Students across Welsh county get free music lessons

Children are being taught to play instruments for free in schools in a Welsh county to try to reverse the decline in music provision.

Although schools are required to teach music, state schools across the UK have seen a decrease in music provision over the years as budgets have been cut.

The National Music Service was launched in Wales in 2022 to try to support learners to learn to play instruments, and the results are starting to show.

In Powys the funding has meant pupils in some schools are being offered music lessons for the first time in 30 years, with eight weeks of funded classes.

The Welsh government said funding for the service would continue until 2028 with £12m of funding.

In all primary schools in Powys, pupils are offered eight weeks of funded lessons and a series of taster lessons, as well as the ability to borrow an instrument free of charge.

Children at St Michael's Primary School in Kerry, near Newtown, are starting to reap the rewards after music lessons were re-introduced two years ago.

Mali, 11, has been learning the viola for a year and described the lessons as "lots of fun".

Ffion, who plays the violin, said: "As soon as I started learning I couldn't stop playing."

The music service said it hoped to reverse a lack of funding available for facilities and tuition, offering pupils some for the first time in 30 years.

It added the gap had widened in deprived areas, with less opportunities being offered in poorer areas for children to join activities such as a school orchestra.

In Powys, the scheme has given thousands of pupils "first experience" sessions on a musical instrument and has led to the revival of a county-wide service.

Lynsey McCrohon, strategic lead in the county for music and expressive arts, said the National Music Plan had been a "gift" for pupils and schools in Powys.

She said: "In all primary schools in Powys, we are able to offer eight weeks of funded lessons and then schools are offered a series of taster lessons.

"That means any child in school can get their hands on an instrument and start having a go."

Ms McCrohon said the plan had funded male voice choirs, recorder groups, woodwind groups, jazz bands and string orchestras.

The music plan, co-ordinated by the Welsh Local Government Association, works with all local authorities in Wales.

The Welsh government has confirmed funding will continue until 2028 with a £12m investment allocated to continue delivery for the next three years.

The new round of funding will allow music services to continue, which national Co-ordinator Mari Lloyd Pritchard called a "delight and a relief".

She said: "Music services across Wales have worked tirelessly over the last three years to offer excellent music education opportunities for children and young people in every county across Wales and we are excited by the inspirational results of this work every day.

"Recovery takes time, and alongside our hugely supportive key partners, we look forward to building on these vital foundations successfully secured since 2022."