Call for music to be part of Ebacc

Musicians have called for creative subjects including music to be part of the English Baccalaureate (Ebacc).
GCSE students who achieve grade C or above in English, two sciences, a language and history or geography, are automatically awarded with the Ebacc.
Critics argue that as more pupils are likely to study these subjects in order to get the Ebacc, they will be less likely to take up creative subjects that are not part of the system.
Music Teacher magazine and the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) are calling on the public to write to their MP and ask for music to be included in the Ebacc if the government, as advised by the Commons Education Select Committee, reassesses the subject choice for the certificate.
“If we do not protect music, we will put our musical heritage, industry, and the academic and social benefits of music education at risk,” the letter reads.
Supporting the call is Deborah Annetts, chief executive of the ISM, who said: “Not only is music challenging and enriching as a subject in schools, but to forget music at GCSE level is to forget the creative, social, academic, economic, emotional and intellectual benefits of an excellent music education; this is to say nothing of its own unique musical value.”
After the Select Committee called for the government to revise its decisions surrounding the Ebacc, Ms Annetts suggested that in its current form, the certificate acts as a league table and any subject excluded will inevitably decline.
According to the ISM, 60 per cent of people working in schools say they have noticed a negative impact on music education since the Ebacc was introduced and 77 per cent have noticed a fall in the number of pupils choosing to study the subject.
However, a spokesperson from the Department for Education claimed that the Ebacc is there to ensure that students study the “core academic subjects which top universities demand”.