Following Cardiff University’s decision earlier this year to close its School of Music as part of a package of cost savings and redundancies, The Ivors Academy wrote to Vice Chancellor Professor Wendy Larner to express the concerns of our members. We joined a range of songwriters, composers, artists and organisations expressing dismay about the proposals, including Ivors Academy members Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John.
In an email to staff, the University announced a reversal of the decision and that both undergraduate and postgraduate music courses, including composition, would be retained and offered within a new School of Global Humanities from 2026, and existing students would be able to complete their degrees as originally planned. These plans will be considered and confirmed by the University Council later this month.
The Ivors Academy will continue to monitor the situation, including the implications of the University’s reference to a “smaller staff base” and “revised entry targets and content”.
Dr Jill Thomas, Chair of the Academy’s Welsh Council said, “Our Welsh Council members warmly welcome Cardiff University's decision to continue offering music courses. We are both relieved and delighted that the University has listened to the widespread concerns and responded positively to our campaign. As a former alum of Cardiff University, where I studied composition and earned a BMus (Hons), I know first-hand the immense cultural and academic value of music education at the University. The School of Music holds a proud place in Cardiff’s history - it was one of the first departments established after the university received its Royal Charter in 1883 and has nurtured some of Wales’s most celebrated composers, including Alun Hoddinott CBE, Sir Karl Jenkins, and Grace Williams.
“We are deeply grateful for the overwhelming public support for the School of Music, including high-profile backing from artists like Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran, as well as the tens of thousands of individuals who signed the petition opposing the proposed closure. Their voices have made a real difference. As the University moves forward, we remain engaged with how developments around any forthcoming changes to the course structure or reductions in staff are handled, to ensure that Cardiff’s proud legacy of musical excellence continues for generations to come.”
Music education is vital to developing the next generation of talented composers and songwriters. A 2022 survey of The Ivors Classical Award winners and nominees found that 96% had studied music to higher education level. But music education is in crisis - according to UK Music there are nearly 1,000 fewer secondary school music teachers than in 2012. Furthermore, the £10,000 bursary that trainee music teachers are currently entitled to falls well short of the £25,000 bursary offered to trainee teachers in subjects such as biology, geography, and languages.
The Ivors Academy is supporting calls from UK Music for the government to commit to hiring 1,000 new music teachers, to boost the size of trainee music teacher bursaries so they are in line with those of other subjects, and to reverse cuts by the previous Government to creative arts course grants at universities to help secure the next generation of songwriters and composers.
