A-level Drama Plummets

A-level drama has fallen by 53% since 2010 to it's lowest level ever recorded.

A-level Drama entries in England have fallen to their lowest ever level, according to data from Ofqual this week, who also reported significant further reductions in GCSE entries.

This summer's A-level exam entries show a fall of 9.5% since 2025, to a total 6710.

GCSE Drama entries decreased less, but there is still a reduction of 0.9%.

The figures are particularly stark when considering overall exam entries are rising in line with the 18-year-old population. GCSE entries have increased by 1.1% since last summer, while A-levels are up 2.9%.

Campaign for the Arts analysis in 2025 showed the share of total entries in A-levels arts subjects contracted by 0.5%, reaching the lowest level in 15 years.

Drama is not alone in this trend, with A-level music also falling by nearly 50% since 2010.

Both subjects have been halved since 2010, which is the year the EBacc was introduced, incentivising schools to focus on a set of subjects that excluded music and all arts subjects.

Separate to Ofqual, research by the Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) showed the number of young people taking arts GCSEs in state schools has fallen by 41.7% since 2010, with over a third of schools in England not offering GCSE music in 2026.

Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) chief executive Deborah Annetts said of the recent Ofqual entries: “These figures are yet another sign that we must address the decline of music education in England. The stakes could not be higher, because if this trend continues, A-level music could disappear from schools altogether.

“The government says it wants music to flourish in all schools, but has shown none of the action required to meet this ambition. We need urgent action from government so every child has access to high-quality music education in school.”