Nottingham Music Service is a registered charity (No. 1153716) and award-winning music service with the objective to advance the education, accessibility and enjoyment of music and the arts for children and young people in Nottingham.
Our vision is to provide a world-class music education for all young people, raising their aspirations and helping them achieve their potential.
Nottingham Music Service (NMS) works in a range of educational settings including secondary schools, pupil referral units, and special schools. Our main teaching is delivered in primary schools and our offer to schools is aligned with the National Plan for Music Education, offering schools bespoke music education packages where they can choose from whole class ensemble tuition and hourly-paid instrumental tuition for small groups and individuals.
Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Music Hub
NMS is part of a consortium with Inspire to deliver the plan for music education for the newly defined music hub area of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. This new combined music hub is funded by the Department for Education to deliver the national plan for music education for England. Arts Council England support and administer the funding, and monitor plans and performance of the hub.
Our Impact
NMS was created in 2002 to lead music education in the city. Back then, there were just 650 young people learning an instrument. Now we have 9,954 young people learning a musical instrument in Nottingham: a 1,400% increase. The statistics below highlight the impact of our work in the city:
- One in five young people in Nottingham are learning a musical instrument. This is 50% higher than the national average.
Even more impressive is the number of young people who continue to learn their instrument after the first year, which is a challenge in music education nationally as the majority of children stop learning their instrument after the first year.
- In Nottingham, more children are learning an instrument beyond whole class ensemble than in three other Midland’s authorities combined (despite them having a combined school population more than four times that of Nottingham).
Music making is not just taking place within the walls of schools: Nottingham has the fifth highest percentage of pupils attending hub ensembles (bands, orchestras, choirs run/supported by Nottingham Music Service) in the country.
By providing diverse and high quality music making opportunities, including ensembles and performances, we support young people to contribute to the cultural life of our great city.
"This is just a quick thank you to all involved in the Nottingham Music Service for the amazing concert last night and for the way that you have continued to inspire so many young people with music even throughout this difficult year (our son plays in InterConnect and our daughter was singing with her primary school!). You are an exceptional team of people and we are lucky to have you in Nottingham."Parent via email