Head of the Music Service at SFE, Richard Mabbott, discusses why the 2025 Curriculum and Assessment Review happened, the key recommendations, and what happens next for music teachers…

For years, music teachers across the UK have voiced concerns about the narrowing of the curriculum, the “EBacc effect,” and the growing “disadvantage gap” in arts education. The long-awaited Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, was published in November 2025 with the promise of “evolution, not revolution.”

While the report covers the entire educational landscape, its specific section on Music (pages 96–100) provides a frank diagnosis of the challenges facing our subject – and a roadmap for how the government intends to fix them.

The State of Play: Why the Review Happened

The Review Panel did not shy away from the sobering statistics. Since 2009/10, GCSE Music take-up has fallen from 7% to 5%. Even more concerning is the disadvantage attainment gap, which is wider in Music than in any other GCSE subject.

The report highlights a stark “inequality of access”:

• The Deprivation Gap: “61% of schools with the highest proportion of disadvantaged students had no entries for GCSE Music in 2024/25, compared to just 10% of schools with the lowest proportion.”
• The “Private” Advantage: “Nearly three times as many children from the highest-income households take part in music classes outside school (32%) compared to the lowest-income households (11%).”
• The Barrier to Entry: Stakeholders told the Review that success in GCSE Music currently relies heavily on the ability to read music and play an instrument – skills often developed through expensive private lessons.

In a musically and culturally diverse city like Birmingham, where there are areas with high levels of deprivation, music is a great socio-economic leveller. Being able to support students musically and raise their aspirations will give them greater opportunities to climb the ladder and break down barriers in society that can hold them back.

Key Recommendation: Scrapping the EBacc Measures

One of the biggest “wins” for the arts in this report is the recommendation to remove the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measures. The Review acknowledges that these measures have “unnecessarily constrained students’ choices” and limited the time available for arts subjects.

In its place, the report suggests a new measure called “Academic Breadth.” While the “core” academic subjects remain important, this shift is intended to restore balance, giving schools more flexibility to champion Music and other creative subjects without fear of being penalized in performance tables.

This gives schools the opportunity once more to treat each subject as equal and give emphasis to both the subject-specific and holistic skills that each subject offers.

Strengthening the Music Pipeline: KS1 to KS3

The Review reaffirms that Music must remain a statutory foundation subject from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 3. However, it notes that the current delivery is inconsistent. Approximately “26% of Key Stage 3 students had not received any musical instrument teaching at school, and 31% of primary schools do not use sheet music in music lessons or in extra-curricular music activities.”

To address this, the Review recommends:

• Updating Programmes of Study: Refreshing the curriculum to ensure it reflects the diversity of modern society, allowing more children to see themselves represented in the music they study.
• Focusing on Mastery: Ensuring the curriculum is sequenced so students can master the “Three Pillars” (Technical, Constructive, and Expressive) deeply.
• A National Centre for Arts and Music: The Review welcomes the government’s plan to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to support high-quality teaching and resources. Currently, the National Centre is expected to become live during the course of the 2026/27 academic year. There are still details we are waiting for as to how this will work in practice, with the tendering process currently underway for organisations to bid to lead the National Centre.

GCSE vs. Technical Awards: A New Balance?

The report identifies a significant tension between the traditional GCSE Music and newer Technical Awards. While Technical Awards were intended to provide an alternative pathway, many teachers report they have become too prescriptive, with heavy writing demands.

The Review suggests that:

• GCSE Content Review: The DfE should review GCSE Music content to ensure it does not unfairly disadvantage those who cannot afford private instrumental lessons.

What Happens Next for Music Teachers?

The publication of this report is just the beginning. The government led a process of refreshing the programmes of study in late 2025. Crucially for us, there will be a statutory consultation in 2026, where teachers can test and give feedback on the new draft content.

It is crucial that both music leads and school management teams study the review in depth – this is a prime opportunity to “bang the drum” for music and help refocus the education sector on the benefits it brings.

The Bottom Line

For music educators, the 2025 Review offers a mix of validation and hope. It explicitly acknowledges that Music is often the most “unequal” subject in the building. By removing the EBacc performance pressure and focusing on “inclusive representation,” the government is signalling a desire to move Music from an “optional extra” to a universal “entitlement.”

As the Review states, education is “inherently valuable and important for its own sake.” For the music teachers on the frontline, these reforms might finally provide the “space to breathe” needed to bring the joy of music to every classroom.

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  About the Author

Richard Mabbott - Head of the Music Service, Services For Education  

A former choral scholar, Richard joins Services For Education after 15 years working in secondary schools having started his career as a classroom teacher in an inner-city school in Sheffield, before becoming Head of Music at Hessle High School in East Yorkshire in 2011. Whilst there, he became Specialist Leader of Education for Music working with schools in Yorkshire and Humber region to enhance the classroom music offer and build networks of music teachers enabling pedagogical developments and performance opportunities to be shared more readily.

In 2019 Richard was appointed Assistant Headteacher at Withernsea High School as part of a small senior team to deliver improvement to enhance the life chances of the school’s students. Amongst his achievements was the development of the much praised ‘Classically Yours’ programme with Manchester Camerata - a project that brought a world class orchestra to perform an annual concert in a remote East Yorkshire school and which continues to this day.