Unicorn Theatre Releases Creative Schools Report Revealing Impact Of 5 Years’ Work With Schools

The Unicorn Theatre has released its Creative School Programme Impact Report, revealing the vital impact and necessity of cultural education partnerships delivered by its Creative Hub over the past 5 years. The full report is available to view here

Significant national data released this summer from the industry leading Cultural Learning Alliance report card, revealing that only 9% of primary schools have dedicated drama provision, highlights the increasing importance of arts organisations such as the Unicorn which have become more central to the delivery of Arts in school.

Launched in 2021, the Unicorn's Creative Hub responds directly to the need for children to engage with culture and the Unicorn's need to better understand the young people for whom it makes work. It supports schools through bespoke programmes, including its Creative Schools Partnerships, and connects Unicorn artists and facilitators with children aged 0 – 13 years who uniquely together influence the work on its stages.

Since 2021, the Creative Schools Partnerships has seen the Unicorn work together with state primary schools in Lambeth, Southwark and Tower Hamlets to connect local children, teachers and families with creative practice and to promote Drama as a core teaching tool. By providing educators with the skills, support, and infrastructure to nurture creative learning, the programme has proved instrumental in building teachers' confidence in delivering an arts-rich curriculum; developing pupils' cultural capital; positively impacting across the wider curriculum with students showing increased engagement and skills in oracy, literacy and critical thinking; increasing access to the arts for families; and in turn supporting the Unicorn in continuing to create and deliver high-quality children's theatre.

The partnerships included: 18 research and development projects led by professional artists and facilitators collaborating with pupils on the development of Unicorn Productions; over 3000 free tickets provided across six schools; technical workshops at the Unicorn for Y5 or Y6 pupils; teacher CPD training sessions plus Toolkit Resource and planning support, for embedding Drama and creativity into the core curriculum, led by a specialist Primary Drama Consultant; and a bespoke school drama strategy, co-designed with teachers and senior leadership, to integrate drama within curriculum teaching across Early Years, Key Stage 1 and 2 and ensure the legacy of the work beyond the partnerships.

Across the schools, teachers reported a range of positive outcomes that they observed in their pupils since using drama and creative learning techniques in their classrooms including greater enthusiasm and engagement in the curriculum and ways to include every pupil regardless of ability; improved oracy, vocabulary, writing and critical thinking skills; increased pupil confidence and creativity including in public-speaking and improved teamwork skills. 100% of teachers also reported learning new skills or techniques to deliver drama techniques, a positive impact on learning, and  identified the value of drama strategy in enhancing their School Improvement Plans, and 95% of teachers said they were actively integrating drama within their curriculum planning within a year of training.

Overall, using drama and creative learning activities in the curriculum ensured a more enriched and embedded learning experience that catered more broadly for pupil's different learning needs, with pupils developing a deepened understanding of different texts across subjects and pupils in lower attainment groups and those with SEND needs connecting more with subject materials.

The Unicorn is advocating for prioritising investment in Primary Arts-teaching and promoting Drama as a core tool for a broad, engaging and equitable education. By embedding arts practice in schools' DNA it ensures a legacy of impact to keep this vital work going.

Rachel Bagshaw, Artistic Director and Co-CEO, of the Unicorn Theatre, said: “Drama brings great riches for both children, teachers and schools alike – yet is often now non-existent in children's primary learning. It has a significant impact on crucial skills of oracy and critical thinking, and is an essential tool to meet current education priorities. Our Creative Schools report shows that there are huge, measurable benefits to an art-rich approach to education which extends far beyond the Arts skills and into all areas of learning and child development.

The Cultural Learning Alliance's recent statistics make it shockingly clear that there is a very real entitlement gap for children, with take-up of arts subjects dwindling in areas with highest free school meals eligibility. The Unicorn's Creative Hub school partnerships are born out of the need to address this shocking inequality by bringing specialist practice directly to children in our local schools. Over three years our team works closely with children and staff across the school, embedding Drama-rich curriculum teaching to support strategic priorities, and involving children directly in the development of work on our stages through collaboration with artists and facilitators. Schools get free tickets to all our shows throughout the season, enabling them to bring children of all ages – often with their parents or other adults. 

The forthcoming changes to the curriculum are a step in the right direction, as is the proposed National Centre for Arts and Music Education, but in this rapidly changing world the skills developed through drama are only going to become more essential and when Drama exists as enrichment activity inequalities will always exist. My dream would be to roll our Creative Hub schools' model out across the UK, funded by the government and working in partnership with regional arts organisations to share this complex, rich in-depth way of working.”

Georgia Dale, Unicorn Theatre's Creative Hub Director said: "We are incredibly proud of the work with our Unicorn Creative Schools, a joint effort with teachers and children, which demonstrates the impact arts-rich education has on learning and school culture. We continually see the hugely positive impact that teaching through Drama has on children, often igniting profound changes in learning, yet the huge inequities in provision of Arts teaching in primary schools denies thousands of children from accessing learning in the way that best suits them.  Arts subjects are essential if we want to create a truly inclusive Primary education and investment in teachers is vital. The future of the arts, theatre-makers and audiences of the future will also reap long-term benefits when drama is embedded across the curriculum.”

Dr Vanessa Ogden CBE, Former Chair of the Unicorn (March 2021 to June 2026) and  Regional Director for Standards and Intervention at the Department for Education said: "I am immensely proud of this vital work and how it has developed over the past five years. By dissolving the boundaries between cultural institutions and classrooms, these partnerships have made a profound, meaningful difference to local schools, whilst ensuring children remain at the heart of the Unicorn's mission. As we look to the future, it is incredibly reassuring to know this work will continue through the Unicorn's Creative Hub and this programme which represents the very best of what education can be: a richer, broader curriculum that champions equity, unlocks potential, and shares its transformative knowledge nationally to inspire systemic change."  

Sally Bacon, Chair of the Cultural Learning Alliance said:  “We now have robust evidence to demonstrate that arts subjects such as Drama – combined with arts and theatre experiences – can build skills for life and work. They can play an important role in developing wellbeing, enabling children and young people to achieve, thrive and flourish, belong and contribute; to develop resilience and experience joy and delight.

 But our 2026 Report Card reveals that only 9% of primary teachers work in a school with a subject lead for Drama, and that only 6% of primary school teachers have more than 2.5 hours of arts subjects timetabled per week, compared with 47% of independent primary school teachers. 43% of primary teachers have no partnership with an arts organisation and the number of GCSE Drama entries fell by 40.6% between 2010 and 2025.

Arts organisations do excellent work to plug this gap and to create opportunities for young people to experience something beyond the everyday. These kinds of enrichment experiences are an essential part of a great education – and something every child and young person should be able to experience as they grow up. Teachers and school leaders know that Drama matters for their students, and theatres such as the Unicorn are a trusted partner to make high-quality theatre experiences possible, bringing the joy of creating and performing into children's lives.”

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