The UK design industry has written an to education minister Michael Gove asking him to reconsider his proposal to exclude design and the arts from the EBacc (English Baccalaureate) qualification that he wants in place of the current GCSE exams.
Individual signatories to the letter include Sir Jony Ive, Stella McCartney, Sir Terence Conran and Torch designers Edward Barber RDI and Jay Osgerby RDI. Organisations backing it include the Design Council, the D&AD, and BIMA. Agencies include IDEO, Interbrand, Seymour Powell, Landor and WolffOlins.
The BDI is in full agreement with the contents of the letter and Gus Desbarats, BDI chairman, urges all members to sign the petition for an enquiry into the proposal.
“Creativity in the application of is the UK’s no.1 economic asset. With two young daughters (13 and 10) I see, first-hand, how arts & design education is teaching them to take independent decisions and inspiring them to see the utility of what they are learning elsewhere. I dread the thought of future generations, heads crammed with information but with no idea what to do with it. Excluding Design & Art from the new BACC weakens the future engine of the UK’s global . Please take a few minutes to sign the petition“, Gus Desbarats, BDI Chairman
For more information about the #include design campaign and what you can do to support it, go to http://includedesign.org
To sign the petition for an enquiry, go to .
The petition is open to everyone (ordinary individuals and organisations - you don’t have to be involved in art and design) to make your voice heard.
The more signatures, the louder the protest. The current total is just over 38,000.
Illustrated selections of BDI’s news stories and events are emailed direct to subscribers. For a free subscription, send a blank email with “Subscribe to BDI Broadcasts” in the subject line to