Falkirk pupils set for wider access to music tuition

beehiveweb.co.uk editorial team 2026-08-12 17:12 3 min read

Close-up of sheet music with musical notes on a staff for music students.

More children across Falkirk are set to access instruments, traditional music tuition and school-based sessions after a two-year funding award worth £361,734.

Falkirk Council has secured £180,867 for 2026/27 and the same amount for 2027/28 from Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative Formula Fund. According to Falkirk Council News, the funding supports a programme already reaching around 2,500 children and young people each week through early learning centres, primary schools and additional support needs settings.

The award does not mean every child will receive the same provision. However, it gives the council’s music team a confirmed two-year period to maintain and develop opportunities, rather than planning around a single-year funding cycle.

More instruments and wider traditional music tuition

A central part of the funding will be the expansion of Falkirk’s traditional music programme. Outreach is due to grow from 13 to 20 primary schools, meaning every primary-school cluster in the council area is planned to have access to tuition in traditional instruments.

The increase from 13 to 20 schools is a change in the reach of the outreach programme, rather than a figure for the number of individual pupils who will receive tuition. The council has not set out how places or instruments will be allocated between schools.

Falkirk pupils set for wider access to music tuition

It says the investment will also increase instrument availability, which could allow more children to take part in classes and support the continued development of the Carrongrange Traditional Bands programme. The traditional offer is intended to give more young people access to Scotland’s musical heritage through school-based tuition.

Which pupils and settings will benefit

The Youth Music Initiative operates across several types of education and support setting. Its activities include early-years music sessions, school choirs, whole-class instrumental learning, nurture sessions, traditional music tuition and support for school performances.

That means the funding is not limited to a single age group or to instrumental tuition alone. It covers provision for children and young people in early learning centres, primary schools and additional support needs settings, with around 2,500 taking part in music activities each week.

The council’s Foundations of Music programme, which has provided weekly music sessions to thousands of primary pupils during the past three years, will also benefit from the new funding. The announcement does not give a separate funding amount for Foundations of Music or for individual parts of the wider programme.

£361,734 confirmed across two school years

Funding period	Youth Music Initiative award
2026/27	£180,867
2027/28	£180,867

The two annual awards total £361,734. For schools and families, the practical value is continuity: tutors and staff have a two-year funding commitment within which to develop provision, invest in new opportunities and extend traditional music outreach.

Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, leader of Falkirk Council, said the two-year model would give the music team greater stability to develop the programme and reach more children. He also highlighted the planned expansion of traditional music provision.

A traditional music anniversary concert is planned

The next phase of the programme coincides with the 20th anniversary of traditional music in Falkirk. Falkirk Council plans a special concert later in 2026 to showcase young musicians and the programme’s achievements.

No date, venue, ticket or accessibility details have yet been provided in the council announcement, so families interested in the concert will need to wait for further information from Falkirk Council.

Source: Falkirk Council News

Context & actions About this article

Source check Source trail

This report uses the council’s published funding announcement and separates confirmed plans from details that have not yet been released.

Checks

Confirmed the two annual award amounts: £180,867 in 2026/27 and £180,867 in 2027/28.
Confirmed the programme’s stated weekly reach of around 2,500 children and young people.
Confirmed planned traditional-music outreach growth from 13 to 20 primary schools.
Checked the announcement for concert logistics; no date, venue or ticket details were supp...

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