Music Programmes Evaluation

The Department for Education have asked the National Centre for Social Research to evaluate the Music Hubs programme and associated funding.

About the evaluation

The Department for Education (DfE) have asked the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to evaluate 1) Music Hubs, 2) the Music Opportunities Pilot and 3) the Capital Investment Fund. 

  • Music Hubs aim to provide all children and young people with access to a high-quality music education and opportunities to progress. It also aims to support educational professionals to work collaboratively to meet the needs of children and young people. From September 2024 Music Hubs will be running under a new delivery model with 43 Hubs Lead Organisations and their Delivery Partners providing services across England.
  • The Music Opportunities Pilot is a four-year programme of investment that aims to improve access to music-related opportunities for children and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, those with additional needs, and/or those that face other barriers to sustained music engagement. 
  • The Capital Investment Fund aims to refresh the existing musical instrument stock through a grant to the Music Hubs, which would reduce barriers to children and young people who do not have access to an instrument and/or equipment for lessons and practice.

Who is carrying out the evaluation?

This evaluation is carried out by the National Centre for Social Research on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE).

What will taking part involve?

This evaluation is taking place from September 2024 to September 2027. We will be running an implementation and process evaluation and impact evaluation of the three programmes.

NatCen will be carrying out surveys, interviews, and group discussions with Hub staff, primary and secondary school heads of music and teachers of music, parents, and pupils (Year 5-13). We will also be conducting case studies as part of the evaluation.

These research activities aim to explore participants’ experiences with the Hubs and the introduction of the two Funds. They will also explore the experience of underrepresented groups in music (pupils with Special Educational Needs, pupils eligible for Pupil Premium or Free School Meals, and pupils from minority ethnic groups) and how access to music provision and progression opportunities can be improved.

You do not have to take part in any research activities if you do not want to.

Surveys

Surveys with school staff, Hubs staff, parents and pupils will be online and should take about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Interviews

Interviews with primary and secondary school music staff and Hub staff will last around 60 minutes. Participants will have the option of completing interviews via video call using MS Teams, or by telephone.

Group discussions

Group discussions (focus groups) with Hub staff and primary and secondary school music staff will also last around 60 minutes and will take place using MS Teams. 

As a thank you for taking part in a group discussion, you will receive a £20 high street voucher. 

Consent

Consent will be sought from all research participants before any data collection from them takes place. In addition, all participants will be able to skip any questions in surveys, interviews, and focus groups, that they do not wish to answer.

What will happen to any information I give?

Ongoing findings will be shared with DfE over the course of the evaluation to support ongoing policy development and decision making, so real time adjustments can be made if required. Results will be aggregated and presented in an interim report, due to be published on gov.uk in Autumn 2025, followed by a final report bringing all evidence together in Autumn 2027. These will baseline and track any changes over time of the implementation of the new Hubs model, evidence how Hubs across the country are delivering, and monitor the impacts. The evaluation will help officials advise Ministers and ACE if any adaptations are needed to the Hubs model to improve their future delivery and benefits realisation. 

Personal data collected as part of this evaluation will only be used for research purposes. No individual participants will be identified in any report arising from this research; no schools or Music Hubs will be named unless permission is granted. All information will be treated confidentially, and all focus group, interview, and survey responses will be anonymised before being analysed. All data will be transferred and stored securely in accordance with UK GDPR, and NatCen will securely delete personal information 12 months after the evaluation is finished (by October 2028 at the latest) (with explicit permission of the DfE).

Participants may withdraw from taking part in the study at any time, in which case no further information will be collected from them. Where possible, we will also remove from our records any identifying information which has not yet been anonymised.

You can find further information about data collection, sharing and storing, and withdrawing from the evaluation in the Privacy Notice.

Privacy notice

You can read the privacy notice for the study here.

Contact us

If you have any queries about this evaluation, please contact the research team at 0808 1969507 or via email at musicprogrammes@natcen.ac.uk. 

If you would like to get in contact with DfE about the evaluation, please email music.hubs@education.gov.uk and include ‘Evaluation’ in the subject line.