[shared on behalf of Dr Sarah K. Whitfield]
Dear Colleagues,
The following Collaborative Studentship between LSE and Music Mark is now open for applications, please do share with those who might be interested in applying,
All best,
Sarah Whitfield – sarah.whitfield@musicmark.org.uk
LSE Collaborative Studentship with Music Mark
The LSE ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership is pleased to offer the following Collaborative Studentship, commencing in September 2025:
Project Title: Understanding the data ecosystem of music education provision in England: analysing Music Education Hubs' annual reporting data
Collaborative Partner: Music Mark
LSE Department: Department of Methodology
Supervisory team: Dr Sally Stares (s.r.stares@lse.ac.uk) (LSE), Professor Jouni Kuha (LSE), Dr Sarah K. Whitfield (Music Mark)
Project Description:
The focus for this project is mandatory reporting data from Music Education Hubs (MEHs) within England. MEHs were set up in 2012 in England to augment and support music education in response to 'The Importance of Music', the first National Plan for Music Education (NPME). MEHs are partnerships that cover particular geographical areas, overseeing music provision by providing delivery and/or working with organisations including schools, local authorities, community organisations, voluntary organisations, industry, etc. At the start of 2024, there were 115 MEHs, which have now been reorganised into 43 hub lead organisations, which cover all areas of England.
MEHs are required to report, via annual surveys, information on music education activities, student engagement numbers and characteristics in their area, and MEH staffing, income and expenditure. Schools are requested to report their music activities to their local MEH, even if the MEH or its members are not directly involved in them. This makes for a data set that in principle is a census of music provision in state educational settings. The survey questions were designed by the Department for Education (DfE) and Arts Council England (ACE), and data have been collected annually since 2012-13. Music Mark works within its role as an Investment Principles Support Organisation (IPSO) to support the sector in collating the data, in developing data literacy, and in advocating with both ACE and DfE.
The broad goals of this project are to analyse the data to learn more about music education provision across England, and to further our understanding of the broader context of how the data are reported and used. The precise research questions for the project will be developed by the student in collaboration with the supervisory team.
For full details of the PhD and for how to apply, please visit: https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Graduate/fees-and-funding/LSE-Collaborative-Studentship-with-Music-Mark
Deadline for applications:
The deadline for consideration for this Collaborative Studentship is 25 March 2025.
