We believe suggested cuts to higher education arts courses could widen inequalities, damage the talent pipeline and prevent our creative industries from remaining world-leading.
We're responding to a consultation by the Office for Students (OfS) that suggests cutting spending on 'high cost' arts subjects in universities in England, which it calls 'lower priority'.
Our full response to the consultation (below) talks about the potential damage to the UK’s world-leading creative industries, which generate £115.9 billion for the UK economy each year, as well as research showing the value of arts subjects on critical thinking and wellbeing.
Our response reads: 'The RSC has huge concerns about the impact of the proposed distribution and resulting cuts to arts courses on widening existing inequalities, the cultural and creative sector talent pipeline, the ability of our creative industries to remain world-leading in future years, and the message they send about the value of arts subjects overall.
'We believe the proposal represents a further erosion of the value placed on studying arts subjects and urge the OfS and government to think again.'
Read our full response to the OfS funding consultation (PDF).