Children starved of art lose their creative spark - and Britain loses its cultural future

When Keir Starmer became prime minister, he said he wanted to put the arts "at the centre of a new, hopeful, modern story of Britain".

- Catherine Milner

The arts were too widely seen as a middle-class "add-on", he said, but this would change, "because we know they're essential to our economic growth and our national identity".

Stirring words. And yet, one year on, Britain's arts renaissance looks more like a doodle in a maths book. According to the charity AccessArt, the average amount spent on art materials for a primary pupil is £1.80 a year. In some schools it's 14p – barely enough to buy a single crayon.

Since 2011, recruitment of art teachers has fallen by 27%, and despite the government's ambition to train more, only half of the number needed signed up last year. GCSE entries in all arts subjects have fallen by 42% in 10 years. In design and technology uptake fell by 71% between 2010 and 2023.

This is not just about losing our artistic heritage; it's about losing the hands, eyes and imagination that made our culture in the first place.

A recent YouGov survey found that only 12% of primary teachers were able to provide more than an hour of art a week, even though they recognised it was leading to a decline in pupils' handwriting, problem-solving and wellbeing.

Nearly a million children are excluded from England's schools a year, and though they may not all be budding Banksys or Emins, many could benefit from channelling their energy into something other than the three Rs. They may even make a career out of it - 65% of hard-to-fill vacancies in the creative industries are due to a skills shortfall.