Arts Award and BBC Ten Pieces

We are pleased to confirm a continuation of the longstanding partnership between Arts Award and BBC Ten Pieces, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, facilitating young people to achieve Arts Award using free resources available through Ten Pieces.

In October 2024, the BBC launched its new series of Ten Pieces, a suite of pieces composed by women. The accompanying free musical resources and teaching guides support and encourage all schools to engage with music. These resources create opportunities for teachers to enable young people to complete their Arts Award while developing their musical skills.

What is BBC Ten Pieces?

BBC Ten Pieces helps classroom teachers and ensemble leaders open up the world of classical music to 7-14 year olds. BBC Ten Pieces also encourages children to respond creatively to the music they hear, from creative writing to visual art, dance to creating their own musical compositions. All of which are perfect for linking to Arts Award!

This year’s collection of music includes teaching resources for Key Stage 2 in England and Northern Ireland, Progression Step 3 in Wales and Second Level in Scotland. In addition to the resources on the BBC Teach website, the BBC Orchestras and Singers will provide a programme of live educational workshops and performances for children around the UK.

What are the new pieces?

This year, the works available on the website range from contemporary video gaming music to Medieval plainchant (and plenty in-between!). This year’s composers are:

• Sally Beamish
• Hildegard von Bingen
• Margaret Bonds
• Lili Boulanger
• Reena Esmail
• Cassie Kinoshi
• Marianna Martines
• Errollyn Wallen
• Laura Shigihara
• Judith Weir

You can find out more about each of the composers here.

Jennifer Redmond, BBC Ten Pieces Producer, says:

‘We’re delighted to be partnering with Arts Award to work together to support schools who would like to deliver Arts Award’s unique programme alongside Ten Pieces – encouraging creativity and expanding musical horizons along the way.’

How does this link to Arts Award?

BBC Ten Pieces and Arts Award have created resources which map the activities in Arts Award Discover, Explore and Bronze to the freely-available resources through Ten Pieces.

For example, at Arts Award Discover level, young people can complete their Part A through exploring workshops by Ten Pieces champions and teachers to learn about different art forms, and to try a classical music-based activity to develop their skills. For their Part B, young people can find out about artists by watching the new films on the BBC Ten Pieces website, and through working with BBC Ten Pieces Champions through workshops and interviews. Sharing what they have enjoyed and learnt for Part C can form part of the final performance piece.

How can you get involved?

Head to the BBC Ten Pieces page on the Arts Award website. Here you can find information about a discount code toward certificates for schools delivering Arts Award activities aligned to BBC Ten Pieces. You will also find the links to the mapping documents for Discover, Explore and Bronze.