Only a third of schools provide ‘good’ music education says Ofsted

One in five of England’s schools provide inadequate music education according to a new Ofsted report. ‘Music in schools: wider still, and wider’ . The quality and quantity of music education in schools varies across the country, but evidence from inspections of music provision between 2008 and 2011 in 90 primary, 90 secondary and four special schools in England suggests that many of the concerns identified in Ofsted’s last triennial report, Making more of music, have not been addressed and “far too much provision was inadequate or barely satisfactory”.

A good or outstanding music education was being provided in 37% of the primary schools and in 39% of the secondary schools inspected, a poor figure in comparison with schools’ overall ratings: 70% of all schools were found to be good or outstanding for overall effectiveness at their most recent inspection. Headteachers in the schools where music was judged good or outstanding, were very influential, ensuring that music had a prominent place in the curriculum and that partnership working provided good value for money, but Ofsted noted that too few senior leaders understand what is needed to secure good music education for all their pupils.
Too many music lessons were found to much focus on talking or written exercises rather than making music. Nearly half of secondary schools were judged inadequate for singing, and while most primary schools were involved with the national singing strategy, the quality of vocal work was good in only 30 of the 90 schools inspected. The underuse of music technology across all levels is identified as a “significant barriers to pupils’ musical progress”, including insufficient use of audio recording to assess and improve pupils’ work. Whilst most schools recognised the importance of promoting a diverse range of musical styles, fewer had a clear understanding of how students make good musical progress: assessment methods were often found to be inaccurate, over-complex or unmusical, particularly at Key Stage 3. Entrenched patterns of musical participation and inclusion outside the curriculum show no signs of changing: pupils with special educational needs, children who are looked after, and those known to be eligible for free school meals are considerably less likely to be involved in additional musical activities than others, particularly in secondary schools, and around twice as many girls as boys are involved in extra-curricular music activities.
James Garnett, Chair of the National Association of Music Educators, said: “This report has wide ranging implications for the way that music is taught and for the training and development of music teachers… Music cannot be taught and assessed in the same way as English or maths if children and young people are to engage with music and make progress in music.”
To help schools improve their music teaching, Ofsted has produced six new films exemplifying good practice in a wide range of settings.