cla (2017) key research findings the case for cultural learning

Lewisham Education Arts Network

The Case for Cultural Learning: key research findings

Make a case for your creative project by using this new research complied by the Cultural Learning Alliance.

Posted:  08/03/2022

Category:   Planning the Project

This research publication has been funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and is a contribution by the Cultural Learning Alliance to the current debate about the transformative role played by the arts and heritage in the lives of children and young people. It was developed through national consultation with the CLA’s members which revealed that they wanted evidence to make the case for cultural learning.

Download the publication below or find out more from the Cultural Learning Alliance .

"Just to say a huge thanks ... I am looking forward to progressing with this project thanks to your support, advice and guidance"

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Cultural Learning Alliance | Imagine Nation 2017: the value of cultural learning

Date Created: 28th Feb 2017

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‘Arts education is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. It’s really the air many of these kids breathe. It’s how we get kids excited about getting up and going to school in the morning. It’s how we get them to take ownership of their future.’ –  Michelle Obama, Honorary Chair, President’s Committee on the Arts & the Humanities, 2009–2016

The CLA first published ImagineNation, together with its first Key Research Findings in 2011, thereby setting the agenda for a national conversation about the value of cultural learning. This new edition, based on an updated Key Research Findings report, presents a refreshed, comprehensive and compelling case for the value of cultural learning within and beyond our education system.

ImagineNation has been produced through consultation with the CLA’s members and is available as a free PDF from the CLA website:

www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk 

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https://www.phf.org.uk/news/cultural-learning-alliance-report-shows-value-arts-cultural-education/

Cultural Learning Alliance report shows value of arts and cultural education

• 16 Nov 2011

The Cultural Learning Alliance has launched a report, entitled ‘ImagineNation: The Case for Cultural Learning’.

Developed through national consultation with members of The Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA), of which there are more than 6000, the ‘ImagineNation’ report is the CLA’s contribution to the current debate about the role that arts and culture can play in the positive development and education of children and young people.

It presents five key research findings to support the ‘Case for Cultural Learning’. These key research findings are:

• Learning through arts and culture improves attainment in all subjects
• Participation in structured arts activities increases cognitive abilities
• Students from low income families who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree
• Employability of students who study arts subjects is higher and they are more likely to stay in employment
• Students who engage in the arts at school are twice as likely to volunteer and are 20% more likely to vote as young adults

The report comes at a time when funding reductions to the creative industries and changes in the education system are believed to be threatening the future of arts and culture subjects in schools. It is based on large group studies – typically with sample sizes of 12,000 – and also draws on a research survey completed by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).

Critics of the ‘Ebacc’ (English Baccalaureate) worry that schools will have to push aside arts subjects in favour of a broader education in ‘core’ subjects such as Maths, English and Science. The report provides important statistics, facts, quotes and evidence to help strengthen the Case for Cultural Learning.

The Cultural Learning Alliance is a collective voice that works to ensure that all children and young people have meaningful access to culture. It advocates for a coherent national strategy for cultural learning. To do this it aims to unite the education, youth and cultural sectors, showcase excellent projects and practice and demonstrate why cultural learning is important.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation supported The Cultural Learning Alliance’s work in developing its key findings through a grant from its Arts programme. PHF Head of Arts Régis Cochefert is also part of the Cultural Learning Alliance steering group.

Making the case for cultural learning

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In November 2011 The Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) published key findings demonstrating the impact of cultural learning on the lives of children and young people.

ImagineNation: The Case for Cultural Learning draws on the research findings and sets out how learning through arts and culture improves young people's life chances.

The experience of a Silver Arts Award participant from a young mums group is shared in the report:

‘Taking part in the arts project and gaining my Arts Award inspired me to take risks, do more with my community, have fun with my children by visiting our local theatre and now I’m getting back into college!’ Silver Arts Award participant, Art Depot

Trinity College London welcomes this comprehensive new work which highlights not only the importance of the arts and heritage on the lives of children and young people, but how our society can be shaped by providing them with positive experiences. We believe that Arts Award offers a great tool for achieving these benefits.

