i) Youth Music is a national charity investing in music-making projects for children and young people. Youth Music’s work brings about multiple social outcomes for participants.
ii) Youth Music is joining up music education provision across England, and its work is cross-cutting, intersecting with many different government departments.
iii) Youth Music invests in around 350 projects per year, and each evaluates its impact. Therefore Youth Music can provide robust evidence of the social impact of the arts for children and young people.
iv) Creative music-making, taught in an inclusive way, can be particularly effective for children and young people disengaged with or outside of mainstream education.
v) Making music in the early years (0-5) has a measurable impact on social mobility – yet this is not covered in the National Plan for Music Education.
vi) More work needs to be done on improving social mobility for young people aged 18-25 linked to education, employment and progression in the creative industries.
vii) Youth Music has funded a number of pioneering projects in the area of crime reduction, finding new ways to tackle difficult challenges using music.
viii) Music in healthcare is a significant strand of work for Youth Music. A number of Youth Music-funded organisations and projects submitted evidence (which is also relevant to this enquiry) to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing.
ix) Youth Music has an organisational responsibility and a targeted strategy to ensure genuine diversity, in terms of the participants we support, the workforce of the organisations we invest in, and our own organisation. We aim to integrate this principle in every area of our work rather than having a ‘diversity project’.
x) Youth Music has a number of recommendations for changes to education policy and the arts and charity sector. We strongly believe that the next National Plan for Music Education should be written in consultation with the music education sector, with greater join-up at policy level between DCMS, DfE, Youth Music and Arts Council England. Funding should be prioritised for those who need it most, and sustainable core funding for charities is essential to achieve social impact through arts and culture.
1.1. Youth Music is a national charity investing in music-making projects for children and young people (aged 0-25) experiencing challenging circumstances. Founded in 1999, we support around 350 projects across England each year, reaching more than 75,000 children and young people.
1.2. Music has a cross-cutting role, joining up provision across the music education and youth work sectors. Our work intersects with many different government departments - including Culture, Education, Health, Justice, and Communities and Local Government - with music as the central driver.
1.3. The majority of Youth Music’s funding (currently £9.6m per year until 2022) comes from Arts Council England awarding funds from the National Lottery. Our focus on working with children facing difficulties in their lives who would otherwise miss out on music-making opportunities, and on supporting music-making of all genres, fulfils the ‘additionality’ principle on which the National Lottery was founded - to raise money for good causes which the government would otherwise not be able to fund
1.4. Youth Music’s income is supplemented by donations from trusts, foundations, corporations and the general public – particularly through our flagship fundraising campaign, Give a Gig.
1.5. Youth Music takes an outcomes approach. Projects we invest in support the musical, personal and social development of children and young people, and we also support positive outcomes for organisations and their workforce. Every Youth Music project measures its impact, helping us build a unique national overview.
1.6. We have a robust grants process, ensuring equitable distribution of funding based on need. We have five investment priority areas, developed in collaboration with Arts Council England: early years; youth justice; young people not in education, employment or training; young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities; and coldspots (young people missing out on music-making because of where they live or who they are).
1.7. We invest in long-term, sustainable music-making activities, lasting between six months and four years. Youth Music projects mostly take place outside school and use a young person-centred approach, where participants are given opportunities to choose what and how they want to learn. Sessions are collaborative and inclusive - music leaders encourage and inspire young people to learn at their own pace and in a way that best suits them. There is a focus on young people's individual progression journeys - both within and beyond the projects - based on their own interests and goals. Many participants go on to mentor other children, or to train as project leaders themselves.
1.8. Investment from Youth Music creates almost 4,000 employment opportunities each year (across a wide variety of roles), contributing to local economies.
