Report urges ‘Britain’s kids have got talent’ drive in schools to boost opportunity and stop the pipeline of pop stars, actors and creatives becoming the preserve of the well-off

• New Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives report warns the talents of millions of children are being ignored and wasted, and calls for creativity to be embedded into an inclusive school curriculum supporting all children - including those with SEND - to develop a new generation of creatives to boost economic growth.
• The report calls for the Government’s Opportunity Mission to boost culture, creativity, and arts in schools to inspire children, improve mental health, strengthen school belonging, tackle the school attendance and attainment crises, and support children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to build careers in the creative industries.
• The report publishes new analysis showing the importance of an inclusive education system, revealing that children are over three times more likely to become Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) at 16-18 years when they disengage from the education system and are persistently absent from the classroom - a problem that disproportionately affects children with SEND and those with mental health problems.
• It proposes a £150m Arts Premium Fund to develop the existing primary school workforce and train the next generation of teachers to provide creative learning; for the expansion of arts and music education, including free music or singing lessons for three years for every child who wishes to learn; and a ‘Cultural Enrichment Fund’ to encourage partnerships with local cultural institutions.

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‍A new report is published today (Friday 14th March) by Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives, “An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity”. It is the final report in the series of twelve Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives reports focusing on how the Government can put the life chances of young people at the heart of policy making and delivery. The report celebrates the way that Bradford is using its status as the 2025 ‘City of Culture’ to drive forward evidence-based approaches to improving outcomes for all children.

Today’s report calls for a new era of creativity and the arts in schools as part of the Government’s Opportunity Mission, to boost the creative economy and provide new opportunities to children whose talents risk being wasted. It says the success of the UK’s cultural and creative industries is now seriously imperilled by this neglect and warns that the educational pipeline that supplied the infrastructure for professional music careers is severely restricted.

The report calls for a cultural shift to create an inclusive education system with creativity at its heart as a way of boosting attainment, tackling the school attendance crisis, and providing the creative industries with the workforce they require. It argues schools should not merely be places of ‘reading, writing and maths’ but places where young people can express themselves, explore diverse identities, and develop the critical thinking skills needed to thrive.

While over 2m people are employed in the creative industries in the UK, and the cultural sector accounts for £31bn in gross value added to the UK economy, the report highlights the decline in creative subjects offered at GCSE and fall in extracurricular activity:

• 42% of schools are no longer entering pupils for GCSE Music, 41% no longer enter pupils for GCSE Drama, and 84% of schools don’t offer GCSE Dance.
• Children from the most affluent backgrounds are three times more likely to sing in a choir or play in a band/orchestra than children living in deprived areas.
• 93% of children are being excluded from arts and cultural education due to a lack of funding in state schools.
• Participation in extracurricular activities has decreased from 46% to 37% since the pandemic.

The report also argues that the evidence shows that schools which value inclusivity and belonging have a better understanding of their students, particularly those from minority backgrounds and those with SEND, leading to increased sense of school belonging and helping to tackle the current school attendance crisis.

It includes new analysis showing the importance of an inclusive education system, revealing that children are over three times more likely to become Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) at 16-18 years when they disengage from the education system and are persistently absent from the classroom. A third (34%) of persistently absent children were identified as NEET, compared to just 9% of children who did not have such attendance issues. Previous reports have shown that unsupported Special Education Needs are likewise a major risk factor for children becoming NEET.

This new analysis also shows that pupils attending faith schools, which often show increased ratings of a sense of belonging, have a 20% lower rate of NEET compared to pupils from non-faith schools.

The report warns that entry into creative industry careers is grossly skewed by family background and educational experience, with factors such as ethnicity and gender adding further barriers. It highlights how working-class representation in the creative industries is at the lowest level for a decade. Just 8% of workers in TV and radio are from a working-class background and social mobility in these industries is getting worse.

It makes recommendations to the Government in three key policy areas: cultivating creativity and critical thinking through inclusive education; increasing arts investment to create an inclusive education system; and enriching education by connecting schools to cultural institutions.

