Page 175 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book

23 October 2019
Why Ofsted’s EIF could give arts education a much-

needed boost

Written by: Jacqui O’Hanlon & Jenny Mollica |

Inspection focus? A scene from
the RSC’s National Schools Festival in 2017. Will the new inspection framework in England
reward schools for a focus on arts education and experiences? (Image: Andrew Fox/RSC)
The number of hours spent teaching arts subjects continues to fall, but the new Ofsted
framework could mark a turning point for arts and cultural learning. Jacqui O’Hanlon and
Jenny Mollica explain
The latest Department for Education (DfE, 2019) figures show that the number of teachers and
hours spent teaching arts subjects in schools in England continues to fall. However, the new
Education Inspection Framework (Ofsted, 2019) offers renewed hope.

Making the case that arts and cultural learning should form part of every child’s creative
education has sometimes, over the past decade, felt like an uphill struggle.

The unintended consequences of the English Baccalaureate, austerity measures and a focus on
STEM have all conspired to push arts subjects and cultural learning further down the priority list.
The upshot has been a steady decline in the number of hours and staff dedicated to teaching
arts subjects in schools (DfE, 2019) and a reduction in the number of young people opting for
arts subjects at GCSE and beyond (CLA, 2019).

At the same time, we have listened as the world’s leading educators and employers (including
the World Economic Forum) warn that the attributes we know the arts and cultural learning can
help to foster – creativity, empathy, tolerance and interpersonal skills – are precisely the ones our
children will need for success in the future.