2.1. Youth Music’s 2016-20 business plan is called Towards a Musically Inclusive England (https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/youth-music-business-plan-2016-20). ‘Musical inclusion’ is an approach to music teaching and learning that means all children and young people can make music, whatever their background or circumstances. In order to achieve this vision, we need to invest in more music-making projects - and we also need to work in partnership to bring about significant national changes to the music-making on offer to children beyond our projects.
2.2. Youth Music’s work is an example of how potentially isolated projects are being joined up. We run the Youth Music Network, an online community where music education professionals can make connections and share practice: http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/ We hold regional grantholder gatherings for the organisations we fund each year. We invest in 13 strategic partner organisations through our Fund C grants, taking action together as the ‘Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England’. Our four-year action research programme, Exchanging Notes, is pioneering partnerships between creative music-making organisations and schools.
2.3. Youth Music - along with other funders like Esmée Fairbairn, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Children in Need - has an important role to play in supporting the social outcomes of arts and culture. Youth Music welcomes Arts Council England’s increasing focus in this area - particularly through the Creative Case for Diversity - but the highest-funded organisations are still concentrated in London and are those associated first and foremost with ‘great art’.
2.4. We are particularly keen to strengthen our partnerships with Music Education Hubs in order to influence and support inclusive music-making practices.
3.1. Creative music-making, taught in an inclusive way, can be particularly effective for children and young people disengaged with or outside of mainstream education. In The Power of Music (a synthesis of the published evidence relating to the impact of music for children and young people), Professor Susan Hallam says that “There is evidence that musical activities can be effective in re-engaging disaffected students. Music offers the potential for enhanced self-efficacy, self-esteem and self-concept, improvements in mood, reduced anger, increased motivation and improved behaviour. The impact is in part mediated [by the] extent that young people have ownership of the music. Outcomes include increased motivation to engage in education, employment, or voluntary activity including gaining qualifications, heightened aspirations, and a more positive attitude towards learning. Participants also develop a range of transferable skills.”
3.2. Youth Music’s Exchanging Notes programme aims to ensure that young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or educational exclusion achieve the best musical, educational and wider outcomes through participation in a pioneering music education project; and to develop new models of effective partnership-working between schools and out-of-school music providers. The year-three interim evaluation report (2018) by researchers from Birmingham City University states that “the cultural experiences offered through Exchanging Notes have positively affected [participants’] educational progression in music, their social and emotional wellbeing, and their perceived value of school. The young people have developed their knowledge and understanding of composing, performing, listening skills, and communication through music-making. For some this has led to the uptake of instrumental music lessons outside of the Exchanging Notes project. Both teachers and music leaders have noted enjoyment and engagement as being good within the sessions, with an increase in social development and emotional wellbeing.” http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/researches/exchanging-notes-interim-report-year-3
3.3. These findings are backed up by a case study of Exchanging Notes participant, Tommy, who attends The Warren School in London, with music-making led by Drum Works. https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/tommys-story
3.4. Our evidence review of Looked after children and music-making (2010) found that music-making contributed to the development of a number of personal and social development outcomes among participants. These included improved negotiation and co-operative working skills, increased levels of self-discipline, developing the capacity to express themselves, and a stronger sense of self-awareness (particularly through lyric-writing). http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/resources/research/looked-after-children-music-making. In addition, young people developed music-making and other transferable skills. If they experienced a high level of engagement with the music-making project, this contributed to their improved engagement with learning and, in turn, education. “These [outcomes] included learning to ‘push through’ the frustrations and setbacks of learning a new skill; turning up on time; and trusting and working with an adult”. This case study of Mollie, who participated in a Youth Music-funded project in Derbyshire run by Baby People, illustrates the importance of developing these skills: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/mollies-story
3.5. Our evidence review of Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) and music-making (2011) found that outcomes for participants included increased motivation to engage in education, employment or voluntary activity; improved musicianship; transferable skills development (e.g. teamwork, focus and concentration, timekeeping, listening, decision-making); enhanced emotional wellbeing; improved social interaction; broadening horizons; positive behaviour; and risk-taking in a positive sense (such as challenging self-doubt). http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/resources/research/young-people-not-education-employment-or-training-neet-and-music-making
3.6. A common feature of many projects run by charities (including those funded by Youth Music) is a staffing structure that includes a music leader alongside specialist pastoral support (often youth workers), offering holistic support and nurturing social outcomes. The impact of local authority cuts is threatening this infrastructure.
