The Bishop of Manchester received the following written answer on 17th July 2026:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they consider the Music and Dance Scheme to have successfully enabled social mobility through arts education; and whether they intend to provide a full £4 million increase to the funding of the scheme recommended to reflect the costs of delivering specialist education.
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab, DfE): The Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) remains central to providing access to specialist performing arts education for high achieving young musicians and dancers, through means-tested bursaries to attend one of eight private schools or one of 20 Centres for Advanced Training (CAT). For the 2024/25 academic year, this includes paying fees in full for 23% of MDS students attending schools and 57% of students attending CATs, for those from families on the lowest incomes. The scheme will be allocated future funding of £37.8 million for the 2026/27 academic year. This is a £1.3 million increase to the funding this academic year. We will confirm future funding for the 2027/28 academic year before the end of this calendar year.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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