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Valuing the arts in the curriculum and beyond

• Perspective Article
• Published on: January 31, 2022

Carolyn Bradley, Head of Drama, St John Fisher Catholic High School, UK

I believe, as a drama teacher, that it is our responsibility as arts educators to create the next generation of theatre-goers and -makers, to teach practical skills and a knowledge-rich, inclusive curriculum, to develop cultural capital and to widen access to arts and culture for all. Moreover, there is a wealth of evidence on the benefits of engagement in arts and culture as a participant, well beyond developing the skills needed for employment. A study into the impact of theatre uncovered a wide range of benefits including catharsis, wellbeing, a distraction from life, widening of one’s world view and relationship building (Walmsley, 2013). Italian data ‘shows that cultural access is the second most important determinant of wellbeing, above factors including occupation, age, income and education’ (Grossi, 2010 and 2012, cited in Cultural Learning Alliance, 2017, p. 7). The EEF Toolkit (2018) cites arts participation (low cost, moderate evidence) as having a positive impact on learning, as do collaborative learning (low cost, extensive evidence) and digital technology (moderate cost, extensive evidence), which are both aspects of arts education.

It is disappointing, therefore, that despite the clear importance of studying the arts for the arts’ sake, as well as a wide body of evidence suggesting its value, engagement in arts subjects in English secondary schools is far from flourishing. Statistics show that uptake of arts subjects at GCSE has declined over the last 10 years, teaching hours of arts subjects have reduced and the number of teachers of drama have declined by 19 per cent from 2010 to 2019 (Cultural Learning Alliance, 2020).

The former Education Recovery Commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, said that educational recovery post-pandemic had to provide opportunities for children and young people ‘to play, to engage in competitive sport, for music, for drama because these are critical areas which have been missed in their development’ (Jeffreys, 2021) – however, the funding package awarded of £1.4 billion for schools was significantly lower than the £15 billion that Sir Collins suggested was needed. In July 2021, the DfE released a document entitled ‘Teaching a broad and balanced curriculum for education recovery’, giving recommendations for teaching from September 2021, and while art, design technology and music are included due to their National Curriculum status, and dance is mentioned briefly within the PE guidance, drama was notably absent from this 36-page report, as was a wider recognition of the strong body of evidence suggesting how the arts can be beneficial for children and young people’s social, academic and emotional development, particularly post-pandemic.

The place of the arts in the curriculum

With the continued growth of the computing, science and technology industries, STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are important to fulfil a skills gap in these areas. However, reviews of STEM education in schools have highlighted that purely focusing on science, technology, engineering and maths could be limiting,  (Siepel et al., 2016; CLA, 2017). Colucci-Gray et al. (2016)  have called for the integration of the arts into STEM to form ‘STEAM’. Among advocates of a STEAM approach to education, there is an argument that the ‘A’ acts as a facilitator: through adding in the arts, students can develop their creativity, find new and innovative ways of thinking about science and technology and develop skills to support knowledge acquisition (STEAM Education, 2019).

In 1991, the Harvard Educational Review Journal (HERJ) held a two-part symposium on arts education in response to the lack of coverage of the arts in the history of the journal, stating that the arts can develop ‘cognitive skills such as listening, thinking, problem-solving, matching form to function, and decision making’ (Bucheli et al., 1991. p. 25). Echoing this, the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education report argues that ‘our current, knowledge-based system only goes part of the way towards equipping young people with the skills that will give them the confidence and resilience to shape their own path through life. They need to make the most of our human capacity for imagination and critical judgment, especially with our ever-greater dependency on technology and artificial intelligence. They need to exercise creativity.’ (Durham Commission, 2019, p. 5) A common theme emerges throughout this literature that arts subjects can facilitate the development of skills needed for employment within the STEM sectors.

