Research shows young people from working-class backgrounds are “prevented” from entering the creative industries and remain “elitist” and inaccessible.
The Sutton Trust report found that people from the most affluent backgrounds were grossly overrepresented in the arts, which the Sutton Trust characterized as people from “upper middle class backgrounds”. Defined.
Around 7% of people educated in the UK attend private fee-paying schools. However, 43% of Britain's best-selling classical musicians and 35% of BAFTA-nominated actors are graduates of private schools.
Additionally, more than half (58%) of classical musicians attended an arts university or conservatory, and one in four attended the Royal Academy of Music for their undergraduate studies. These institutions are populated by students from the most affluent backgrounds. Twelve per cent of classical musicians attended Oxford or Cambridge.
Among top actors, 64% attend college and 29% attend professional arts institutions (including conservatories). A total of 9% attended Oxbridge and a further 6% attended other Russell Group institutions.
However, pop stars seem to better reflect the educational attainment of the UK population, with only 8% having private education and 20% having university education, both of which are close to the national average.
The report states: “There are clear class inequalities in creative higher education and the creative workforce, with prominent creative figures in fields such as television being more likely to have attended private schools and universities than the population as a whole. expensive…
“This also means that many talented young people from poor families are prevented from pursuing sought-after careers in the arts.”
The charity said creative degrees in fields such as music and art were skewed towards upper-middle-class people from the most prestigious educational institutions. At four universities – Oxford, Cambridge, King's College London and Bath – more than half of students on creative courses come from the most elite upper-middle classes.
The universities with the lowest proportions of creative students from working-class backgrounds are Cambridge and Bath (4%), Oxford and Bristol (5%) and Manchester (7%).
Significant class disparities also exist in professional institutions such as conservatories and higher education institutions specializing in music and performing arts. The Royal Academy of Music (60%), Royal Academy of Music (56%), Durham University (48%), King's College London (46%) and Bath (42%) are all private schools offering creative subjects. A high percentage of students received this. Both of these institutions have a higher proportion of privately educated creative students than Oxbridge (32%).
The Trust called for a range of measures to improve access to the arts. These include introducing an “arts premium” to allow schools to pay for arts opportunities such as music lessons, and for state-funded conservatories and creative arts institutions to charge fees for auditions. It included a definite prohibition against doing so. It also suggested that socio-economic inclusion should be a condition for employers to receive funding for the arts, and that unpaid internships of more than four weeks should be banned.
The group, which champions social mobility from birth to the workplace, added that the wider value of creative degrees should be considered when funding and policy decisions are made for the higher education sector. . The report said assessing the quality of creative degree programs solely by graduate students' earnings does not take into account the nature of the field, where freelance work and unpaid internships are prevalent.
The company is building a partnership with the UK Screen Forum which aims to address socio-economic diversity through targeted skills and careers initiatives.
Nick Harrison, chief executive of the trust, said: “It's a tragedy that young people from working-class backgrounds are the least likely to gain a degree in the creative arts or enter a creative career.” Ta. These fields are characterized by elitism, with a significant majority of people from upper-middle class backgrounds and those with private education. ”
Mr Harrison said that although the UK's creative sector is admired around the world, young people are often held back from “reaching their full potential, pursuing their interests and dream careers because of their socio-economic background”. “No one should be prevented from doing so.”
He said: “It is essential that we take steps to ensure access to high quality creative education in schools and address financial barriers to accessing creative courses and opportunities in the workplace. ” he said.
