Full research report backs up fears of disappearing A Level Music

The new report by Dr Adam Whittaker and professor Martin Fautley warns that if the current rate of decline continues in a linear manner, A Level Music is likely to have zero entries by 2033. 

Findings, which were revealed in an MT article pre-publication, suggest that the inequality between state and independent schools is widening due to cuts to local and central government funding in recent years.

The research calls for an urgent intervention from government and funding measures to be put in place. Whittaker and Fautley write in MT that ‘keeping A Level alive is allowing young musicians to choose a musical qualification that may be right for them’.

The new report states: ’Those who lack the means to support private instrumental study are unlikely to have sufficient income to pay for school fees, even if a bursary supports them to a greater or lesser extent’, highlighting that a disproportionately large number of A Level Music entries come from independent schools. 

The authors argue that ‘the opportunity to study A Level Music seems likely to end first for those children who are at a disadvantage, especially as we are seeing a decline in both the number of pupils being entered and the number of schools running the qualification’. 

If A Level Music was to be removed from state schools, the report suggests that there will be ‘significant knock-on implications’ on the ‘wider landscape of musical activity’ in school contexts. The research also suggests that specific areas of the country need to be targeted, such as the Midlands, where the proportion of students in music education has now dropped to 1 per cent.

The report says: ‘The low numbers of entries from these selected local authorities in the Midlands region are a cause for concern, particularly so where disadvantage attainment gaps are high.’

The discussion paper draws on an Education Policy Institute report from March 2021, which focused on disadvantage attainment gaps in education for 16–19 year-olds. This follows a study conducted by Whittaker and Fautley in 2019 for the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, investigating the correlation between deprived areas and decline in A Level music uptake. 

Read the full report here.