Syllabus changes will “have a detrimental effect on musicianship”

Government proposals for a new syllabus for GCSE, AS and A levels in music will “do little to support and encourage musicality” and could even “have a detrimental effect on musicianship and the study of musical genres”, according to the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), the professional body for those working in the music profession. The ISM believes that, because the only properly defined area of study in the new qualifications is “music composed in the western classical tradition between 1700 and 1900”, there is danger that school music qualifications may in future exclude music written before 1700 and after 1900 – something the ISM describes as an “artificial timeframe [that] makes no musical sense” and will put pupils at risk of “missing out on a wealth of important music”. Also under consultation is the proposal to set the percentage of music assessed in sit-down exams to 40% of the overall – it currently stands at 20-40% depending on the exam board – and to limit the role of performing and composing.

Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of the ISM, said: “We need relevant, broad and engaging qualifications that will get pupils learning the key knowledge and skills they will need to study music at GCSE, AS and A level and perhaps follow this into higher education. These proposed reforms, especially the proposed areas of study, risk music becoming a rigid, restrictive subject and remove the important processes that make the subject creative. The ISM is encouraging the sector to support the campaign to Protect Music Education and urging people to respond to the consultation, which closes on 19 September.

Similar changes are proposed for dance: at GCSE level exam-based assessment could increase to 40%, from 20%, and AS and A level qualifications could give equal weighting to practical and exam assessment. GCSE qualifications in art and design will continue to include no exam assessment.