Earl of Clancarty in the House of Lords on Creative Subjects

Published 15th May 2017

The Earl of Clancarty raised a question in the House of Lords on creative education and what steps Her Majesty's Government intend to take to encourage the study of design subjects in schools. 

In order to give pupils access to an excellent and well rounded education, Art and Design and Design and Technical were seen to be essential to ensure success. 

The Earl of Clancarty goes on to ask whether there is agreement on the point that "design is essential for our technical trades and creative industries? As the Government are correctly putting an emphasis on technical education, are they not concerned about the significant fall in take-up of GCSE and A-level design subjects, with a recent Association of School and College Leaders survey showing a drop of 44% over the past year alone in the number of schools offering GCSE design and technology? Will the Government address these concerns, and if so, how?"

Following the exchange Lord Nash has agreed to take the points being raised back for discussion.  You can read the full transcript here.