For many children, singing in school is synonymous with the festive season—a staple of nativity plays and carol concerts performed before proud parents.
However, new data reveals this tradition largely fades after the holidays, becoming a rarity for much of the school year and especially as students move into secondary education.
According to a recent Teacher Tapp survey of nearly 10,000 teachers in England, over half (57%) of state secondary teachers reported that their pupils never sing together in assembly.
This contrasts sharply with just 13% of private secondary teachers and only 4% of primary teachers who said the same.
The divide extends to school choirs. More than a third (36%) of state secondary teachers said their school had no choir at all, compared to 8% in the private sector.
Access to multiple choirs was even more skewed: 77% of private secondary teachers reported having more than one, versus 27% in state schools.
In response to this disparity and a years-long decline in GCSE music uptake, a leading association of music teachers is now calling for every school to have a choir to help pupils embrace music.
The government states it is investing in high-quality music teaching and that a “renewed curriculum” will encourage more students to study the subject.
Yet, educators like Jackie Bowen, head teacher at The East Manchester Academy, point to a cultural hurdle: secondary pupils often feel “embarrassed—or that maybe it’s not cool to sing like it was in primary school.”
Despite this, Bowen emphasizes that singing and music remain priorities at her school, highlighting the ongoing effort to sustain musical engagement beyond the primary years.
By James Kisoo
