1. Introduction
a) Kent Music is an education charity that develops musical opportunities to support the aspirations of children, young people, adults and teachers in Kent. Kent Music is also the Hub Lead Organisation for the Music Education Hub for Kent. In this role, we are responsible for managing Arts Council England (ACE) funding allocated each year to Kent Music and its partners to support, deliver and enable access to music education activity for children and young people across the county.
b) Kent Music believes that every child and young person should have the opportunity to access music education and so our charging and remissions policy is designed to enable this to happen by removing as many financial barriers as possible.
c) Kent Music’s charges in part reflect what it is funded to do. One-to-one instrumental and vocal tuition is a partly subsidised activity, but school Funded Opportunities are covered by the Hub ACE grant as part of the National Plan for Music Education. Out-of-school activities at local and county level are subsidised by local council grant income.
2. Charging
Our price structure is reviewed annually, with any changes brought to our Board of Trustees for approval. We take care to ensure that any price increases are a fair reflection of the cost of providing the service and remain in line with similar music education providers. We are clear and timely in communicating price increases to customers.
a) Tuition
The price that Kent Music charges for one-to-one and small group tuition is partly subsidised and comprises the following costs:
- the hourly rate paid to the teacher;
- staff development costs,
- employer’s national insurance contributions;
- employer’s pension contributions;
- teacher travel costs;
- the cost of providing teachers with an enhanced check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS);
- the cost of providing teaching venues and
- a contribution to the overheads of Kent Music.
We issue invoices for tuition three times per year in advance of the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms. Payment is required in full two weeks after the invoice is issued but customers are also offered the option of paying monthly instalments by standing order.
Our current tuition rates can be found on our website
Financial Assistance is available for qualifying students and families (see section 3 Remissions below)
b) Schools
Kent Music provides a range of Funded Opportunities to all state schools in Kent, on completion of the annual ACE survey and schools can select one of these per year. These are all also available as payable options for schools who are not eligible for funded support, or to supplement the main Funded Opportunity for Kent state schools.
Our Funded Opportunities include
- Bespoke support for curriculum development, staff training and general improvement of music provision
- Sing Up! Membership
- Ensemble leader (not infant schools). Contribution towards the running of an ensemble across the academic year
- MusicPlus (primary, junior and special schools) – our whole class instrumental offer which is delivered by Kent Music, one of our partners or a music teacher employed by the school. Funding is provided for 20 weeks with the school expected to finance the remaining 10 weeks of each annual project (currently £405) where provision is delivered by Kent Music. Instruments for MusicPlus projects are available at the subsidised rate of £36 per project, to cover maintenance and delivery. The Kent Music MusicPlus Digital resource is available for a fee of £50 per school.
In addition, all state-funded schools in Kent can access free Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which includes our annual schools conference, network meetings as well as ongoing support and advice from their Area Manager. Charges for Kent Music CPD events are payable for schools outside of Kent and independent schools.
Cancellation charges apply for non-attendance are set out in our CPD Terms and Conditions.
We also provide a popular Roadshow performance free of charge.
c) Music Centres, County Groups and Summer School
The price that Kent Music charges for music centre and county group & choir membership is subsidised with funding from Kent County Council and Arts Council England. Part of the membership fee is eligible for gift aid. Funding raised via gift aid is put into the bursary scheme (see 3.1)
Music centre membership costs £52 for students under 18 and £74 for adults per term (3 terms per year). Members can access all ensembles at any Kent Music music centre and receive 10% discount on membership if also receiving tuition from Kent Music.
d) County Groups
Kent County Youth Orchestra, Kent Youth Choir and Kent Youth Wind Orchestra courses are charged at the following rates
- Non-residential courses/workshops£15 per day
- Winter residential course (4 day course) £60 per day (not KYWO)
- Summer residential course (6 day course) £65 per day
We provide a range of courses at our annual Summer School, costs for which can be found here
An entry fee of £8 is charged for County Group Christmas concerts (U18 free) to help cover hire of the venue and equipment
e) Instrument Hire
Kent Music has a wide range of musical instruments available for individual hire at competitive rates. Current charges can be found here. Kent Music students receive a 35% discount and students in receipt of Financial Assistance are offered an instrument free of charge. Schools can hire instruments at subsidised rates, which include delivery and collection and in-house repair and replacement service.
Other projects and programmes provided by Kent Music are provided for a small charge or free of charge, subsidised with funding from ACE These include joint school music days
3. Remissions
a) Kent Music uses some of its funding from Arts Council England to provide a bursary scheme. The scheme subsidises 75% of the cost of instrumental and vocal lessons and membership of music centres, county ensembles & choirs, Kent Music Summer School and other projects and programmes up to a maximum subsidy of £120 per term. Children and young people are eligible for a bursary if they fit into one or more of the following categories:
- Children and young people eligible for Free School Meals (year 3 or above)
- Looked After Children
- Young People Leaving Care
- Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)
- Unaccompanied minors and refugees
Families and individuals in receipt of the following benefits;
- Income Support/Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) 4. Child Tax Credit/Working Tax Credit/Universal Credit
- Incapacity Benefit
- Housing Benefit
- Asylum Support
- Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)
Students who receive a bursary are also eligible to receive free musical instrument hire.
We can claim Gift Aid for 100% of non-residential County Group courses and 30% of the residential fee for County Group courses and Kent Music Summer School.
Kent Music also has some funding from trusts, foundations, gifts and legacies available to support children and young people attending music centres, county groups & choirs and Kent Music Summer School. Awards are made on a discretionary basis.
b) Refunds
Any credits on customer accounts at the end of the academic year are held to offset against future invoices. Alternatively, customers can request a refund, which will be transferred to their bank account via BACS. Any credits that are unclaimed after six months are transferred to our bursary fund.
4. Contact and Review
This policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it aligns with the needs of Kent Music and complies with current legislation, and best practices. Any necessary updates will be communicated to employees, and employees will have access to the most recent version of this policy on the Staff Information page of SharePoint.
For any questions or concerns related to this policy, Kent Music employees can contact:
Senior Leader, Operations: Ruth Roberts – rroberts@kent-music.com
Accountant: Clare Mathews – cmathews@kent-music.com
Finance Manager: Gail Batty – gbatty@kent-music.com