One of Britain’s biggest exam boards has changed its A-level music syllabus to include female composers after a student launched an online campaign calling for better female representation on the course.
Jessy McCabe, 17, noticed that Edexcel’s A-level music syllabus featured 63 male composers and no female ones.
She contacted Edexcel to make it aware of the situation, but despite the board’s insistence that the music course aims to let students “engage in and extend the appreciation of the diverse and dynamic heritage of music”, its head of music seemed reluctant to implement any changes.
In response to an email from Jessy, the head of music wrote: “Given that female composers were not prominent in the western classical tradition (or others for that matter), there would be very few female composers that could be included.”
A Change.org petition subsequently launched by the student received almost 4,000 signatures. She also wrote an open letter to the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, the executive director of the exam regulator Ofqual, Ian Stockford, and Pearson UK’s managing director, Mark Anderson. Jessy urged them to change next year’s syllabus “so that girls are freely able and inspired to become composers, to enrich the A-level syllabus and to ultimately ensure that women’s works are valued, as they should be”.
Pearson, the organisation that offers the Edexcel qualifications, has now implemented changes to its 2016 A-level music specification to include five new set works by female composers. They include Clara Schumann, Rachel Portman, Kate Bush, Anoushka Shankar and Kaija Saariaho.
Additionally, Pearson has reviewed the wider listening recommendations and there are now 12 works by female composers listed.
Speaking about the changes, Anderson said: “We have updated our music AS and A-level specification to achieve a better balance of female and male composers. We took on board feedback from Jessy and a range of experts to ensure we found the right balance.
“We are keen to ensure diversity is reflected through the qualification and we hope schools and students are pleased with this outcome. Jessy deserves recognition and congratulations for her successful campaign.”
The 17-year-old said she welcomed Pearson’s response. “The syllabus is now more diverse, inclusive and representative, allowing young people across the country to engage with a greater variety of composers and works,” she said.