Music Teacher • 7th September 2022

Music teachers fear for income as energy bills soar

‘The harsh truth is that singing lessons are not a necessity when bill payers are assessing their outgoings’

Music Teacher • 25th August 2022

GCSE Music entries in England hit new low

The number of students taking GCSE Music in England has fallen by 37.7 per cent since 2008.

Music Teacher • 19th August 2022

Music A Level entries keep pace with increase across the board

A 4 per cent increase in A Level Music entries this year reflects a 4.2 per cent increase in A Level entries overall.

Music Teacher • 18th August 2022

A Level Music attainment gap widens between independent and state schools

The gap between music students achieving an A or A* at independent schools and secondary comprehensive schools is the widest it’s been since pre-2017.

Music Teacher • 18th August 2022

42% achieve top grades in A Level Music compared to 19% when exams last sat

Music grades are significantly higher than in 2019 when exams were last taken - part of a planned 'transition period' across the board.

Music Teacher • 9th August 2022

Music has largest proportion of top grades at Scottish Advanced Highers level

Scotland’s sixth most popular Advanced Highers subject saw 55 per cent of students receive grade A on 2022’s summer results day.

Music Teacher • 4th August 2022

Left-wing think tank calls for national music service in England

The government has ‘failed to deliver’ on promises to remove barriers to music education, says a new report from the Fabian Society, supported by the Musicians’ Union.

Music Teacher • 25th July 2022

Latest ISM report finds 'unfair' music teacher working conditions

Peripatetic music teachers are often ‘taken for granted’, experience increased job insecurity, and are subject to ‘weaker’ terms and conditions.

Music Teacher • 20th July 2022

Music teacher secures holiday pay rights in ‘unanimous’ Supreme Court ruling

The ‘landmark’ Supreme Court judgment means an end to the widespread underpayment of holiday pay for term-time only workers in the education sector, says the ISM.

Music Teacher • 25th June 2022

Long-awaited National Plan for Music Education published

Inclusion, partnerships and progression from early years onwards are the central aims of the refreshed plan for music education in England.

Music Teacher • 18th May 2022

ABRSM comments on leaked letter of no confidence in IT infrastructure

A letter of no confidence sent to the board’s senior management and signed by more than 70 ABRSM examiners has been leaked.

Music Teacher • 17th May 2022

National plan and music service announced for Wales

Wales’ first National Plan for Music Education has been published and the government has committed to increasing music education funding from £1.5m per year to £4.5m per year for the next three years.

Music Teacher • 6th May 2022

ABRSM publishes apology over exam booking chaos

Chief executive Chris Cobb says ABRSM is ‘disappointed’ that the booking system has been ‘under-performing’, but wait times are ‘now around 1-10 minutes’ and 17,000 bookings have been made.

Music Teacher • 5th May 2022

‘I’m tearing my hair out’: Music teacher frustration over ABRSM exam booking

Music teachers report waiting up to 30 hours to book an exam on ABRSM’s online portal, with others unable to access the system at all.

Music Teacher • 3rd March 2022

Music education in state schools debated in House of Lords

According to Labour’s lord Winston, lord Black ‘has had the same answers in the same kinds of debates for many years, since he has been asking this really important question’.

Music Teacher • 25th February 2022

Government HE reforms raise concerns for music education in England

If proposals go ahead, ‘high return’ subjects will receive considerable investment and some young people will be barred from receiving student loans.

Music Teacher • 24th February 2022

EXCLUSIVE: 99 per cent of music teachers want NPME draft consultation, survey reveals

The initial findings of an ISM survey of more than 500 music teachers in England have been released ahead of the National Plan’s publication.

Music Teacher • 18th February 2022

New music teacher marketplace launches with aim of challenging ‘ridiculous fees’

Questions over fees, quality assurance and child protection policies are raised as music tutor marketplaces seek to rebuild the ‘infrastructure’ of music education in the UK.

Music Teacher • 6th January 2022

Ofqual chair asked to ‘retract’ proposals to 'suspend' music amid Covid teacher absences

In a strongly-worded letter also addressed to the schools minister, ISM chief executive suggests that Bauckham may have ‘overstepped’ his ‘remit’ as chair of the exams watchdog

Music Teacher • 20th December 2021

Three meetings for music national plan panel, but still no publication date

It was already confirmed that the overdue National Plan for Music Education will be published in ‘early’ 2022.