Music education 'needs significant investment' to counter rise in lesson costs

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Many schoolchildren are drawn to learning an orchestral instrument, according to research done by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Photo: Shutterstock

Industry organisations are calling for “significant investment” into music education, as a study reveals parents and schools are facing a 6.6% increase in the price of lessons.

Earlier this month, Music Mark undertook a survey of 87 music hubs and services, which represent 76% of those across England. It found that cost-of-living salary rises and additional pension costs – an estimated £9 to £12 million – were driving costs up.

This has resulted in increased prices for lessons. However, a number of hubs and services said that even with the price increases, it “won’t be enough” to meet the additional costs they are currently facing, according to the results of the survey.

Music Mark concluded that the cost-of-living crisis had resulted in increased demand for access to subsidised lesson costs and bursaries, which are “further stretched” as a result of the need for lesson prices to go up.

Responding to the survey results, the Independent Society of Musicians called for greater investment and said the Department for Education was “putting the talent pipeline at risk” through its “harmful” policies.

Chief executive Deborah Annetts said: “Our music hubs are facing rising costs across the board while the Department for Education and Arts Council England undertake a totally unnecessary restructure of the hubs for which no rationale has been made out.

“The restructure will slash the number of hubs, cost money, and has already generated a huge amount of stress and unnecessary bureaucracy. This is not the way to support music education in our schools.”

She stressed that the Department of Education needs to value music education hubs by implementing a “fit-for-purpose” statutory national plan, increasing funding, and reversing policies that have been “undermining the arts in our schools for years such as accountability measures”.

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Chris Walters, national organiser for the Musicians’ Union, agreed.

He said: “The Musicians’ Union would like to see funding for music education based on a dynamic, costed model, rather than the current uncosted model which is increasingly insufficient to deliver the aspirations of the Department of Education’s national plan for music education.

“Music teachers, as with all other professionals, need their pay to keep pace with the cost of living.

“Paying teachers a fair wage is not an additional cost that is excluding children and schools from music education. Rather, it is one of many increased costs that should be reflected in an updated funding settlement for music education.”

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has previously undertaken its own research, which found that 85% of UK schoolchildren want the opportunity to learn an instrument, with 62% being drawn to orchestral instruments.

Managing director James Williams labelled the opportunity to learn these instruments as “rare” and described a potential for “long-lasting damage” if services are not supported.

"The musical ecosphere of the future – from musicians and audiences to everyone in between – will be shaped by those who are starting their journey with music today,” he added. “A sustained commitment to equality, inclusion, and diversity must address the underlying issues affecting access to music. Now, more than ever, significant investment is required.”

It comes after Andrew Lloyd Webber called for all secondary school students to have access to a music instrument earlier this year.

Judith Webster, chief executive of the Association of British Orchestras, felt the combination of the cost-of-living crisis and the emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) had contributed to the organisation’s concern for careers in the creatives industries.

Webster said: “The lack of exposure to the richness of a broad music education, including opportunities to learn an instrument, limits young people’s choices and limits their creative potential – a concern for our sector and the whole of the music industry.”

Meanwhile, the Music in Secondary Schools Trust believes music education “should be a right” within education, with access not restricted by affordability.

Chief executive Rachel Landon said: “All pupils should be accessing a high-quality music curriculum, playing a musical instrument and being consistently taught to a high standard.

“With the positive outcomes that music can bring to a child, it is disappointing that music is not more heavily prioritised by the government. Music should not be the preserve of the rich.”