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Press release: Too few schools are hitting the high notes in music

School music lessons have the potential to improve pupils’ development, personally as well as musically, yet all too often this powerful tool isn’t properly harnessed according to a new report published by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

The report, Making more of music, found that music provision was good or outstanding in around half the schools visited and that the subject had a positive impact on pupils’ personal development in about three quarters of the schools visited. The report welcomes government funding for music but finds that it needs to be better targeted to have even more impact.

In the schools where provision was outstanding, pupils developed personally as well as musically. These schools had a clear sense of why music was important. As a result, they were able to engage pupils, increasing their self-esteem and maximising their progress across all their learning, not just music.

For example, one primary school gave guitar lessons to a child with serious learning difficulties when he was changing schools. This helped him make the transition more successfully and made him more focused, so that he made much better progress across all his work.

In a secondary school, extra music lessons boosted the confidence of Year 7 pupils by enabling them to work and establish new relationships with older students. This gave them increased self-esteem which helped them to succeed not only in music but in all their other subjects.

The main weakness in both primary and secondary schools was that, inspite of their enthusiasm, students did not always make as much progress in music as they should have done. This was largely a result of teachers’ lack of understanding of what constitutes musical progress, inconsistent opportunities within and across schools and weak assessment. Inspectors also found that many music teachers were professionally isolated. They lacked professional development, opportunities to discuss music, and support to develop their teaching.

Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, said: 'Schools need to review their provision regularly to make the most of music. It is vital that subject leaders in primary schools and music staff in secondary schools enjoy good support and professional development, and that they have sufficient time not only to monitor teaching and learning but also to work with other teachers.'

The report concludes that this should be a very positive time for music education, with the Government providing considerable amounts of much needed extra funding. However inspectors found that increased activity was not necessarily leading to improved music provision. Too much was being developed in isolation and initiatives were not always reaching the schools and teachers that needed them most.

The providers surveyed had not always given enough thought to how to ensure pupils built upon these experiences. For example, while the best instrumental/vocal programmes in the primary schools visited had provided outstanding benefits to pupils, teachers and their schools, not all the programmes were of sufficient duration to have a lasting effect.

Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, added: 'Music can have a big impact on pupils’ personal development, and students enjoy taking part. However more thought needs to be given to how very welcome national initiatives link to the music curriculum as a whole, how to ensure longer-term impact, and how to ensure that initiatives reach those most in need of help.'

Key recommendations from the report

• The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), should increase the effectiveness and value for money of initiatives and the work of funded music bodies.

• The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority should provide clear guidance on musical progression that develops teachers’ understanding about how to plan for, teach and assess music.The Training and Development Agency for Schools should provide continuing professional development for music teachers in secondary schools and subject leaders for music in primary schools.

• Local authorities and music services should ensure instrumental/vocal programmes are of sufficient duration and quality, ensure more children and young people from different groups benefit from playing a musical instrument, and develop their programmes in partnership with schools.

• Schools should review their provision for music regularly as part of whole-school improvement and provide good support and professional development.

Please see the report for full recommendations.

Related Links

• Read the Making more of music report

Notes For Editors

1. The report, Making more of music, can be found on the Ofsted website.

2. The report, Making more of music, based on evidence from inspections of music between September 2005 and July 2008 in 84 primary and 95 secondary schools in England. They were selected to provide a sample of those in differing contexts and geographical locations across England. Between 2005/06 and 2006/07, the sample included 37 primary schools selected because of their involvement in whole-class instrumental/vocal programmes at Key Stage 2.

3. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects registered childcare and children's social care, including adoption and fostering agencies, residential schools, family centres and homes for children. It also inspects all state maintained schools, non-association independent schools, pupil referral units, further education, initial teacher education, and publicly funded adult skills and employment based training, the Children and Family Courts Advisory Service (Cafcass), and the overall level of services for children in local authority areas (through annual performance assessments and joint area reviews).

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