Today, the National Schools Singing Programme (NSSP), an ambitious music education initiative covering the majority of the UK’s Catholic dioceses and supported by £4 million in funding from UK charity. This is a major expansion of the programme which will give thousands more state school children across the UK the opportunity for a deep and continuing engagement with music.

Founded in 2021 with £4 million in funding, the NSSP is widely considered the UK’s most far-reaching choral education programme. The programme offers funding to religious institutions across the UK, from Portsmouth to Aberdeen, to employ choral directors, who deliver whole-class singing sessions in state schools every week.

The programme is an evolution of the Schools Singing Programme, established by Diocese of Leeds Music in 2003. This programme has been hugely successful; its choirs feature regularly on well-known choral programmes such as the BBC’s Choral Evensong and Sunday Worship, BBC One national TV Christmas broadcasts and regularly sing with internationally-renowned professionals such as The Sixteen and the Gabrieli Consort. The motivation behind this initiative is to provide pathways for musically-talented young people from underprivileged areas of the UK; many going on to attend some of the country’s leading universities and conservatoires.

The aim of the NSSP is to combat declining availability of specialist music lessons for children at state schools, particularly those in the most socially marginalised and economically deprived areas. 27 of the UK’s 32 Catholic dioceses are now signed up to the NSSP, in a programme that now engages more than 175 schools and over 17,000 children every week.

Until now, funding by the NSSP was only available to Catholic dioceses in the UK, but with this latest expansion of the scheme, funding has now been awarded to six Anglican cathedrals. Cathedrals in Sheffield, Derby, Leicester, Liverpool and Newcastle, plus York Minster, will now join the scheme as the NSSP enters its third year. These cathedrals have been selected so that the programmes can reach the most deprived regions of the country, bringing a musical education to those least likely to receive it. This latest expansion, which in a programme first includes non-denominational schools, means an anticipated total of 20,000 children will benefit from participation in the scheme, at over 200 schools nationally.

Ben Saunders, Director of Music at the Diocese of Leeds and Consultant for the National Schools Singing Programme, said: “The British Choral tradition is the envy of the world not just because we produce excellent music but because our way of working is unique and exceptional. As choral directors we are transforming thousands of young lives every year and uniting them in the ultimate form of teamwork and community – the choir. The NSSP is key to enlarging the base of the pyramid of opportunity which is the foundation on which we secure our heritage and build for the future.”

School music budgets have experienced several subsequent cuts over recent years, with Primary school leaders warning that the government’s National Plan for Music Education will be impossible to achieve, whilst evidence elsewhere shows that children in many secondary schools also lack regular music lessons. These circumstances have been compounded first by the pandemic and now by the cost of living crisis.

The rewards of a good music education are plentiful: it benefits mental health, supports social cohesion and furthers academic attainment. The NSSP hopes to address the decline in school music provision, making a musical education accessible to more children, enabling them to reap the benefits of deep engagement with music regardless of their background. Widening access to the UK’s choral music industry is essential for preserving the future of our oldest living cultural heritage. The NSSP is inspiring, encouraging and enabling the diverse singers and choral directors of tomorrow for the enjoyment and benefit of generations to come.