‘Huge step in the right direction’: arts leaders hail move to boost creative subjects in England’s schools

<p>Cultural figures hope proposed shake-up of curriculum can reverse years of ‘madness’ in which arts were devalued</p><p>For years, Britain’s leading cultural figures have warned that substandard arts provision in schools is devaluing the sector and creating an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/feb/21/working-class-creatives-dont-stand-a-chance-in-uk-today-leading-artists-warn">increasingly elite industry</a>. But the government’s proposed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/nov/04/england-curriculum-should-focus-less-on-exams-and-more-on-life-skills-finds-review">shake-up of the national curriculum</a>, which includes scrapping the English baccalaureate (Ebacc), has been met with overwhelming positivity, with one figure saying it could end “the madness of the past decade”.</p><p>On Wednesday the Department for Education said it wanted to boost the creative subjects taken at GCSE as part of its wider changes to England’s national curriculum.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/nov/07/arts-leaders-hail-move-to-boost-creative-subjects-england-schools">Continue reading...</a>