However, there is a risk attached to the STEAM model that arts subjects are seen as merely facilitative and having a ‘servant’ role (Davies and Trowsdale, 2021), and less important for what they can offer emotionally, culturally, socially and intellectually in their own right.  Returning to the HERJ definition, the arts can be ‘forms of expression, communication, creativity, imagination, observation, perception, and thought… [and] can nurture a sense of belonging, or of community’ (Bucheli et al., 1991, p. 25). There is compelling evidence that arts subjects can develop socio-emotional skills such as altruism, cooperation, trust and empathy and, through a focus on groupwork and working towards a common goal in a community, facilitate effective collaboration between peers (Neelands, 2009; Nelson, 2009; Gallagher, 2007; Manley and O’Neill, 1997; all cited in Neelands and Nelson, 2013). While these are no doubt key skills for a future career in STEM, they also serve to prepare a young person for employment or further training in any sector. Furthermore, by constantly defending the arts in relation to the ‘soft skills’ that they nurture or their facilitation in relation to other subjects, we risk undermining and devaluing these subjects, and ignoring the rich subject-specific learning opportunities that they offer independently.

There are alternative ways in which curricula could be structured to enable more inclusion of arts subjects. In 2011, the Framework for the National Curriculum recommended that the arts be made statutory at Key Stage 4, suggesting a model of a compulsory ‘basic curriculum’ including the arts, which would ‘combine art and music but also other aspects of the arts (e.g. dance and drama)’ (DfE, 2011, p. 27); however, these recommendations were not followed. The report highlighted international curriculum models where arts subjects are compulsory up to 16 or 18, citing that out of the ‘14 jurisdictions compared, only four, including England, cease compulsory provision of art and music by the age of 14. Massachusetts (US) and Ontario (Canada) continue compulsory art and music till 18.’ (DfE, 2011, p. 27) Within England, campaign groups such as Bacc for the Future and the National Baccalaureate Trust (NBT) both criticise the EBacc model for narrowing the curriculum and leading to a decline in arts subjects. The NBT proposes an alternative curriculum for England that would move away from ‘a collection of exam results, often in a narrow range of disciplines and with inadequate regard for technical education, creative learning and personal development’ (NBT, 2021, p. 3), suggesting curriculum models that include a combination of arts, humanities and core subjects up to the age of 18, alongside EPQ-style qualifications and personal development projects. Davies and Trowsdale (2021) cite innovative examples of pedagogy where the arts, engineering and science were combined in ‘The Imagineerium’ project, a five-year primary education project. As part of this, students had to develop a mechanically working piece of art representing Coventry’s history, and during their development ‘engaged in physical theatre to re-enact the historical event, learned about scientific concepts and worked out the mechanisms which would enable the design to move’ (Davies and Trowsdale, 2021, p. 1437). They argue for the consideration of multi-subject or multi-topic curricula.

If the English National Curriculum is to be truly broad and balanced, prepare students for the future labour market and aid with educational recovery post-pandemic, then the arts are a vital part of that, not merely as facilitative subjects, but because of their own brilliance and contribution to enriching our lives. To give the final word to the HERJ: ‘The arts give rise to many voices. By acknowledging the role of the arts in our lives and in education, we acknowledge what makes individuals whole.’ (Bucheli et al., 1991, p. 25)

