Child of the North 2024/25 Campaign – Report 12
Child of the North 2024/25 Campaign – Report 12
An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity
The final report in a twelve-part series campaigning for a country that works for all children and young people. #ChildrenFirst
Produced jointly by Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives, the twelfth and final report in the Child of the North 2024/25 campaign series warns the talents of millions of children are being ignored and wasted, and calls for creativity to be embedded into an inclusive school curriculum supporting all children – including those with SEND – to develop a new generation of creatives to boost economic growth.
First published in March 2025, An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativity, calls for the Government’s Opportunity Mission to boost culture, creativity, and arts in schools to inspire children, improve mental health, strengthen school belonging, tackle the school attendance and attainment crises, and support children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to build careers in the creative industries.
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An evidence-based approach to creating a culture of inclusive opportunity through arts and creativityPublished March 2025 Our analysis reveals that:
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It says the success of the UK’s cultural and creative industries is now seriously imperiled by this neglect and warns that the educational pipeline that supplied the infrastructure for professional music careers is severely restricted.
The report calls for a cultural shift to create an inclusive education system with creativity at its heart. It argues schools should not merely be places of ‘reading, writing and maths’ but places where young people can express themselves, explore diverse identities, and develop the critical thinking skills needed to thrive.
It also argues that the evidence shows that schools which value inclusivity and belonging have a better understanding of their students, particularly those from minority backgrounds and those with SEND, leading to increased sense of school belonging and helping to tackle the current school attendance crisis.
The report includes new analysis showing the importance of an inclusive education system, revealing that children are over three times more likely to become Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) at 16-18 years when they disengage from the education system and are persistently absent from the classroom. A third (34%) of persistently absent children were identified as NEET, compared to just 9% of children who did not have such attendance issues. Previous reports have shown that unsupported Special Education Needs are likewise a major risk factor for children becoming NEET.
This new analysis also shows that pupils attending faith schools, which often show increased ratings of a sense of belonging, have a 20% lower rate of NEET compared to pupils from non-faith schools.
The report makes a series of recommendations to the Government in three key policy areas:
- Cultivating creativity and critical thinking through inclusive education;
- Increasing arts investment to create an inclusive education system; and
- Enriching education by connecting schools to cultural institutions.
The proposals include:
- Calling on the Government to meet its manifesto pledge to support the study of creative and vocational subjects in school, alongside embedding teaching for creativity into the curriculum and ensuring Ofsted inspections reflect the importance of creativity and the arts to attainment and inclusion.
- Setting up an £150m ‘Arts Premium Fund’ to develop the existing primary school workforce and train the next generation of teachers to provide arts learning.
- Putting creativity and the expressive arts at the heart of the primary school curriculum, with every primary school a ‘singing school’ where children should feel free to sing, make music, paint, draw, create, play, and act.
- Doubling the early years premium and directing these funds towards developing the foundational skills needed within primary school and society.
- Introducing a ‘Cultural Enrichment Fund’ to encourage partnerships with local cultural institutions, enabling schools to host artist-led workshops, theatre productions, or music classes and thereby enrich the experiences of all their students.
- Developing educational partnerships with cultural institutions such as museums, theatres, and music academies to offer alternative routes to engaging students who may not thrive in conventional academic environments (e.g., those with SEND), and prioritising partnerships with schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged or rural regions.
The report also showcases innovative evidence-based approaches to boosting opportunities for children and young people including:
Northumberland-based Mortal Fools who are co-creating compelling, socially relevant, and high-quality theatre, film, and creative projects led by children, young people, artists, producers, schools, arts venues, and communities. Mortal Fools work with these young people and their communities in weekly, youth-led, deep-level engagements so they can engage with the lifelong benefits that engagement with different kinds of performance can bestow.
Dance Action Zone Leeds (DAZL) is an inclusive community dance organisation based in Leeds that has made a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of children in the region. Each week, the organisation engages between 1,800 and 2,300 young people in a range of dance programmes. Located in some of the most deprived areas of Leeds, DAZL uses dance as a tool to combat health inequalities and improve physical and mental health among local children.
