From welcome policy change to practical implementation: revitalising Arts education after years of decline
In the wake of recent policy shifts in arts education, Sally Bacon, Co-chair of the Cultural Learning Alliance, explores the priorities and opportunities ahead, how the cultural sector might collaborate and capitalise on this change, and asks what is needed to ensure policy becomes practice.
Sally Bacon OBE, Co-Chair, Cultural Learning Alliance
In 2024, the Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) published a sector-generated Blueprint for an Arts-rich Education for Every Child. The Blueprint set out the policy changes needed to secure equitable access to high-quality Arts education, including the abolition of the EBacc – the problematic school accountability measure which sidelined the Arts in secondary education.
In November 2025, the Government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review confirmed a significant shift in direction after 15 years that aligns closely with the ambitions set out in the Blueprint. The focus now moves from policy advocacy to gearing up for delivery at scale.
CLA is now consulting on a new document: From Blueprint to Delivery: A Strategy Map for Arts Education. The original blueprint set out the ‘what’; the new Strategy Map will set out the ‘how’. It will describe the guiding principles, the system requirements and delivery levers needed to translate policy ambition for the Arts into sustained practice across schools, colleges and communities.
The Strategy Map will be shaped by consultation with education and cultural sector colleagues, by national research, and by the CLA’s annual Report Cards. It will be a practical tool to support the vital work ahead for policymakers, system leaders and delivery partners – including cultural organisations, who are important delivery partners in this new policy context.
Closing the ‘Arts entitlement gap’ – the difference in Arts subject access and participation between children from higher and lower socio-economic status backgrounds – has to be our number one priority.
The EBacc is now gone. Its appearance in school performance tables in early February was the last time the measure will be applied, but other changes will not be so quickly implemented. The new curriculum will be published in 2027 for first teaching in 2028, with updated GCSEs being ready for 2029.
If the Curriculum Review is honoured, we know that there will be a renewed emphasis on inclusion, representation, equity and access; on applied knowledge across oracy, citizenship and personal development; and greater professional autonomy for teachers. There will be increased attention to Arts enrichment – within and outside school – and partnership and collaboration will be encouraged, as well as responsiveness to local circumstances.
We hope that the upcoming National Centre for Arts and Music Education will support networks of Arts-rich schools and partners across local, regional and national contexts, helping to share practice, build capacity and support consistent delivery across different locations. But all of this will take time to build after years of erosion.
Government has now repositioned Arts education as a vital component of a 21st-century education. Our new Arts Education Capabilities Framework sets out why this matters – the seven evidenced capabilities that are developed through studying arts subjects: from agency and wellbeing; to collaboration, communication and empathy; to creativity and interpretation. The Framework can be used to support programme development and planning, review and evaluation, and case making.
We have robust evidence of Arts subject decline, and we have the evidence to demonstrate why that matters. Now the arts and education sectors need to come together to support the revitalisation of the subjects that have been left behind since 2010 – for the benefit of all children and young people, and if we want to see a skilled and diverse creative industries workforce for the future.
The argument about value has been won for now but we cannot be complacent. The next phase is the complex business of implementation and supporting government to realise their good intentions and keep on track. It is vital to maintain arts and cultural learning as a sector priority, and to keep up the public pressure which has proved so influential.
Themes Sector Insights