Its proposals include:  

• Calling on the Government to meet its manifesto pledge to support the study of creative and vocational subjects in school, alongside embedding teaching for creativity into the curriculum and ensuring Ofsted inspections reflect the importance of creativity and the arts to attainment and inclusion.
• Setting up an £150m ‘Arts Premium Fund’ to develop the existing primary school workforce and train the next generation of teachers to provide arts learning.
• Expanding arts and music education, including free music or singing lessons for three years for every child who wishes to learn.
• Incorporating arts-based approaches and nurturing creative thinking in subjects such as history and science to increase pupil engagement and boost educational outcomes, while also widening the pipeline of talent and innovation needed for the creative economy to flourish.
• Putting creativity and the expressive arts at the heart of the primary school curriculum, with every primary school a ‘singing school’ where children should feel free to sing, make music, paint, draw, create, play, and act.
• Doubling the early years premium and directing these funds towards developing the foundational skills needed within primary school and society.
• Extracurricular enrichment opportunities, focusing on arts, storytelling, and heritage projects should be hard-wired into holiday programmes.
• Introducing a ‘Cultural Enrichment Fund’ to encourage partnerships with local cultural institutions, enabling schools to host artist-led workshops, theatre productions, or music classes and thereby enrich the experiences of all their students.  
• Developing educational partnerships with cultural institutions such as museums, theatres, and music academies to offer alternative routes to engaging students who may not thrive in conventional academic environments (e.g., those with SEND), and prioritising partnerships with schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged or rural regions.
• Creating more hands-on learning experiences that allow students to work alongside artists, curators, and other creative professionals to help young people discover new career pathways, including those within the UK’s growing creative economy.

The report also showcases innovative evidence-based approaches to boosting opportunities for children and young people including:

Northumberland-based Mortal Fools who are co-creating compelling, socially relevant, and high-quality theatre, film, and creative projects led by children, young people, artists, producers, schools, arts venues, and communities. Participants and audiences often come from the kinds of backgrounds that are severely under-represented in the arts. Mortal Fools work with these young people and their communities in weekly, youth-led, deep-level engagements so they can engage with the lifelong benefits that engagement with different kinds of performance can bestow. It has seen astonishing results with vulnerable young people.

Dance Action Zone Leeds (DAZL) is an inclusive community dance organisation based in Leeds that has made a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of children in the region. Each week, the organisation engages between 1,800 and 2,300 young people in a range of dance programmes. Located in some of the most deprived areas of Leeds, DAZL uses dance as a tool to combat health inequalities and improve physical and mental health among local children. DAZL’s work is deeply rooted in community development, training local young people and adults as dance leaders. Alongside its community-based work, DAZL runs a dynamic within- and after-school programme that reaches a wider audience across Leeds.

The Roundhouse in London is one of the most iconic performance venues in the country – and the largest provider of non-formal creative opportunities for young people in the UK. It works directly with over 10,000 young people every year, across its state-of-the-art, affordable Creative Studios, its award-winning, dedicated creative centre for freelancers and entrepreneurs Roundhouse Works (18-30s) within communities, and by offering online programmes. The venue provides access to high-quality creative opportunities – theatre, broadcast, animation, music, spoken word and audio – led by industry professionals across over 25 creative spaces available seven days per week. Projects are low-cost and affordable, and financial support is available. The Roundhouse offers a pipeline of diverse talent into music, film, broadcast, and audio. Alumni have won Oscars, performed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, and worked at the BBC, Disney+, and global documentaries.

House of Imagination (HOI) is a research-driven organisation that plays a pivotal role in transforming the way creativity is integrated into education. Focusing on children and young people’s creative and critical thinking, HOI provides a unique platform where young minds collaborate with professional artists, enabling them to explore and develop their artistic potential. Through its innovative approach, HOI emphasises the importance of creative practices, not only as a tool for self-expression but as a crucial means of fostering a deeper connection with learning. It aims to create a space for children to shape their own lives through creative activities while also encouraging schools to evolve through professional development and school-based collaborations.

Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said:

“Britain’s children have got talent - but we are often too slow to nurture it and we are frequently failing to harness the innate skills in our communities through our education system. This is hindering the ability of our country to flourish and thrive.

“Many of our most successful musicians and bands have benefited from a rich, cultural, and creative education in the private school sector. We need to invest in boosting the opportunities of children in our state schools, from all backgrounds, as part of a bold ambition to develop truly inclusive education, support creativity throughout childhood and to tackle problems like the attendance crisis and attainment gap.

“A career in the arts, music, and cultural industries must not become the preserve of only the most advantaged. Creativity and the expressive arts should be part and parcel of every child’s education from primary school, not just a small minority.