The Roundhouse in London is one of the most iconic performance venues in the country – and the largest provider of non-formal creative opportunities for young people in the UK. It works directly with over 10,000 young people every year, across its state-of-the-art, affordable Creative Studios, its award-winning, dedicated creative centre for freelancers and entrepreneurs Roundhouse Works (18-30s) within communities, and by offering online programmes.
House of Imagination (HOI) is a research-driven organisation that plays a pivotal role in transforming the way creativity is integrated into education. Focusing on children and young people’s creative and critical thinking, HOI provides a unique platform where young minds collaborate with professional artists, enabling them to explore and develop their artistic potential.
Webinar
In April 2025 a number of the report’s authors came together to discuss the report’s findings and policy recommendations, including:
- Prof Simon James (Durham University)
- Gavin Davenport (Edgehill University)
- Prof Lynn Newton (Durham University)
- Dr Nathan Jones (Lancaster University)
- Dr Penny Hay (Bath Spa University)
- Dr Paige Davis (University of Leeds)
Watch a recording of the webinar here.
Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said:
“Britain’s children have got talent – but we are often too slow to nurture it and we are frequently failing to harness the innate skills in our communities through our education system. This is hindering the ability of our country to flourish and thrive.
“Many of our most successful musicians and bands have benefited from a rich, cultural, and creative education in the private school sector. We need to invest in boosting the opportunities of children in our state schools, from all backgrounds, as part of a bold ambition to develop truly inclusive education, support creativity throughout childhood and to tackle problems like the attendance crisis and attainment gap.
“A career in the arts, music, and cultural industries must not become the preserve of only the most advantaged. Creativity and the expressive arts should be part and parcel of every child’s education from primary school, not just a small minority.
“This report provides evidence and proposals for how we can create more opportunities for all children to nurture and develop creative skills which are so important to growing our economy, and which would ensure we have a more diverse and thriving creative arts and music sector.”
Dr Camilla Kingdon, Former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said:
“We cannot afford to continue to squander the innate talent that exists everywhere in our country. We must encourage our future Benjamin Zephaniahs, Ed Sheerans, and Bridget Rileys – we have a rich cultural heritage to nurture. We want a society where children of all abilities and talents can flourish.
“That relies on creating an environment that enables a child to discover their hidden musical talent, or their under-developed dramatic skills, or their untapped artistic ability – and this cannot be reliant on having parents who have time and resources to nurture these talents.
“We must have an education system that sees investment in art and creativity as equally important to languages and maths or science. There cannot be a hierarchy of talents – all of them are important and should be collectively nurtured by society.”
Professor Mark Mon Williams, Child of The North report series editor, said:
“The evidence is clear- embedding creative experiences in education has the power to boost social mobility, reduce inequalities, and equip children with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world and grow our economy.
“This report provides a blueprint for ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has access to the transformative power of a creative educational experience. It could not be launched at a better time as Bradford takes centre stage as the UK City of Culture 2025 and commits to supporting the government’s Opportunity Mission.
“It is time to recognise that creativity is not an optional extra—it is a fundamental pillar of an inclusive, opportunity-rich society.”
Professor Simon J. James, Durham University and Executive report editor, said:
“The evidence shows that every one of us is, or can be creative – but is the country doing all we can do to encourage all our children and young people to be creative, and to think creatively? There are profound economic and geographic inequalities in access to an education that develops creativity and creative thinking, inequalities which we need to address for the sake of all children, whatever their background, and wherever they grow up.
“We need to ensure we are nurturing not only the stars of the future, but also, the orchestras, brass bands and music teachers so vital for the happiness and wellbeing of our communities – and the support that is needed begins in childhood.
“The evidence shows starkly both how creativity is valued by multiple industries and employers, but also how it has been threatened and devalued in some parts of the education system. With a new government promising to put creativity at the heart of every British child’s education, we need to act now.”
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