3.7. Music Education Hub funding is designated against the core and extension roles of the National Plan for Music Education: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-importance-of-music-a-national-plan-for-music-education. The Plan has a laudable aim to ensure that all children from every part of England have access to music-making. However, this focus on ‘access’ (reaching as many children as possible) is sometimes at the expense of inclusion (breaking down barriers to those who are missing out and may need additional resources - presenting tough choices within a finite funding envelope). This tension affects the extent to which the national plan for music education can impact on social outcomes.
3.8. The additional expense of operating in rural areas is not recognised in the funding formula for Music Education Hubs, where travel between venues and fewer paying customers (i.e. schools and parents) makes sustainable business models more challenging. This, coupled with a less developed arts infrastructure in rural areas, means that the ‘patchy’ provision the plan aims to eradicate is unfortunately still very present.
4.1. Opportunities for social mobility are disproportionately available in London (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/social-mobility-in-great-britain-fifth-state-of-the-nation-report) where the cultural infrastructure is more developed and there are a higher proportion of outstanding schools than other areas of the country. Youth Music addresses this imbalance through our investments. We operate a sophisticated funding formula, which last year led to 82% of funding being invested outside London, and one-quarter of total investment going into the North East and North West combined. https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/impact-report
4.2. While the focus on social mobility from the Department for Education is welcomed, there is scope for more work to be done on improving social mobility for young people aged 18-25 linked to education, employment and progression in the arts and cultural industries. There are often barriers to young people’s social mobility in the charities, arts and music industries, due to a culture of low pay and unpaid internships. Youth Music wants to change this culture, and we support the Unpaid Work Experience (Prohibition) Bill (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/unpaid-internships-are-damaging-to-social-mobility). In April 2018 we became a Living Wage Friendly Funder (the first in the arts and culture sector) and we introduced an internship programme paid at the London Living Wage. https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/opens-opportunities-so-many-people-living-wage-week
4.3. The National Plan for Music Education’s model of progression omits children aged 0-5. It isn’t reflective of the reality of today’s multifaceted progression journeys experienced by young musicians - nor the employment opportunities within the creative industries. However the Culture White Paper produced by DCMS does discuss progression routes into the music industry for young people: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/culture-white-paper. There needs to be greater alignment between the DfE and the DCMS when it comes to music education strategies.
4.4. Arts and youth charities often lack the means to measure their impact on social mobility. This is because of the short-term nature of project-based work, a lack of access to pupil attainment data and other indicators (e.g. social class or free school meals eligibility); inadequate resource for research activity; and the lack of a shared measurement framework (in which charities use the same methods and scales to evaluate impact for participants, so that comparisons can be made). Consequently, much social mobility ‘evidence’ tends to be anecdotal or based on individual case studies.
4.5. We have focused our response to the theme of social mobility on Early Years (children aged 0-5), where more data exists. This ability of high-quality early education and childcare provision to narrow school-readiness gaps between children from different social backgrounds is generally well-accepted and underpinned by research (e.g. The Sutton Trust https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/closing-gaps-early-parenting-policy-childcare/). Parenting is also generally accepted as a major factor affecting child development.
4.6. Early Years has been a strategic focus for Youth Music since the charity was established. One of our guiding principles is that taking part in music-making has a number of benefits to infants and their carers, and that every child should be given access to music-making opportunities from as early an age as possible. Professor Susan Hallam’s The Power of Music (2015) states that “active engagement with making music should start early for the greatest benefits to be realised” and that “early engagement (before the age of seven) may be important”. http://www.mec.org.uk/storage/power%20of%20music.pdf
4.7. Youth Music-funded Early Years work takes place in a variety of settings including nurseries, children’s centres, community projects, arts venues and in the home. In such work, children often participate in activities with their parents.
