GCSE results confirm drop in take-up of arts subjects

Young people in England sat 44,000 fewer GCSEs in arts subjects this year, new figures have confirmed. The 7.7% drop on 2015 is significantly higher than the 0.4% overall fall in the number of GCSEs taken.

A corresponding drop in the number of young people taking A levels in arts subjects has been linked to falling GCSE entries by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and founder of the Bacc for the Future campaign, said the figures should be “a wake-up call to Government that the new EBacc is already having an adverse impact”.

She warned that if the Government presses ahead with plans to make at least 90% of pupils take the EBacc – a set of seven or eight GCSEs, which includes history or geography but not the arts – it will discourage young people’s ambitions and undermine the UK’s creative industries.

The figures from JCQ were released this week as thousands of teenagers received their GCSE results. They confirm a drop in the take up of arts subjects indicated by Ofqual figures earlier this year.

The news contradicts assertions made by Schools Minister Nick that there is “no evidence” to suggest the take up of arts GCSEs is declining and that the EBacc will cause “no significant fall”.

The falling figures

The JCQ figures reveal that since 2010, when the EBacc was first introduced as a performance measure, there has been a 20.3% fall in the number of young people taking GCSEs in art and design subjects, design and technology, drama, media film and TV studies, music, and performing/expressive arts – equivalent to 133,500 fewer GCSEs.

This year, design and technology suffered the greatest fall in students: 18,600 fewer entries, representing a 9.7% drop.

Take up of art and design subjects fell by 6.1% this year, with 11,000 fewer young people taking GCSEs. Drama entries fell by 3,200, a 4.6% drop, and there were 1,800 fewer entries for music GCSEs, a 4.1% decrease.

The fall in arts GCSE coincides with a rise in the number of young people taking subjects included in the EBacc. 16,700 more pupils took a GCSE in geography last year, a 7.9% rise, and 15,200 more pupils took history, a 6.7% increase.

Impacting A levels

A knock-on effect on the number of pupils taking arts subjects at A levels has been identified. There were 4,100 fewer entries to arts A levels this year, a 4.1% decline.

Art and design subjects suffered the greatest fall: 1,400 fewer young people took A levels this year, a fall of 3.3%.

Commenting on the decline, Director General of JCQ Michael Turner told Schools Week: “Whether students have prior experience of a subject from having studied it at GCSE may be a factor.”

The Bacc for the Future campaign is encouraging those concerned to write to their local MP.