“This report provides evidence and proposals for how we can create more opportunities for all children to nurture and develop creative skills which are so important to growing our economy, and which would ensure we have a more diverse and thriving creative arts and music sector.”‍

Dr Camilla Kingdon, Former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said:

“We cannot afford to continue to squander the innate talent that exists everywhere in our country. We must encourage our future Benjamin Zephaniahs, Ed Sheerans, and Bridget Rileys – we have a rich cultural heritage to nurture.  We want a society where children of all abilities and talents can flourish.  

“That relies on creating an environment that enables a child to discover their hidden musical talent, or their under-developed dramatic skills, or their untapped artistic ability - and this cannot be reliant on having parents who have time and resources to nurture these talents.

“We must have an education system that sees investment in art and creativity as equally important to languages and maths or science.  There cannot be a hierarchy of talents - all of them are important and should be collectively nurtured by society.”

Professor Mark Mon Williams, Child of The North report series editor, said:

“The evidence is clear- embedding creative experiences in education has the power to boost social mobility, reduce inequalities, and equip children with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world and grow our economy.

“This report provides a blueprint for ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has access to the transformative power of a creative educational experience. It could not be launched at a better time as Bradford takes centre stage as the UK City of Culture 2025 and commits to supporting the government’s Opportunity Mission.

“It is time to recognise that creativity is not an optional extra—it is a fundamental pillar of an inclusive, opportunity-rich society."

Professor Simon J. James, Durham University, Executive report editor, said:

“The evidence shows that every one of us is, or can be creative - but is the country doing all we can do to encourage all our children and young people to be creative, and to think creatively?  There are profound economic and geographic inequalities in access to an education that develops creativity and creative thinking, inequalities which we need to address for the sake of all children, whatever their background, and wherever they grow up.

“We need to ensure we are nurturing not only the stars of the future, but also, the orchestras, brass bands and music teachers so vital for the happiness and wellbeing of our communities – and the support that is needed begins in childhood.

“The evidence shows starkly both how creativity is valued by multiple industries and employers, but also how it has been threatened and devalued in some parts of the education system. With a new government promising to put creativity at the heart of every British child’s education, we need to act now.”

ENDS

[.download]Download the report[.download]

For further information and live/pre-recorded media interview requests please contact: Jo Green (Centre for Young Lives) on jo.green@centreforyounglives.org or 07715105415

Notes to editors:

1. The report is available here.

2. Today’s report has been produced by eight research intensive universities in the North of England – the N8 Research Partnership – in collaboration with a wider academic community (the N8+) as part of the Child of the North initiative, and the Centre for Young Lives think tank, founded in January 2024 by former Children’s Commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield. It is the twelfth and final report in a series of Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives reports to be published during 2024/25 looking at how to encourage the Government to set out a vision for children and show how putting the interests and life chances of young people at the heart of policy making and delivery is crucial to Britain’s future success. They shine a light on some of the biggest challenges facing the Government while also providing rigorous research and pragmatic, evidence-based recommendations which acknowledge the ongoing financial limitations on government spending. Seven principles are a theme throughout the twelve reports: the Government must “put children first”; inequality must be addressed; place-based approaches must be adopted; public services must work together more effectively; education must be at the heart of public service delivery; universities must become the ‘research and development’ departments for local public services; and information must be shared across public service providers and used effectively.

3. Child of the North is a partnership between the N8 Research Partnership and the Northern Health Science Alliance / Health Equity North and includes partners from across the North of England. Its vision is to develop a platform for collaboration, high-quality research, and policy engagement to support fairer futures for children living in the North of England. The N8 Research Partnership is a strategic collaboration between the universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and York, and aims to maximise the impact of this research base to enable business innovation and societal transformation. The N8 universities receive around 80% of competitively awarded research funding in the North of England, and employ more than 18,000 academic staff, forming the largest research-pooling partnership in the UK. N8 creates programmes involving a critical mass of world class academics which form networks of innovation excellence with partners in other sectors, to drive investment and economic growth.

4. Health Equity North is a virtual institute focused on place-based solutions to public health problems and health inequalities across the North of England. Health Equity North brings together world-leading academic expertise from the Northern Health Science Alliance membership of leading universities, hospitals, and academic health science networks, with the aim of fighting health inequalities through research excellence and collaboration.