4.8. Youth Music’s Early Years evidence review (2010) found that as well as building confidence of children and parents, music was an effective tool in the integration of children (aged 0-5) with English as an additional language. Musical communication was found to overcome language differences. http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/research/Early_years_evidence_review_2010.pdf
4.9. One Youth Music-funded project run by WILD Young Parents in Cornwall (https://www.wildproject.org.uk/) includes music-making activities for children and their young parents (average age 19 years). In their end-of-project evaluation to Youth Music, they reported that 80% of participants demonstrated improvements in communication and language, as evidenced by their standardised Early Years Foundation Stage assessment checks. Children’s use of words and signs increased by 20%. Sessions included improving parental understanding of child development and the impact of music-making – afterwards mothers scored their improvement in understanding of music and child development at a 32% increase. In addition, they reported significant improvements in their confidence as a parent, in their ability to cope with family relationships and in their own mental health.
4.10. Another Youth Music-funded project run by Creative Futures in London (https://www.creativefuturesuk.com/) used music and story-telling to improve children's key skills - in particular speech, language and communication skills and social and emotional development. The project involved multiple strands: weekly musician-led workshops with groups of children in nursery settings, children’s centres, and nursery classes of primary schools; CPD sessions for Early Years staff; termly concerts in local venues offering a range of live music experiences; a collaboration with NHS Speech and Language Therapists; a trial to explore how music impacts specifically on executive function skills; and underpinning it all, a comprehensive research and evaluation framework to assess the initiative’s impact: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b407e0_6372b2870c8c479fb9c26ccf8799694f.pdf The research found above-expected levels of progression in children across all assessed areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (consolidated figures for Year 1 and Year 2) of between one and three months.
4.11. The two Youth Music-funded projects above are run by charities, involving cross-sector partnerships between the arts, statutory Early Years services, health and social care. Such cross-sector partnerships are often essential in bringing about the best social outcomes for young children – and therefore funding to support this whole infrastructure is important.
4.12. The availability of musical opportunities for the under-5s across the country is patchy, and participation is often affected by parental wealth. By far the largest exposure to arts and creative activity for very young children takes place in childcare settings.
4.13. The 2017 Government response to its consultation on primary assessment in England (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/primary-assessment-in-england) proposed removing the number of areas in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, which could include ‘Understanding the World’ and ‘Expressive Arts and Design’. Youth Music fears that if this proposal is implemented, it could lead to creative arts activities being de-prioritised in the Early Years Foundation Stage, removing opportunities for young children to engage in activities that are positive to their development.
4.14. A Sutton Trust report charts the shift in Early Education policy from quality early education for child development, towards childcare affordability for working families. They assert that the tax free childcare scheme and the 30 hour entitlement for working families mean “longer hours in state-funded early education for children who are already relatively advantaged, which may be expected to widen gaps in child development at school starting age. Particularly worrying, these investments are coming at the expense of the quality of provision”. https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/closing-gaps-early-parenting-policy-childcare/. This highlights the need for and importance of a workforce development offer to ensure high quality provision.
4.15. While the importance of music in the Early Years is recognised in the National Plan for Music Education, it does not fall within the remit of Music Education Hub core and extension roles. We believe this is a missed opportunity to provide a more joined-up approach to a child’s music education - potentially limiting its impact. Music Education Hubs have the potential to draw together cross-sector partnerships at the local level, linking into the infrastructure of the Cultural Education Challenge, and providing a more coherent strategy and training for Early Years music at the local level.
