The RSC and Cultural Learning Alliance have shared insights into the benefits of an arts education across Dance, Drama, Music, and Art, Craft and Design.
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) have shared new research demonstrating the powerful and wide-ranging impact of an arts education across Dance, Drama, Music and Art, Craft and Design Education.
Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and supported by Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, the Rapid Evidence Reviews (RERs) brought together leading academics and doctoral researchers to analyse - for the first time - what the existing evidence across each discipline tells us about the impact of the arts on children’s learning and life outcomes.
The RSC and CLA presented findings from the RERs, which were co-commissioned in 2025, at a parliamentary event on 13 May 2026.
DOWNLOAD THE RAPID EVIDENCE REVIEWS
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SHOW?
Together the four RERs provide the most comprehensive synthesis of available research into the impact of expressive arts subjects, and reveal strong and consistent synergies in the benefits of arts education.
Across each discipline, the collaboration inherent in music-making, dance, art-making and drama is shown to support social learning and build connections between young people.
Each discipline offers distinct knowledge and skills development, but the research consistently highlights that the benefits extend far beyond the development of artistic practice, including agency and personal growth alongside cognitive development and physical and mental health and wellbeing.
All four expressive arts disciplines also offer alternative pathways to success and engagement for children who may not benefit from other academic subjects.
These findings reinforce the vital role that high-quality arts education plays in shaping confident, creative and connected young people.
However, the research also identifies significant gaps in the current evidence base and outlined a future research agenda including the establishment of an Arts Education Evidence Hub: a digital platform to collect, curate and share research and evaluation data.
Download the RER Summary Report
EDUCATION AND THE RSC
Calling for an Arts Education Evidence Hub is also a priority for the RSC as part of Building Partnerships: A 20-year story of arts impact. This series of special events and performances, taking place across the autumn of 2026, celebrates 20 years of our transformative partnership work with schools, theatres and communities, sharing what we’ve learnt and what we hope for the future of creative learning.
As part of our learnings from those two decades, we are calling for a centralised research hub and research strategy that can support Government ambitions to deliver equitable access to arts learning, as set out in their recent White Paper following the Curriculum and Assessment Review.
By bringing this evidence directly to Parliament, along with CLA, we aim to strengthen the case for arts education as an essential entitlement for all children and young people, and to spark the next phase of research, collaboration and policy development in the sector.
FIND OUT MORE
