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History of Art A-Level saved by exam board

Exam board Pearson’s decision to offer the qualification from September 2017 has been welcomed by arts leaders.

Christy Romer
3 min read

History of Art will continue to be offered to A-level students, after being taken on by examination board Pearson, Culture Minister Matt Hancock has confirmed.

In a tweet this morning, the Minister said he was “thrilled” that the subject would continue, as it is “crucial that students get widest range of subjects to choose from”.

Pearson is scheduled to offer the subject from September 2017, a year before it will be dropped by AQA.

Rod Bristow, President of Pearson in the UK, said: “We’re pleased to be able to secure the future of A levels in History of Art and Statistics, subject to final accreditation by Ofqual.

“The response from the public, from teachers and from young people shows many people have a real passion for these subjects.”

The news follows a campaign by the Association of Art Historians, The Courtauld Institute of Art, the University of York, the National Gallery, Tate and the Royal Academy of Arts challenging exam board AQA’s decision to drop History of Art from 2018.

Speaking to the Guardian, AQA said its decision had nothing to do with the importance of the subject, but pointed to the fact that only 839 students sat the A-level exam this summer as a factor that created “too many risks” to continue offering it.

Warm welcome

The news has been welcomed by the sector. Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, said: “The arts are one of the great strengths of the UK and I am pleased that A-level provision in art history will not be interrupted for students starting sixth form in 2017. The National Gallery is keen to work with schools that already offer or are thinking of introducing the history of art in their teaching.”

Munira Mirza, former Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture of London, said this was “fantastic news”, and that killing off the subject would have been “perverse”. “Hopefully the arts sector is now galvanised to work even more proactively with teachers to promote this valuable subject. Art history should be part of a general education for all, not just a niche subject for the few.”