Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives report calls for ‘Britain’s kids have got talent’ drive in schools to boost opportunity and stop the pipeline of pop stars, actors and creatives becoming the preserve of the well-off
A new report published today (Friday 14th March) by Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives, An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity, calls for a new era of creativity and the arts in schools as part of the Government’s Opportunity Mission, to boost the creative economy and provide new opportunities to children whose talents risk being wasted.
It says the success of the UK’s cultural and creative industries is now seriously imperilled by this neglect and warns that the educational pipeline that supplied the infrastructure for professional music careers is severely restricted.
It is the final report in the series of twelve Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives reports focusing on how the Government can put the life chances of young people at the heart of policy making and delivery. The report celebrates the way that Bradford is using its status as the 2025 ‘City of Culture’ to drive forward evidence-based approaches to improving outcomes for all children.
The report calls for a cultural shift to create an inclusive education system with creativity at its heart as a way of boosting attainment, tackling the school attendance crisis, and providing the creative industries with the workforce they require.
While over 2m people are employed in the creative industries in the UK, and the cultural sector accounts for £31bn in gross value added to the UK economy, the report highlights the decline in creative subjects offered at GCSE and fall in extracurricular activity:
- 42% of schools are no longer entering pupils for GCSE Music, 41% no longer enter pupils for GCSE Drama, and 84% of schools don’t offer GCSE Dance.
- Children from the most affluent backgrounds are three times more likely to sing in a choir or play in a band/orchestra than children living in deprived areas.
- 93% of children are being excluded from arts and cultural education due to a lack of funding in state schools.
- Participation in extracurricular activities has decreased from 46% to 37% since the pandemic.
The report also argues that the evidence shows that schools which value inclusivity and belonging have a better understanding of their students, particularly those from minority backgrounds and those with SEND, leading to increased sense of school belonging and helping to tackle the current school attendance crisis.
The report warns that entry into creative industry careers is grossly skewed by family background and educational experience, with factors such as ethnicity and gender adding further barriers. It highlights how working-class representation in the creative industries is at the lowest level for a decade. Just 8% of workers in TV and radio are from a working-class background and social mobility in these industries is getting worse.
It makes recommendations to the Government in three key policy areas:
- Cultivating creativity and critical thinking through inclusive education
- Increasing arts investment to create an inclusive education system
- Enriching education by connecting schools to cultural institutions
Read the full report – “An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity”
Find out more about the A country that works for all children and young people series
Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said:
“Britain’s children have got talent – but we are often too slow to nurture it and we are frequently failing to harness the innate skills in our communities through our education system. This is hindering the ability of our country to flourish and thrive.
“Many of our most successful musicians and bands have benefited from a rich, cultural, and creative education in the private school sector. We need to invest in boosting the opportunities of children in our state schools, from all backgrounds, as part of a bold ambition to develop truly inclusive education, support creativity throughout childhood and to tackle problems like the attendance crisis and attainment gap.
“This report provides evidence and proposals for how we can create more opportunities for all children to nurture and develop creative skills which are so important to growing our economy, and which would ensure we have a more diverse and thriving creative arts and music sector.”
Dr Camilla Kingdon, Former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said:
“We cannot afford to continue to squander the innate talent that exists everywhere in our country. We must encourage our future Benjamin Zephaniahs, Ed Sheerans, and Bridget Rileys – we have a rich cultural heritage to nurture. We want a society where children of all abilities and talents can flourish.
“That relies on creating an environment that enables a child to discover their hidden musical talent, or their under-developed dramatic skills, or their untapped artistic ability – and this cannot be reliant on having parents who have time and resources to nurture these talents.
“We must have an education system that sees investment in art and creativity as equally important to languages and maths or science. There cannot be a hierarchy of talents – all of them are important and should be collectively nurtured by society.”
Professor Mark Mon Williams, Child of The North report series editor, said:
“The evidence is clear- embedding creative experiences in education has the power to boost social mobility, reduce inequalities, and equip children with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world and grow our economy.
“This report provides a blueprint for ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has access to the transformative power of a creative educational experience. It could not be launched at a better time as Bradford takes centre stage as the UK City of Culture 2025 and commits to supporting the government’s Opportunity Mission.
“It is time to recognise that creativity is not an optional extra—it is a fundamental pillar of an inclusive, opportunity-rich society.”
Professor Simon J. James, Durham University, Executive report editor, said:
“The evidence shows that every one of us is, or can be creative – but is the country doing all we can do to encourage all our children and young people to be creative, and to think creatively? There are profound economic and geographic inequalities in access to an education that develops creativity and creative thinking, inequalities which we need to address for the sake of all children, whatever their background, and wherever they grow up.
“We need to ensure we are nurturing not only the stars of the future, but also, the orchestras, brass bands and music teachers so vital for the happiness and wellbeing of our communities – and the support that is needed begins in childhood.
“The evidence shows starkly both how creativity is valued by multiple industries and employers, but also how it has been threatened and devalued in some parts of the education system. With a new government promising to put creativity at the heart of every British child’s education, we need to act now.”
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