• Bucheli MRJ, Goldberg MR and Phillips A (1991) Symposium: Arts as education. Harvard Educational Review 61(3): 25–26.
• Colucci-Gray L, Burnard P, Cooke C et al. (2016) Reviewing the potential and challenges of developing STEAM education through creative pedagogies for 21st learning. Available at: https://jotrowsdale.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/bera-research-commission-report-steam.pdf (accessed 9 July 2021).
• Cultural Learning Alliance (2020) Arts GCSE entries stable but not recovering after years of falling numbers while A Level entries continue to decline. Available at: https://culturallearningalliance.org.uk/arts-gcse-entries-stable-but-not-recovering-after-years-of-falling-numbers-while-a-level-entries-continue-to-decline/
• Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) (2017) Key findings: The case for cultural learning. Available at: https://culturallearningalliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CLA-key-findings-2017.pdf (accessed 5 July 2021).
• Davies R and Trowsdale J (2021) The culture of disciplines: Reconceptualising multi-subject curricula. British Educational Research Journal 47(5): 1434–1146.
• Department for Education (DfE) (2011) The framework for the National Curriculum: A report by the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum review. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175439/NCR-Expert_Panel_Report.pdf (accessed 17 November 2021).
• Department for Education (DfE) (2021) Teaching a broad and balanced curriculum for education recovery. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1033448/Teaching_a_broad_and_balanced_curriculum_for_education_recovery.pdf (accessed 17 November 2021).
• Durham Commission (2019) Durham Commission on Creativity and Education. Available at: www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/durham-commission-creativity-and-education (accessed 17 November 2021).
• Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) (2018) Teaching & Learning Toolkit. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Toolkit/complete/EEF-Teaching-Learning-Toolkit-October-2018.pdf (accessed 14 November 2021).
• Jeffreys B (2021) Sport, music and drama ‘should be part of England’s pupil catch-up’ BBC News, 8 February, 21. Available at: www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55984097 (accessed 1 July 2021).
• National Baccalaureate Trust (NBT) (2021) Towards a National Baccalaureate for England: Consultation. Available at: https://headguruteacher.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/towards-a-national-baccalaureate-for-england-5-1.pdf (accessed 21 November 2021).
• Neelands J and Nelson B (2013) Drama, community and achievement: Together I’m someone. In: Anderson M and Dunn J (eds) How Drama Activates Learning: Contemporary Research and Practice. London; New York: Bloomsbury, pp. 15–29
• Siepel J, Camerani R,Pellegrino G et al. (2016) The fusion effect: The economic returns to combining arts and science skills. Available at: https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/the_fusion_effect_v6.pdf (accessed 5 July 2021).
• STEAM Education (2019) STEAM education: Why STEAM education. Available at: https://steamedu.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WhySTEAMshortWebApr2019.pdf (accessed 5 July 2021).
• Walmsley BA (2013) ‘A big part of my life’: A qualitative study of the impact of theatre. Arts Marketing: An International Journal 3(1): 73–87.

From this issue

From the editor

Transforming assessment principles and practices through collaboration: A case study from a primary school and university

The currency of assessment for learners with SEND

Rethinking assessment: How learner profiles can shift the debate towards equitable and meaningful holistic assessment

Assessing progress in special schools: Reviews and recommendations

• Original Research

Classroom assessment in flux: Unpicking empirical evidence of assessment practices

The role of frequent assessment in science education at an international school in Singapore

• Teacher Reflection

Teaching creativity: An international perspective on studying art in the UK

Improving academic resilience and self-efficacy through feedback: Moving from ‘what’ to ‘how’

Mind the gap: What are national assessments really telling us about vocabulary and disadvantaged students?

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CLA History

Here is a brief summary of the history of the origins and work of CLA. For a full timeline of arts education developments since 1982 see The Arts in Schools Timeline .

Clore Duffield Foundation (CDF) – a grant-making foundation supporting arts education – has concerns about support for learning teams in the arts sector and commissions a think piece on the role of arts education across the cultural sector and in the education system more widely.

CDF establishes a Culture & Learning Consortium, chaired by its director, to investigate the arts education landscape, consider the benefits of cultural learning and all aspects of its delivery in the education sector and across the cultural sector.

CDF organises a roadshow of consultation seminars across the UK between February and September, involving teachers, school leaders and arts educators to assess the cultural learning landscape. The Culture & Learning Consortium commissions a Demos consultation paper, inviting responses.

The Culture & Learning Consortium launches a report ( Get it: The Power of Cultural Learning ) at the Royal Society of Arts with the Children’s Commissioner, setting out the groundwork for a new approach to cultural learning in England, based on the findings of the consultation launch. One of the report’s 10 recommendations is that an independent Cultural Learning Alliance be formed to develop and advocate for a better cultural and educational infrastructure for the effective delivery of cultural learning: an ‘active confederation of cultural and educational stakeholders’. In addition to CDF the report’s supporters and Consortium members are Arts Council England, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Foyle Foundation, Heritage Lottery Fund, MLA, Northern Rock Foundation and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

CLA is established as an informal alliance to champion a right to arts and culture for every child, chaired by Lord Puttnam, and run from Clore Duffield’s office, led by a small Steering Group. Two part-time co-ordinators were appointed, reporting to the CDF director. CLA publishes its first newsletter in March 2010. CLA is established with a national remit (which it retains) but is gradually compelled to focus on cultural learning in England as other subjects become prioritised through accountability measures introduced by the new government. Other nations do not experience the same challenges. 

CLA publishes ImagineNation: The Case for Cultural Learning , making the case for the value of arts subjects and experiences in children’s lives, together with five Key Research Findings . CLA launches a consultation roadshow reaching 140+ organisations and resulting in 28 recommendations for the Henley Review of Cultural Education. More than 2,000 new members sign up.