5.1. Youth Music’s evidence review Music-making with young offenders and young people at risk of offending (2011) found outcomes including increased musical skills, improvement in educational skills (numeracy, literacy, problem solving, communication and team-working), and development of transferable employment skills. Participants gained increased confidence and self-esteem, which affected their attitude and behaviour. http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/resources/research/young-offenders-evidence-review
5.2. The evidence review looks at a number of studies focusing on hip-hop in particular. However it concludes that “some young people respond positively to rap as a genre that specifically acknowledges and respects their backgrounds and ‘their’ music. Hence the impact of music making may be contingent upon the extent of ‘ownership’ felt by the young people taking part.” The youth-led approach taken by projects we support means that young people get the opportunity to engage with music that interests them, whatever genre that might be. Lyric-writing can be particularly effective in helping young people to express their feelings.
5.3. Music can be a particularly effective medium for engaging with young people, especially those at risk of offending who may be disengaged from mainstream education. Unitas’ evaluation of their Summer Arts Colleges (previously funded by Youth Music) shows that more than 90% of young people who complete the programme achieve an Arts Award (a nationally recognised accreditation) and that over two thirds of young people increase their literacy and numeracy levels. https://www.unitas.uk.net/summer-arts-colleges/
5.4. Youth Music has funded a number of pioneering projects in the area of youth justice, finding new ways to tackle difficult challenges using music. This case study of Pembe, who took part in the Five O Band run by The Crib in London, describes how music united police officers and young people at risk of offending: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/pembes-story In Birmingham, 7E Youth Academy used music to reach young people at risk of engaging in gang violence and extremism: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/7e-youth-academy-power-music
6.1. Youth Music’s Music in Healthcare evidence review (2018) found benefits of delivering music-making with babies and children on hospital wards ranging from increased engagement in education of therapeutic activities; happiness; parent and child bonding; emotional wellbeing gains for parents and children through distraction from the hospital environment; and physiological benefits such as reduced heart rate (http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/resources/music-healthcare-evidence-review). Lydia’s case study, from a Youth Music-funded project run by LIME Music for Health in Manchester, shows the impact for a participant and her family https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/lydias-story
6.2. A number of Youth Music-funded organisations and projects submitted evidence (which is also relevant to this enquiry) to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing. This includes:
6.3. The submissions have a number of factors in common. The work is often led by a charitable organisation, but could not exist without inter-agency working between musicians, health professionals, researchers, community organisations and other professionals. Such work is supported by a variety of funding sources, the majority of which appear to be relatively short-term. There are therefore questions raised as to the sustainability of the work and the burden that is placed on charitable organisations in seeking funding from multiple sources.
7.1. Inclusion is at the heart of Youth Music’s work. Our focus on breaking down barriers for young people facing a range of challenges means that our participant demographics are very diverse and representative of England’s population: particularly in terms of the number of BAME and disabled young people we support, and those living in areas of multiple deprivation. https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/impact-report.
7.2. Inclusive music-making environments can provide a safe space for young people facing hostility elsewhere. Jordyn had to leave school due to bullying and mental health issues. A Youth Music-funded project run by Warrington Youth Café gave them a safe environment to continue learning, sit GCSEs, and volunteer as a mentor to others: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/jordyns-story
7.3. Young people can often be excluded from music education provision because of assumptions about their impairments and interests. This case study of Isma and Aisha, who took part in a Youth Music-funded project run by Yorkshire Youth & Music in Bradford, shows the benefits of music-making for deaf children: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/isma-and-aishas-story
7.4. Youth Music’s research on Engagement with Technology in Special Educational and Disabled Music Settings (2011) explores the importance of technology for disabled young people: http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/resources/research/engagement-technology-special-educational-disabled-music-settings This case study of our long-term investment in OpenUp Music in Bristol shows how technology enables disabled young people’s engagement with music to go beyond access, to meaningful development of musical skills and progression: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/openup-music
7.5. Youth Music’s commitment to diversity is also represented in the range of music-making genres young people explore in the projects we fund – for example Elijah learned African drumming skills at a project run by Everyone’s Climbing Tree in London: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/elijahs-story and Louis developed an interest in ambient music at Plymouth Music Zone: https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/louiss-story
7.6. Youth Music has an organisational responsibility and a targeted strategy to ensure genuine diversity, in terms of the participants we support, the workforce of the organisations we invest in, and our own organisation. We aim to integrate this principle in every area of our work rather than having a ‘diversity project’.
