Strictly Come Dancing 2026 is back

If your Saturday classes were buzzing about sequins this week, you’ll know why. Strictly Come Dancing 2026 is here. We’ve also got big new research on children and creativity, and guidance for the next round of Arts Council England funding. Plus, there’s news about new qualifications for 14 to 16 year olds.

Strictly is back and the couples are revealed

Strictly Come Dancing returned to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 19 September. The launch show revealed all 15 pairings, including Chris Appleton with Amy Dowden and Lacey Turner with Vito Coppola. You can see the full list in the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing 2026 couples confirmed.

What this means for your school: interest in ballroom and Latin is at its peak. A Strictly themed taster for adults or a fun themed class for juniors could bring new faces through the door.

What children say about creativity

Arts Council England has published its first Creative Young Lives Survey, with answers from around 30,000 children and young people across England. One Dance UK shared the headlines on 22 September in Arts Council England data reveals majority of children say creativity is important to them. You can read more on Arts Council England’s Creative Young Lives survey page.

Here are the figures that stood out for us:

74% of children say being creative is important to them
Around half regularly dance or take part in theatre activities
32% say cost stops them visiting cultural places
55% say cheaper creative activities would help them take part more

What this means for your school: children value what we do. Low cost ways in, such as a free trial class, can make a real difference.

Guidance for the next National Portfolio

Arts Council England published guidance for its 2028 to 2033 National Portfolio Investment Programme. Arts Professional reported on 22 September that Arts Council England has released guidance for 2028 to 2033 applicants. Organisations can apply for £50,000 or more a year for five years. Applications open on 20 October and close on 15 December. Full details are on Arts Council England’s key information page for the programme.

What this means for your school: this is mainly for larger organisations, but it shapes the funded companies and venues that many of us partner with.

New Vocational GCSEs on the way

The government announced new Vocational GCSEs on 23 September. They’ll be nationally set, regulated by Ofqual and eventually replace current Technical Awards. Some subjects could be available from as early as September 2029. Example subjects include Creative Media Production and Child Development.

What this means for your school: many of our students take a performing arts Technical Award at school. Performing arts isn’t named in the examples yet, so this is one to watch rather than act on.

This week’s tip

Strictly is on every weekend this autumn. Pick one dance from each weekend’s show and teach a short sequence from it in class. It’s a fun, easy way to keep the buzz going.