At Long Last: Drama Steps Out of the Shadows

Well, it finally happened. The government has announced a curriculum review that, for once, gives the creative arts a proper seat at the table - and I’ll admit, I did a double take when I saw drama actually named as one of the four discrete art forms. After years of watching the subject shuffled about like the spare chair at the end of the table, that recognition feels, frankly, overdue.

Of course, let’s not get too carried away just yet. The reforms aren’t radical but the tone is different. There’s a sense that someone in government has finally realised what most teachers and theatre-makers have known all along: the arts aren’t a nice add-on, they’re the very stuff of what it means to learn, to empathise, to imagine and to connect.

The headlines sound promising. The government says it will introduce a clear sub-section for drama in Key Stage 3 English, strengthen its place in Key Stages 1 and 2, and even review GCSE Drama to make sure it reflects the diversity of contemporary work. They’ve talked about equitable access, about building solid foundations and about connecting early experiences to proper progression routes. Words, yes - but words pointing in the right direction.

To understand why this matters, you only have to look at the data. Since 2010, enrolment in arts GCSEs has fallen by almost 40%, and the number of arts teachers has dropped by nearly a quarter. At A level, around half of students once took at least one humanities or arts subject - by 2022, that figure had slipped to just 38%, with only 24% taking arts options such as music, design or media. It’s been a long, slow erosion - a creativity crisis that has left whole cohorts of children with fewer opportunities to express themselves, to think laterally or to see their own culture reflected in school.

That’s why the long-overdue decision to scrap the EBacc is so significant. For over a decade, it’s quietly strangled creative provision in state schools, reducing the arts to an optional extra rather than an entitlement. Its removal, and the wider shift towards a more holistic approach to learning, could be a turning point - if we let it be.

And it’s not just drama. The broader curriculum proposals talk about art, music, dance, design and digital creativity as central, not peripheral. There’s even talk of a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education - a move that, if delivered with integrity, could transform how young people encounter and experience the arts in schools.

Why does this matter so much? Because children and young people are growing up in a world defined by misinformation, social division and AI-driven everything. They need tools to listen, to speak, to challenge and to collaborate. Drama - with its messiness, its play, its humanity - builds those muscles better than almost any other subject. Well I think so anyway. We’ve been shouting about this for years: that creative learning isn’t just for the talented few or the well-resourced schools. It’s a right. The arts help children make sense of who they are and how they fit into the world.

So yes, a cautious welcome from me. It’s taken far too long, and the details will matter, but for once it feels like the tide might finally be turning… with drama stepping back into the light.

So, if you’re working in education, policy or the arts and any of this strikes a chord - whether you’re rethinking how creativity fits into the classroom, developing programmes for young audiences, or just want to chat about where drama belongs in the mix - do get in touch. I’m always up for a conversation about how we keep creativity at the heart of learning.

Until next time.