I strongly believe the arts have the power to transform lives. The earlier a child's engagement with the arts, the more likely they are to develop vital skills such as communication, analysis, confidence and teamwork. These skills can help pupils better engage with the mainstream curriculum.

As the whole saga untangles, we are delighted that art and design will be retained in the National Curriculum, and that its importance both to the economy and as a tool to broaden pupils' grasp of the world around them has been recognised.

Korean students inarguably excel at passing tests. The majority of their education has been focused on knowledge-based learning and testing, and securing university places rather than on building essential core skills such as imaginative thinking, empathy, flexibility, innovation and risk-taking.

Having worked for the last seven years engaging young people with the arts, I've seen just how influential they can be on helping children to develop life skills giving them the confidence they need to shape a better future.

Michael Gove, a scholarship pupil at the selective Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, clearly regards his own educational experience as a template for the rest of us. It worked for me, the thinking goes, so it ought to work for everyone else too.

The problems within the higher education system are multiple, and these need to be considered if we are to expect students to willingly put themselves in three times more debt. The pool of 18-year-old with the financial support to go to university on a whim without a concern for its relative value will be vastly reduced.