Opinion with Helen Monks

The number of students taking arts subjects at GCSE has declined by 47 per cent since 2010. According to the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, children in the most economically advantaged areas are twice as likely to play music or engage in performing arts outside of school as their least advantaged peers. Only 16 per cent of people who professionally enter the arts industry are from working class backgrounds – unsurprising, given that Eton continues to have three staffed theatres and produces 20 productions a year. But you already knew that, didn't you?

And I bet you already know that the arts are good for us. That, according to the Arts Council England's 2014 report, kids who take part in arts subjects are 20 per cent more likely to vote, twice as likely to volunteer and 60 per cent more likely to report good health.