
Three EBacc qualifications (sciences, computer sciences, geography, history or languages)
Bucket 3
Three ‘other’ slots (any remaining EBacc qualifications, other approved academic, arts or vocational qualifications)
EBacc EBacc EBacc Other Other Other
Progress 8 subject buckets
Why is now the time to do something?
The ‘Bacc for the Future’ campaign was instrumental in pointing out how the EBacc narrows the curriculum. It called for the DfE to include arts and technical subjects in the EBacc and aimed to prevent a hierarchy of subjects While this campaign received widespread support, the government declined the opportunity to reform the EBacc However, now the combined negative impact of the EBacc and Progress 8 can be clearly seen, it is time for reform.
An appetite for change is growing in the education sector Organisations such as the House of Lords Youth Unemployment Committee, the Rethinking Assessment movement and the Times Education Commission have developed proposals for a different kind of assessment and qualifications system for pupils aged 14-18. Previous education secretaries David Blunkett and Kenneth Baker have spoken in favour of reform Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservative government has expressed an interest in a British Baccalaureate with a broader focus on skills and technical subjects, while the Labour Party is considering proposals for changes to assessments.
But it is clear that the school curriculum, assessment and qualifications system will not change substantially without a review and reform of the accountability system, of which both the EBacc and Progress 8 are a part.
What are we calling for?
We are asking 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
[1] https://www thetimes co uk/article/times-education-commission-how-wecan-reinvent-schools-for-the-digital-age-ltjcp75mf
[2] https://www culturallearningalliance org uk/arts-gcse-and-a-level-entries2022/
[3] https://www culturallearningalliance org uk/hours-of-arts-teaching-andnumber-of-arts-teachers-in-englands-secondary-schools-continue-stable-afteryears-of-decline-2/
[4] https://www thetimes co uk/article/times-education-commission-how-wecan-reinvent-schools-for-the-digital-age-ltjcp75mfn
[5] https://www theguardian com/education/2021/jul/15/creativity-crisis-loomsfor-english-schools-due-to-arts-cuts-says-labour
[6] https://ifs org uk/publications/2020-annual-report-education-spendingengland
[7] https://www dur ac uk/resources/creativitycommission/DurhamCommissionseco ndreport-21April.pdf
[8] Ashton, H and Ashton, D, 2022, https://www tandfonline com/doi/full/10 1080/10286632 2022 2058497
[9] https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Beyond-schoolenrichment-onward pdf
[10] Elisabeth Murdoch, the Freelands foundation https://www artsindustry co uk/news/2420-probe-into-race-inequality-in-artteaching-launched
[11] https://nuk-tnl-editorial-prodstaticassets s3 amazonaws com/2022/educationcommission/Times%20Education%20Commission%20final%20report.pdf
[12] https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/fostering-students-creativity-andcritical-thinking 62212c37-en#page4
[13] https://lordslibrary parliament uk/impact-of-government-policy-on-thecreativesector/#: :text=Economic%20output&text=In%202019%2C%20DCMS%20estim ated%20that,and%202019%20in%20real%20terms
[14] https://www britishcouncil org/research-policy-insight/insight-articles/softpower-creative
[15] CBI, 2019, pp 32-33 https://www cbi org uk/media/2960/cbi workreadiness.pdf
[16] https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/creating-voice-ourmembers/media-releases/parents-back-university-creative-courses
[17] https://www ox ac uk/news/2020-03-27-covid-19-bears-out-researchmusic-brings-people-together
R E F E R E N C E S
[18] https://www nfer ac uk/news-events/nfer-blogs/gcse-entries-how-are-nonebacc-subjects-faring-since-the-introduction-of-progress-8/ www.saveoursubjects.org
