Institute of Education - Music takes centre stage

Rock-style music lessons are boosting the popularity of GCSE music, according to a new study. Set up in 2003 by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to promote new ways of engaging 11- to 19-year-olds with music, the Musical Futures initiative takes a different approach to music teaching, allowing students in secondary school to "jam" like rock stars. A study published last week by academics at the Institute of Education reports that teachers who used the programme in their classes saw an increase of more than 40 per cent in the number of pupils wanting to study music at GCSE.