Arts Award and BBC Ten Pieces are working together to support schools who would like to deliver Arts Award’s unique qualifications alongside their Ten Pieces Project.
BBC Ten Pieces is an exciting initiative for schools, led by the BBC Orchestras and Choirs, focusing on classical music and creativity. BBC Ten Pieces aims to open up the world of classical music to a generation of children and inspire them to develop their own creative responses to the pieces through a range of art forms.
A new set of pieces was added to the suite of sets in October 2024, showcasing ten new pieces written by female composers. The range of pieces available for primary and secondary schools to explore ranges from medieval to contemporary. For each piece you can find an exciting range of free teaching resources including short video introductions to each piece, instrumental and vocal arrangements, and four weeks’ worth of lesson plans for each composer to inspire students to get creative with classical music. Schools can register for news about Ten Pieces and use online resources to take part. The project is supported by more than 260 Champions including Music Education Hubs, Music Services, orchestras, film, dance and other arts organisations from across the U.K.
For more information about BBC Ten Pieces please go the BBC Teach website.
How does it link to Arts Award?
Arts Award is a fantastic way to recognise the creativity and engagement of students through BBC Ten Pieces, giving them a great sense of achievement at the end of the process - and an added opportunity for schools to celebrate.
BBC Ten Pieces challenges young people to respond creatively using composition, digital art forms, dance, and performance poetry which fits well with Arts Award.
The three Ten Pieces stages - inspiration, exploration & creativity, and presentation and performance work well with all five Arts Award levels from Discover to Gold.
Resources to help you deliver
We have created some resources to help you map your delivery of BBC Ten Pieces to Arts Award Discover, Arts Award Explore and Bronze Arts Award.
Tameside Cultural Services and Curious Minds have also created a specially designed arts log at Explore level that children can use to record their evidence for their Arts award Explore.
Arts Award discount for schools using BBC Ten Pieces
The discount code below is available until the end of March 2027.
The discount available is:
• Arts Award Discover certificate fee: £3.55 (instead of £4.75) per young person
• Arts Award Explore qualification fee: £12.80 (instead of £16.30) per young person
• Bronze Arts Award qualification fee: £24.00 (instead of £27.50) per young person
Centres will need to add the discount code (BBC24) when they enter young people for their awards and follow the steps below to claim the discount.
Terms and Conditions:
1. To qualify for the discount rate, young people must be entered for their award via the centre portal no later than 31 March 2027
2. The specified steps* must be completed when entering young people to secure the discount, otherwise normal fees will apply
3. Trinity reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time
4. No cash alternative will be offered.
*Steps to secure the discount:
i. Provide young people's details via the centre portal as normal, enter the specified discount code in the 'Comments' box but don’t press ‘Submit’
ii. Email Trinity to request that the discount is applied to the total fee. In the email, please tell us your centre name and the level you’re entering young people for.
iii. Trinity will process the order, adjust the fee in line with the advertised discount level and generate the invoice. You will receive the invoice automatically via email once the order is processed.
If you have any questions or want to find out more check out the Arts Award Help Centre