Martin Fautley
@proffautley.bsky.social
Emeritus Professor of Music Education, Birmingham City University.
No need to do my annual 'mess about with Excel' morning entering the A-level music data for England and getting depressed, as the Ofqual website does it all by itself nowadays. Result, still not good new for music. Screen grabs from Ofqual website. 1. Music A-level (England)
Piece by me in which I discuss assessment in music in the Primary School. It's available at: issuu.com/primarymusic...
Primary Music Magazine Issue 10.2 Summer 2026
The magazine for primary music teachers, by primary music teachers.
issuu.com
Have just read the Northern Ireland proposed curriculum for music and wondering if it might signal the direction for England? www.education-ni.gov.uk/publications...
Subject Frameworks and Key Stage Documents
Please find below the subject frameworks and Key Stage documents relating to the Northern Ireland Curriculum Consultation.
education-ni.gov.uk
We’re all set for @proffautley.bsky.social’s keynote! 🌟 Join us in the Keynote Theatre as he takes us through the curriculum frameworks, co-authored with @allydaubney.bsky.social and published by the ISM Trust 🎶 #MDEE26
This time next week, we'll be at #MDEE26! Join us on 13 Feb at 2.30pm in the Keynote Theatre as @proffautley.bsky.social takes us through ISM Trust’s revised ‘Curriculum for music’ frameworks, co-authored by Dr Alison Daubney We'll also be at stand B92 - come and say hello! 👋
Bridget Whyte has today announced that she will be stepping down from her role as Chief Executive Officer following nearly nine years of service to Music Mark. Read more: www.musicmark.org.uk/news/bridget...
I like to try to listen to music when it's seasonally appropriate, which means this CD only has a fairly brief window! (However, @prestomusic.bsky.social streaming means that's not a problem!)
It's arrived! Complete with brand new cover design and brilliant contributions from Anthony Anderson, Carolyn Cooke, Victoria Kinsella, John Finney, Chris Philpott, @proffautley.bsky.social, @gary-spruce.bsky.social, @kirstydevaney.bsky.social, @drannamariguddi.bsky.social, and others 🙌
Hooray, goodbye to the wretched EBacc. Gov press release today says: "...removal of the EBacc and reforms to Progress 8 – to encourage students to study a greater breadth of GCSE subjects including the arts..."Good-oh 👍
Fingers crossed the EBacc is consigned to the waste bin...
ISM@ism-music.bsky.social · 12mo ago🚨 THIS WEEK 🚨 The Curriculum and Assessment Review is almost here and the ISM is keen to see how music education is going to grow and develop for the next generation For 15 years it’s been the ISM vs the EBacc, scrap it now 🗑️ Read our open letter ⬇️ www.ism.org/news/1300-si...
Since 2010, the EBacc has diminished music in schools. For over a decade, we have campaigned tirelessly for reform. The government has promised to put music back at the heart of our schools. The Curriculum and Assessment Review is the chance to prove it.
Strange - and worrying - that these two messages appear side-by-side in my feed this morning:
I really, really don't like the sound (or smell!) of this: schoolsweek.co.uk/row-over-new...
Row over new Ofsted ‘high-quality’ research checks
New inspections will judge teacher trainers down if use of 'discredited research' isn't tackled
schoolsweek.co.uk
Listening to Ed Watkins on latest Music Teachers Association podcast talking about A-level music grading issues, I hope he manages to make waves about this, as for a while I've been fruitlessly asking about disparity in A* grades awarded between music & maths & getting nowhere! Reposting image:
The ISM has long called for the reform or scrapping of the EBacc and Progress 8. These measures have marginalised arts subjects in schools. Since 2010, we've seen a dramatic fall in the uptake of music - entries have dropped by 43% at A-level and 30% at GCSE.
In the run up to our #MMConference25, Bridget's blog reflects on the past 9 Years of Music Mark Conferences! 🎤 Bridget shares the wide range of conferences we've had, from different locations across the country to going fully digital in 2020! 📽️ 🔗Read the blog: www.musicmark.org.uk/news/bridget...
DfE data out today. Initial back-of-an-envelope analysis shows numbers of trainees achieving QTS in secondary music seems to be the lowest it's been for some years. Not sure what this means for the future of the profession though?
From 'The Times' obituary of Ozzy Osbourne: "...given that his only accomplishment at school had been to appear in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, he resolved to become a singer..." Wow! (Just thinking of the parts he could have played 🤔)
24 composing challenges for young people this summer. Unleash their creativity! resources.bcmg.org.uk/creating-mus...
Been thinking again about where schools have a requirement for 'assessment lessons' in music, and how this fits with notions of coherence/consistency. If a school has requirements for an assessment lesson every six weeks: if said school has 1 hour lessons, teaches ... 1/2
In recognition of it being the centenary of the birth of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, am listening to his versions of BWV56, 4, and a personal favourite, BWV82. Ahh....
This Music Teacher article makes for sobering reading "Nearly half of the teachers reported a decline in extracurricular music participation over the past five years. The story is the same for instrumental lessons, with 45% noting a drop". Article at www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk/content/news...
Music teachers sound the alarm on declining access and support - Music Teacher
The survey 'Growing Musicians, Shaping Lives’, conducted by magazines Music Teacher and Gramophone, reveals stark warnings about declining student participation, underfunded programmes, and widespread...
musicteachermagazine.co.uk
Lots of fascinating things in this piece from @drlizstafford.bsky.social as well as quite a lot of food for thought re the future of music education in England
Music Education Solutions®@musicedsolution.bsky.social · last yr."It’s difficult, and might be considered unwise, to venture an opinion on a proposal that is so scant on detail at present. Conversely one might argue that this is the perfect time for our voices to be heard." tinyurl.com/2r3ds94u @drlizstafford.bsky.social
Tonight seems to be a night for Fischer-Dieskau and BWV 82 - Ich habe genug
Brilliant news!
@nancyevans.bsky.social · last yr.🎉 Exciting news! BCMG has been awarded £200,000 from Paul Hamlyn Foundation to take Listen Imagine Compose Primary to new schools. Our research partners, BCU, will study how the LICP approach can be embedded and sustained in schools. To get involved, visit www.bcmg.org.uk/listen-imagi...
Composing at Key Stage 2: the LICP legacy: www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk/content/feat...
Composing at Key Stage 2: the LICP legacy - Music Teacher
Used to leading and assessing creative education projects, Richard Barnard was a composer on the award-winning Listen Imagine Compose Primary. Here he describes his new role at Bristol Beacon, integra...
musicteachermagazine.co.uk
Hooray - as Geoff says; "The arts must be brought back from the curricular margins, and the EBacc measure that consigned them there needs to be scrapped." In music ed some of us have been saying that for a good while!
Geoff Barton@realgeoffbarton.bsky.social · 2y ago“Oracy and the arts can be focal points for breathing new life into the curriculum as a whole. Here’s how …”: my @schoolsweek.bsky.social column: schoolsweek.co.uk/how-to-embed...
I know it sounds pedantic to privilege the verbal form, but in music classroom terms, I think using the word "composing" matters in the school classroom, as I explain in www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk/content/qa/q...
