The lowest ever number of A-level music students ever will today be receiving their results as numbers in the crucial subject have plummeted even further to push the subject into fresh crisis. Industry insiders fear that despite music being a British global success story, bringing over £8bn into the economy and spreading soft power around the globe, the subject could completely vanish over the next decade.
The horror statistics by Ofqal, which are for exam entries this summer, show A-level music entries plummeted by 4.9% from last year to just 4,635 pupils. GCSE music entries are down 1.3%.
The fall comes despite overall exam entries rising in line with the 18-year-old population. Overall GCSE entries have increased by 1.1% since last summer, while A-levels are up 2.9%.
But analysis by Campaign for the Arts in 2025 shows the share of total entries in A-levels arts subjects contracted by 0.5%, reaching the lowest level in 15 years.
The uptake of A-level music has fallen by nearly 50% since 2010, the year then Tory Education chief Michael Gove’s EBacc system was introduced, incentivising schools to focus on a set of subjects such as maths, English and science whilst excluding music and all arts subjects.
Meanwhile recent research by the Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) showed the number of young people taking arts GCSEs in state schools has fallen by 41.7% since 2010.
Although GCSE music had shown signs of a modest recovery in the last few years, overall the trend has similarly been one of decline since 2010, with over a third of schools in England now not offering GCSE music.
The Express’ Strike A Chord campaign has been demanding government intervention to protect the subject and protect the talent pipeline that fuels the “juggernaught industry”. Stars across the industry have backed the campaign including Def Leppard and trumpet virtuoso Alison Balsom.
Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) chief executive Deborah Annetts said of the recent Ofqual entries: “On a day when young people are hopefully celebrating their exam results, the provisional music entries in England shows us that the future of music A level is in peril.
“Without urgent action there’s a real risk A level music could disappear from state schools altogether within a decade.”
Annetts said it is crucial that the government urgently address the decline of music education in England stating the “stakes could not be higher”.
She added: “The government says it wants music to flourish in all schools, but has shown none of the action required to meet this ambition. We need urgent action so every child has access to high-quality music education school.”
Chris Grist, artistic director of London Concertante, said: “The Government has promised change, but after years of decline, what matters is whether that ambition actually translates into more young people studying and making music. This is an existential issue for our industry, and we urge the new Prime Minister and his Government to treat it with the seriousness it deserves.”