EBacc crisis

27% of schools have cut courses as a direct result of the 2010 introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), the schools performance measure which recognises achievement in academic subjects but excludes all arts disciplines. A poll among schools by Ipsos Mori has revealed that drama, performing arts, art and design, and design and technology have been worst hit.

The publication of these findings has coincided with the new proposals by Education Secretary Michael Gove for qualifications known as English Baccalaureate Certificates or ‘EBCs’ to replace GCSEs in the EBacc subjects, and that these will be ‘linear’, involve no coursework and will be assessed at the end of the two year period. It is estimated that they will take up 80% of curriculum time. The Cultural Learning Alliance is urging the arts sector to campaign forcefully to defeat Gove’s proposals: “…we risk a two-tier system where our disciplines are squeezed into remaining time and where they are seen as less important, less rigorous and of less value than others.” It is proposing a range of actions for those who share these concerns, including signing up to the ‘Bacc for the Future’ campaign being run by the Incorporated Society of Musicians, calling for the Education Select Committee to launch an enquiry into the EBacc and to interrogate why the arts and cultural subjects haven’t been included.Government proposals for replacing GCSEs will leave the arts outside the core curriculum