Enabling more equitable teaching of advanced GCE level (A-Level) Music in England: a partnership approach

Abstract Recent governmental figures have demonstrated that the number of students taking an examination in A-Level Music across England has fallen by 41% in eleven years (Ofqual, 2023a). Furthermore, areas with lower POLAR ratings (i.e. historical rates of participation in higher education) and greater levels of deprivation correlate with lower uptake of A-Level Music (Whittaker et al., 2019). These findings have profound implications for equitable access to music education, especially at advanced levels. Against this challenging background, Sandbach School, the Love Music Trust and the Royal Northern College of Music have sought to respond by creating a new partnership approach to A-Level Music. Since September 2019, this specialist course has drawn students together from all over Cheshire whose access to A-Level Music has been geographically limited. Specifically aiming to facilitate progression into higher education, this course provides the young musicians with musical enrichment activities that are additional to the core curriculum, including performance opportunities, advanced musicianship classes, chamber music and instrumental tuition at the Royal Northern College of Music. This article presents a critical discourse analysis of data collected from these students and their teachers, contextualising their experiences within a broader analysis of recent socio-cultural trends and the associated political climate that has impacted on the provision of music education within English schools. Findings point to an important rearticulation of the meaning of ‘Music Hub’, where putting schools at the centre and enriching this provision through strategic partnerships with local ensembles, music services and higher education institutions can build musical cultures and communities that better enable equitable access to high-level music education and progression pathways into higher education.