CLA compiles data to reveal the impact of the EBacc, and publishes a report on why independent schools value arts and culture, following interviews with the heads of five leading independent schools, including Eton and Wellington. During 2012 CLA critiques the Henley Review of Education and supports the new National Curriculum Review, working on a position paper with the relevant subject associations, teachers and cultural organisations, and hosting roundtables to ensure wide representation. We are concerned at the removal of Drama, Speaking and Listening from the Programme of Study and take this up with DfE officials who ask for evidence, which CLA provides by launching a research survey, presenting the findings to DfE and DCMS colleagues. CLA is also concerned about the likely removal of Dance. CLA is pleased to see a network of Bridge organisations established to support cultural learning work. We reach 9,000 members.

CLA responds to a series of education consultations and – working with the relevant subject associations – continues to fight for drama to remain in the National Curriculum after early drafts remove it. We are successful in this but not in our attempts to have film included. We continue to publish evidence of the impact of the EBacc on arts education, and produce and distribute a second edition of ImagineNation: The Case for Cultural Learning .

We publish our major paper on the proposed content and structure of Arts GCSEs, commissioned by ACE and shared with DfE, Ofqual and Ofsted. CLA is at the forefront of a national drive to influence the move from STEM to STEAM in education. We report on the Welsh government’s decision to implement Professor Dai Smith’s Arts in Education report and create a National Plan for cultural learning. The hours of art teaching and the number of arts teachers falls. CLA prepares for GE2015 and sees the widespread adoption of its recommendation that Ofsted should not judge any school outstanding without evidence of their arts and cultural offer. A member consultation concludes that that the most valuable aspects of CLA’s work are its newsletters, research and evidence reports, and representing the sector to policy makers.

CLA provides support to the DCMS Culture White Paper (due in 2016) by running a children and young people roundtable consultation; makes submissions to the Warwick Commission, many of which were included in its final report, including changes to the EBacc and the recommendation for Ofsted not judging any education setting outstanding without evidence of their arts offer. We continue to brief policy makers and ministers, as well as members of the House of Lords who speak in a debate on the importance of arts education. We continue to report on the impact of the EBacc on the take-up of arts subjects.

CLA submits its response to the EBacc consultation and publishes its in-depth briefings for members. It submits responses to the Education Select Committee’s  Purpose of Education  call for evidence and publishes new analysis of the state of Arts GCSE entries and arts teaching hours, and the number of arts teachers in schools. It continues to brief members of the House of Lords and compiles a report responding to questions about teaching of the arts in primary schools for the Teaching School Council’s review of Effective Primary Teaching Practice. We provide in-depth analysis and briefings on the Education White Paper, Culture White Paper, and the HE White Paper, whilst working on new Key Research Findings and a new version of ImagineNation .

In January CLA launches its new edition of ImagineNation : the Value of Cultural Learning in the House of Commons, together with its ten new Key Research Findings summarising and highlighting the impact of cultural learning on health, employability and civic engagement. 30 MPs and peers attend the launch, together with 70 young people and around 150 arts and education sector stakeholders. Speakers include ministers, Darcey Bussell, Fiona Shaw, and Caleb Femi. The first CLA Briefing Paper is published – STEAM: why STEM can only take us so far , in partnership with Nesta. Arts GCSE entries continue to fall with numbers down by -28% since 2010 and -9% between 2016 and 2017.

Three further CLA Briefing Papers are published: Employability & Enterprise: Why the arts make us more employable and why the creative industries are our international life-raft (in partnership with The Edge Foundation); The Arts Health & Wellbeing: Why the arts make us happier and healthier (in partnership with Place2Be); The Arts in Schools: Why the arts matter in our education system (in partnership with the Association of School & College Leaders). CLA reviews its governance and recruits members for a new Strategy Group, to oversee its work, and a larger Advisory Panel, comprising established and new members from across the education and cultural sectors. We create two downloadable posters featuring our 10 Key Research Findings in response to demand from our members. We work to provide briefings for senior figures on why the Russell Group’s facilitating subjects list (which excludes arts subjects) is problematic for arts subjects, and welcome the launch of the Time to Listen report from the RSC, Tate and Nottingham University, presenting the views of young people on the role of the arts in their lives and education.

