Pupils studying GCSE and A-level drama will be required to see live theatre performed after all, according to new government guidance.
Last year, exam boards AQA and OCR revealed that they would not require GCSE students to go on a theatre trip - instead, teachers could show their pupils digital recordings or streamed drama productions.
But today, the government has said explicitly that GCSE, AS and A-level drama specifications must require students to experience live performance “where they are a member of the audience in the same performance space as the performers”.
The announcement follows backlash from the arts community - including some of Britain’s top actors like David Harewood, Zoe Wanamaker and Sheila Hancock - who opposed the changes to the exam boards’ syllabuses in April last year.
The changes came into effect in schools in September, but today the government issued guidance to say students must see “a professional or amateur” performance under the GCSEs currently being taught.
Exams watchdog Ofqual has announced today that they plan to require exam boards to collect annual statements from schools to ensure the live performance requirement has been fulfilled.
If plans go ahead, exam boards will be told to treat any failure to provide a live performance statement as malpractice by the school.
Ofqual said: “The changes we propose to make to our rules will result in some additional administrative burden for exam boards, schools and colleges.
“Schools and colleges will need to complete the new annual statement, and exam boards will need to collect them.”
Ofqual added: “We are not consulting on the new subject content requirements about students attending performances. DfE has already taken this decision.
“We have therefore not assessed the impact on schools and colleges of the changes to the subject content requirements.”
An AQA spokesperson said: “We know Drama teachers want to take their students to live performances whenever they can.
“We hadn’t originally made this compulsory because we wanted to make the subject accessible to the handful of students who can’t get to a performance through no fault of their own. We’ll work closely with the DfE and Ofqual to see how we can still do that.”
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