Recent governmental figures have demonstrated that the number of students taking an examination in A-Level Music across England has fallen by 41% in eleven years (Ofqual, 2023a). Furthermore, areas with lower POLAR ratings (i.e. historical rates of participation in higher education) and greater levels of deprivation correlate with lower uptake of A-Level Music (Whittaker et al., 2019). These findings have profound implications for equitable access to music education, especially at advanced levels. Against this challenging background, Sandbach School, the Love Music Trust and the Royal Northern College of Music have sought to respond by creating a new partnership approach to A-Level Music. Since September 2019, this specialist course has drawn students together from all over Cheshire whose access to A-Level Music has been geographically limited. Specifically aiming to facilitate progression into higher education, this course provides the young musicians with musical enrichment activities that are additional to the core curriculum, including performance opportunities, advanced musicianship classes, chamber music and instrumental tuition at the Royal Northern College of Music. This article presents a critical discourse analysis of data collected from these students and their teachers, contextualising their experiences within a broader analysis of recent socio-cultural trends and the associated political climate that has impacted on the provision of music education within English schools. Findings point to an important rearticulation of the meaning of ‘Music Hub’, where putting schools at the centre and enriching this provision through strategic partnerships with local ensembles, music services and higher education institutions can build musical cultures and communities that better enable equitable access to high-level music education and progression pathways into higher education.

中文翻译：

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在英格兰实现更公平的高级 GCE 水平 （A-Level） 音乐教学：一种合作方式

最近的政府数据表明，英格兰参加 A-Level 音乐考试的学生人数在 11 年内下降了 41%（Ofqual，2023a）。此外，POLAR 评级较低（即高等教育的历史参与率）和较高水平的剥夺程度与 A-Level 音乐的接受率较低相关（Whittaker 等人，2019 年）。这些发现对公平接受音乐教育具有深远影响，尤其是在高级阶段。在这种充满挑战的背景下，桑德巴赫学校、Love Music Trust 和皇家北方音乐学院试图通过为 A-Level 音乐建立一种新的合作方式来做出回应。自 2019 年 9 月以来，这门专业课程吸引了来自柴郡各地的学生，他们接触 A-Level 音乐的机会在地理上受到限制。该课程特别旨在促进进入高等教育，为年轻音乐家提供核心课程之外的音乐丰富活动，包括表演机会、高级音乐课程、室内乐和皇家北方音乐学院的器乐教学。本文对从这些学生及其教师那里收集的数据进行了批判性的论述分析，将他们的经历置于对近期社会文化趋势和影响英国学校音乐教育提供的相关政治气候的更广泛分析中。 研究结果表明，“音乐中心”的含义得到了重要的重新定义，即以学校为中心，通过与当地合奏团、音乐服务和高等教育机构建立战略伙伴关系来丰富这一服务，可以建立音乐文化和社区，更好地实现公平获得高水平音乐教育和高等教育升学途径。