Billington praises move to give arts education more focus

EAST Thanet MP Polly Billington has welcomed significant and sweeping reforms to the national curriculum, stating that the changes will better equip every child with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the modern world.

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Ms Billington, who chairs the All-Party Group for Art, Craft, and Design in Education, said she was delighted that the reforms will restore arts GCSEs to an equal status in education. In February she led a campaign in February, backed by the National Education Union, calling for the reversal of reforms made by the previous administration that had sidelined creative subjects.

The change addresses concerns that the previous policy had led to a dramatic reduction in the take-up of arts subjects in state schools.