EBacc will not be amended to include the arts

There are no plans to amend the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) to include creative subjects, Education Minister Robert Halfon has said.

Halfon’s comments came during a House of Lords Select Committee inquiry into the future challenges for the creative industries, held last week.

When asked by committee member Lord Foster of Bath if the government was going to add creative subjects to the Ebacc, Halton said: "There will not be any changes to the EBacc. The government believes that the EBacc should be studied as part of a broad and balanced curriculum."

The EBacc is an accountability measure in England’s education sector which measures the proportion of children who secure a grade 5 or above in at least seven GCSEs in five areas – english language, english literature, maths, double science or biology, chemistry and physics, history or geography and a language. 

The Department for Education has set a target of 90% of pupils achieving the EBacc by 2025.

The exclusion of the arts from the Ebacc is widely regarded as a key reason for the decline in uptake of creative subjects in higher education.

In the committee hearing, Halfon said an extra £115m is being invested in arts, heritage and creative subjects in schools: "A music plan came out last year that extends music opportunities for pupils across the board and aids those who want to go into the music industry."

He added that ministers are working on cultural schools plan, which he said is due to come out next year.