Overview
- Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed the removal of the EBacc performance measure and pledged that music and arts will be available to all pupils.
- The government will publish a revised music curriculum in 2027 for first teaching in 2028, with updated GCSEs scheduled for first teaching in 2029.
- An independent review led by Professor Becky Francis found the EBacc narrowed access to arts, noting that in 2024/25, 61% of the most disadvantaged schools had no GCSE music entrants.
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Ed Sheeran’s advocacy, and ministers said creative subjects will be placed centrally in a broader curriculum supported by a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education.
- Sheeran welcomed the reforms as a step forward, highlighting plans to diversify genres taught and remove barriers to studying music, while the £250m funding call from campaigners remains unanswered in the announcement.