Cultural Capital is introduced to the Ofsted inspection framework for schools. CLA’s What is Cultural Capital? blog has more than 20,000 views. Having worked with colleagues to provide briefings on why the Russell Group’s facilitating subjects were problematic for arts subjects, CLA is delighted to see the Group finally scrap them in 2019. DfE quietly changes its linked EBacc advice (DfE had used facilitating subjects as its original rationale for selecting the subjects included in the EBacc). The Durham Commission publishes recommendations on promoting creativity in education in England for children and young people. A fifth Briefing Paper is published, The Arts for Every Child: Why arts education is a social justice issue , in partnership with Paul Hamlyn Foundation. We published our manifesto asks for the December election and are pleased to see both Labour and Conservative manifestos including our ask for an Arts Premium, giving children universal access to quality arts provision. Jacqui O’Hanlon, Director of Education at the RSC (involved since the outset), becomes Chair of the CLA Strategy Group for a two-year term, succeeding Matt Griffiths, CEO of Youth Music.

CLA Advisory Panel meetings move online during the pandemic and increase to every term to hear from expert speakers to inform and debate the most pressing issues. We work to ensure the arts education workforce is championed and supported fairly during the pandemic, running lightning consultation sessions with freelance arts educators, and working behind the scenes on the emergency support from government. We report on the changes to 2020 GCSE and A Level exams; on guidance from the DfE, and guidance on providing Covid-secure arts education. As usual we report on arts take up decline in Arts GCSE and A Level entries and the number of arts teachers and teaching hours in England, as well as on the negative impact of Covid on arts teaching.

Led by mezze eade, CLA’s Special Advisor on representation in the curriculum, CLA convenes a group looking at representation across arts subjects and continues to support the work of Dance, Drama and Film groups. As a direct result of this work by colleagues, Pearson, a major exam board, makes significant changes to its set texts for Drama. We provide policy analysis of Arts Council England’s Let’s Create Delivery Plan and the White Paper on post-16 technical education. As in previous years we report on arts subject entries and the number of arts teachers and teaching hours in England. We highlight new funding streams from DfE: the Recovery Premium and Summer School and Holiday Activities and Food funding available in England. We run an open recruitment process designed to increase the diversity and range of our community and the group grows to 70+ members. Advisory Panel speakers include shadow ministers, the Chair of Arts Council England, and Andreas Schleicher, head of the OECD Directorate of Education and Skills.

Jacqui O’Hanlon steps down as Chair and hands over to Derri Burdon (Curious Minds CEO) and Sally Bacon (CLA founder and former Director of the Clore Duffield Foundation) as Co-Chairs. A sixth Briefing Paper is published online, Early Years & the Arts (in partnership with the Centre for Research in Early Childhood). A third Co-Director is briefly brought on board on a short-term contract to support communications. The part-time co-directors stand down and are thanked for a decade of work. Baz Ramaiah is appointed CLA Head of Policy, alongside a Communications Lead (both on an interim basis) with Hanna Lambert providing administration support. A new strategy is developed by the Strategy Group and backbone funding support is renewed by Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

CLA becomes a charity, having operated as an informal alliance for 13 years, and starts work on developing a new website, new visual identity, new annual Report Card, and new Evidence & Value Narrative Working Group. Following the launch of The Arts in Schools report project (funded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and supported by A New Direction), it is agreed that CLA will take on all the project assets, including a 40-year Arts in Schools timeline and 24 arts learning case studies. We run our first consensus workshop to consider CLA’s Manifesto Asks and plan a new series of webinars from 2024 to enable to more members to hear from expert speakers and share their work and challenges. CLA continues to report on all aspects of arts and cultural learning and on arts education as a social justice issue, and consults widely through consultation workshops on its Manifesto Asks for the 2024 General Election.

CLA formally relaunches as a charity with its new website, new Strategy Map, new Evidence and Value Narrative Working Group, and a series of new Trustee appointments. It publishes its first annual Report Card and its Manifesto Asks for GE2024 and starts to consider its staffing structure for the future.

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