Speaking to Classic FM Breakfast’s Dan Walker from Milton Keynes Central Library, where he joined a holiday music class for children, Starmer stressed the importance of music in education. “Not enough children have the opportunity to play music,” he said, calling it “hugely important” to the school curriculum.
The class was learning Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, a personal favourite of the Prime Minister. “Here we are in Milton Keynes with children who are 7, 8, 9 years old playing the chorus with their fingers — that is brilliant, and we should do more of it,” he said.
Drawing on his own experience as a Guildhall music scholar, Starmer highlighted the wider benefits of music education: teamwork, communication, and confidence. “I don’t know how many businesses say to me: ‘We can teach technical skills, but what we lack with young people is the eye contact, the confidence, the working in a team.’”
Music remains a constant in his own life — he listens daily, often while working late at night — and he believes its decline in UK schools is “a real shame.” A 2024 Cultural Learning Alliance report found arts enrolment has halved since 2009/10, with 42% of schools no longer offering music GCSE.
Starmer said he wants music to “count towards the curriculum” to ensure more children have access, describing the lifelong enjoyment and self-belief it can foster. “Music, sport, drama — they give children a voice and something they’re good at,” he said. “And confidence is hugely important.”