A campaign to persuade the UK government to include art and other creative subjects in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) has the “unanimous backing” of Royal Academicians, said Christopher Le Brun, the president of the Royal Academy of Arts (RA). He was speaking as members of parliament met in July to debate the EBacc. Critics argue that the exclusion of art, music and drama will have long-term negative consequences for the arts and creative industries in England. A petition to Parliament, signed by more than 100,000 people and supported by 200 arts organisations as well as leading artists, architects, actors and musicians, led to a debate in Westminster. Teenage musicians and dancers performed outside Parliament on the day.
“Art, dance and music combine physical intelligence with analytical skills,” Le Brun said, stressing the importance of the art room in schools, especially for non-academic teenagers. In the debate, held at Westminster Hall in London on 4 July, the schools minister, Nick Gibb, defended the government’s emphasis on an academic curriculum for 14- to 16-year-olds, and rejected claims that the number of pupils choosing “non-core” arts subjects had declined since the introduction of the EBacc in 2010.