ARTISTS from ethnic minority backgrounds have shocking levels of under-representation in the school curriculum, a new report has found.

The Runnymede Trust and the Freelands Foundation found that only 2.3 per cent of artists referred to in GCSE exams are from black or South Asian backgrounds.

Out of 975 references to named contemporary artists, there were just 17 references to named contemporary black artists and there were only 11 mentions of a contemporary South Asian artist. 

The report said that the level of representation “sets poor expectations for what teachers should be teaching in the art classroom.”

It added that work by ethnic minority artists is often referred to in secondary and subordinate ways.

“It often appears in generalised geographical and movement-based references, and is associated with pre-1800 time periods,” the report said.

The study analysed 27 GCSE art and design exam papers from exam boards AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas.

It recommended that such papers feature ethnic minority artists at a minimum of 25 per cent of the total.

Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union said: “The Union shares these concerns about the poor representation of black and minoritised artists being represented in the curriculum, particularly at GCSE level.

“One of our calls has been that the curriculum should be meaningfully reviewed so it is better representative of the enriched art and cultural scene that makes up Britain’s modern society, as well as history.

“Black students need to be represented in the curriculum and we need to support teachers in providing material that is. The NEU wants to see proactive actions that will promote inclusivity and diversity across the curriculum."