Results reveal fall in uptake of A-level music

The Joint Council for Qualifications has today released the results of A-level exams taken by students in the UK this year. Analysis of the results undertaken by the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) has shown that entries for music A-level from students across the UK have fallen by 7% since 2022.

Although uptake of music as an A-level subject experienced a small rise in 2022, overall uptake of A-level music has fallen by 45% in the UK since 2010, when the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) was introduced.

ISM chief executive Deborah Annetts said: ‘The drop in uptake of A-level music since 2010 is truly devastating, particularly in England. The evidence is now overwhelming that the government needs to reform accountability measures in England which are marginalising arts subjects in our schools. All students deserve access to high-quality music education.’

The EBacc is a set of GCSE subjects that, according to the government website, ‘keeps young people’s options open for further study and future careers.’ To gain an Ebacc students must take subject on the government’s approved list of qualifications: English language and literature, maths, the sciences, geography or history and a language. A school can be judged on its EBacc average point score which is based on the number of students taking the Ebacc. Notably, the Ebacc excludes all arts subjects, potentially blocking students’ paths to studying music at A-level.

The ISM’s report produced last year, Music: A subject in peril?, found that schools were becoming increasingly unable to offer A-level music as a subject option due to a decrease in uptake. The ‘majority of teachers’ surveyed by the ISM reported that ‘accountability measures such as the EBacc and Progress 8 have negatively impacted music education in secondary schools.’