Hazel Shearing,Education correspondentand
Marthe de Ferrer,BBC News
Getty
Ed Sheeran has celebrated changes to the national curriculum in England that mean more students will be able to study creative subjects.
The singer-songwriter praised government plans to modernise what is taught in schools and to remove “outdated systems that stop kids from studying music and the arts”.
Following the first review of the curriculum in England in more than a decade, children will also be taught how to spot fake news and disinformation as well as how mortgages work.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government wanted to “revitalise” the curriculum but keep a “firm foundation” in basics like English, maths and reading.
Head teachers have said the review’s recommendations were “sensible” but would require “sufficient funding and teachers”.
The changes come after the government commissioned a review of the national curriculum and assessments in England last year, in the hope of developing a “cutting edge” curriculum that would narrow attainment gaps between the most disadvantaged students and their classmates.
It said it would take up most of the review’s recommendations, including scrapping the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), a progress measure for schools introduced in 2010.
The EBacc assesses schools based on how many pupils take English, maths, sciences, geography or history and a language – and how well they do.
The Department for Education (DfE) said the measure was “constraining”, and that removing it alongside reforms to another school ranking system, Progress 8, would “encourage students to study a greater breadth of GCSE subjects”, such as arts.
Ed Sheeran said without support in school he wouldn’t be a musician today
In March, Sheeran wrote an open letter to the government asking for greater investment in music education and the removal of the EBacc, supported by other artists including Harry Styles, Annie Lennox and Sir Elton John.
Sheeran said that the curriculum reforms “give young people hope and the opportunity to study music.
“Without the encouragement I received in school, especially from my music teacher, I wouldn’t be a musician today.
“My music education went beyond learning and playing. It helped me find confidence in myself, and music itself was – and still is – so important for my mental health.”
He added that there was still “a lot more to do to support music education, especially our music teachers”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has thanked Sheeran for his campaigning around music education, promising that his government will revitalise the arts in schools.
“I wanted you to know that your voice has been heard,” the prime minister wrote.
“Learning music at school made a huge difference to my life.
“We will make sure every child has access to those experiences…so that creativity isn’t a privilege, but a right.”
Arts Council England has also praised the curriculum reforms, calling it “a great day for the next gener
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