Government announces £85m to help young people engage with the arts

The government has announced £85 million of funding for young people to engage with music and the arts.

£80 million of the funding will be used to support music education hubs, which are organisations that give pupils access to instruments so that whole classes can play together.

A further £4 million of funding will support a series of other cultural education programmes run by organisations including National Youth Dance Company, BFI Film Academy and Saturday art and design clubs.

There will also be a £1 million investment provided to charities that help young people learn about different styles of music.

School standards minister Nick Gibbs announced the funding earlier this week, while confirming a manifesto commitment to offer an arts premium to secondary schools, allowing young people to learn creative skills.

Gibbs said: “Music, arts and culture play an essential role in enriching pupils’ education, and we want to give as many young people as possible the opportunity to learn an instrument or perform in a choir or a band.

“Our continued investment will play an important role in helping young people widen their horizons and access all the opportunities that learning a musical instrument can provide – whether that be playing for pleasure or performing.”

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