FactCheck: five hours of culture?

Last Modified: 13 Feb 2008
By: Channel 4 News

Young people will get five hours of "high-quality culture" a week under new government plans. Or will they?

The claim

"We want young people to have five hours a week of high-quality culture."
Andy Burnham, Culture Secretary, Today, BBC Radio 4, 13 February 2008

The background

Cultural and extracurricular activity is generally seen as A Good Thing - not least because it can have knock-on benefits for children's development and behaviour.

Today, the government launched a new plan which it hopes will give all children up to five hours of cultural experiences each week.

The scheme, which was originally floated in December's Children's Plan, made headlines before its launch this week. "School pupils to get a daily 'culture hour'," said The Telegraph.

"Every child will take part in five hours of cultural activities each week under a new government plan," the Press Association reported today.

But look a bit closer, and the details seem far more vague. Are the government's proposals really going to do what they say on the sound bite?

The analysis

Firstly, let's look at what high-quality culture is. It's not just "high culture" - more traditional values such as opera, serious theatre, classical music and literature.

According to the government, it might include performing in a play, doing some creative writing, watching opera, learning a musical instrument, experimenting with digital media, perhaps getting work experience in broadcasting, or developing art and craft skills.

Hang on a second. Don't kids do a lot of this stuff already? Well, yes - there is "a lot as part of the curriculum," said a Department for Children, Schools and Families spokesperson.

English, art and music are already part of the National Curriculum from the ages 5 to 14, while 14- to 16-year-olds should still be taught English as well as one arts subject.

Just how much time should spent on each subject isn't set out; with the exception of a couple of key strategies numeracy and literacy, timetable-planning is up to the individual school, said the Qualification and Curriculum Agency.

It's possible that some pupils are already getting more than their weekly culture dose, especially as the five hours isn't restricted to school time. Extracurricular opportunities, such as seeing plays in the evening, are also being hailed as important.

So what exactly was announced today? The government promised £25m over three years, for a pilot project in 10 areas, to encourage all these types of cultural activity.

In addition, the creative partnerships scheme - which allows pupils to work with professionals, such as artists, writers and actors - will be expanded and put under the supervision of a new body, the Youth Culture Trust.

The specifics on exactly what will happen next, or where the five hours will come from, aren't yet clear. Rather than be prescriptive, said a DCSF spokesperson, the government wanted to see how schools use the money.

A grand-sounding target such as the five hours a week can be announced when, actually, the reality of provision on the ground still lags behind.

There's another scheme which is worth looking at for comparison. In July, shortly after assuming the prime ministerial throne, Gordon Brown announced that all children would get the opportunity to do five hours of sport by 2010.

This would take place through both PE lessons and outside-school projects such as links with sports clubs. Sound familiar?

So how is it going? Today the DCSF said it was too soon to say as the plan was only announced in the summer, and it was up to individual schools rather than being monitored centrally.

One sports measure for which there is data, however, is the number of pupils doing two hours of school sport a week. The most recent data shows 86 per cent of children get two hours of trainer-time, more than meeting the government's target to get 85 per cent by the end of 2008.

But that still means that around 900,000 5- to 16-year-olds are not getting the two hours. This is something the government's working on reducing - but it's worth bearing in mind that a grand-sounding target such as the five hours a week can be announced when, actually, the reality of provision on the ground still lags behind.

The verdict

The government has announced a laudable scheme - but it's been tacked on to a headline-friendly and ultimately rather meaningless aspiration.

It's all very well for Burnham to say he wants children to get five hours of high-quality culture a week - but with no concrete definition of what this is, how much of it schools are doing at the moment, or how the new plans would differ, it's hard to say whether or when it will be achieved.

It seems sensible of the government, therefore, to launch a pilot scheme and let schools take the lead on how they can get more pupils involved in the arts. But to couple this fledgling scheme with a promise of five hours of high culture just doesn't quite add up.

FactCheck rating: 3

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The sources

Today, BBC
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Hansard, Schools: Extracurricular Activities, Written answers, Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Hansard, Extracurricular Activities, Written answers, Wednesday, 23 November 2005
Five hours of sport a week for every child, 13 July 2007

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