7.7. We recognise that our own workforce is not as diverse as it should be, so our business plan sets out our commitment to maintaining a diverse and skilled workforce. https://www.youthmusic.org.uk/youth-music-business-plan-2016-20. A concerted, deliberate strategy to change the make-up of our board is underway, with three new Trustees and a new Chair appointed in 2017. We have changed our recruitment practices to be more inclusive, including introducing anonymous applications, and advertising through different channels to reach a diverse pool of candidates.
7.8. As employers, arts and cultural organisations have a significant role to play in the creative economy and in supporting individual social mobility. There is a lack of workforce diversity across the arts – with the majority of the workforce white and middle-class (and particularly those in management and leadership positions). http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/equality-diversity-and-creative-case-data-report-2016-17
7.9. We aim to be a role model in terms of diversity for the organisations we invest in. As a Living Wage Friendly Funder, we have made it a requirement for the strategic partner organisations we fund to pay all staff the living wage. We aim to make it a requirement for all grantholders by the end of 2018. Low pay can be one of the biggest barriers to a diverse workforce. https://www.livingwage.org.uk/good-for-society
7.10. Diversity in the arts and cultural workforce can be better achieved by increasing the number of inclusive progression opportunities for young people. We tentatively welcome the introduction of T-Levels which could offer a practical qualification for young people wanting to enter the creative industries. We also support the Certificate for Music Educators, which offers a professional qualification route for a role in which training is often informal or not well joined-up. http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=2988
7.11. Drake Music’s Youth Music-funded Think 2020 project is campaigning for increased visibility of and opportunities for disabled musicians in the music education workforce: http://www.drakemusic.org/our-work/training-consultancy/think2020/
7.12. We are supporting Bristol Music Trust in their strategy to enable access and progression routes for disabled musicians. Their venue - Colston Hall - is already home to the South West Open Youth Orchestra, and a significant capital redevelopment of the building (alongside a name change to disassociate from slave trader Edward Colston) will provide a future centre for inclusive excellence. We welcome their ambition to provide a Centre for Advanced Training for disabled musicians https://www.colstonhall.org/about-us/bristol-music-trust/.
7.13. The lack of arts subjects in the EBacc qualification could lead to an undervaluing of careers in the sector, perpetuating diversity issues. This threatens to inhibit future innovation and undermine the UK’s ability to compete on global stage.
We recommend that:
8.1.1 Funding for the next National Plan for Music Education should continue at the same level as a minimum.
8.1.2 The next plan should be written in consultation with the music education sector, with greater join-up at policy level between DCMS, DfE, Youth Music and Arts Council England. Funding should be prioritised for those who need it most.
8.1.3 The funding formula should be reconsidered to take account of more challenging business models in rural areas.
8.1.4 The Plan should include Early Years (with additional funding and a focus on workforce development) to support childcare settings and provide a more coherent strategy at the local level.
8.1.5 Core roles 3 (progression) should be expanded in line with the wider role of music and its contribution to the creative industries.
8.1.6 The core roles should place more emphasis on the importance of creativity, and the need to offer music-making in genres and on instruments that reflect young people’s interests and needs.
8.1.7 Extension role 1 (workforce development) should be extended to go beyond schools and the curriculum, to include Early Years, inclusive pedagogies and diversification of the workforce. It should encourage the Certificate for Music Educators accreditation.
8.1.8 Music Education Hub lead organisations should be required to have an equality action plan, mirroring National Portfolio Organisation requirements.
February 2018