Dear Supporters, We received some great news just before Christmas. The Government has agreed to keep funding music education hubs in England with £75 million of ring-fenced funding. They heard our voices – and the voices of tens of thousands of others from across the music world – and they agreed. This is great news for music education. But now there is a new threat on the horizon. The Government is asking for views on their proposal to make the EBacc all but compulsory for school children. The EBacc plans would mean that every pupil taking their GCSEs would have to study a minimum of seven, narrowly defined, GCSEs: English literature and English language, maths, double or triple science, a modern and/or ancient language, history and/or geography. However the current average number of GCSEs taken by pupils in England is eight… If these plans are implemented, there would be little room left for pupils to study ANY creative subjects. This means that the arts would be squeezed out of schools altogether. I need your help to persuade the Department for Education to stick to their guns and to extend their support for music education in this country: If they’ve agreed to fund music education, they need to make sure that the league tables value it too! Just before Christmas, George Osborne said in his spending review ‘Britain’s not just brilliant at science. It’s brilliant at culture too … One of the best investments we can make as a nation is in our extraordinary arts, museums, heritage, media and sport.’ Why would the Government risk this with a narrow, one-size fits all curriculum that would impact so greatly on the grass roots of our creative industries? You can help now by responding to the consultation at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-the-english-baccalaureate It’s never a dull moment as we stand up for music education. Best wishes, James