Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457): Topic: Arts in society — Study Guide

This guide covers the topic Arts in society in Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457), using the Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). Arts in society is one of the 22 topics in the topic list in section 3, and that list is for all three components in section 4: Component 1 Written Exam, Component 2 Individual Report and Component 3 Team Project. Topic knowledge is not assessed. The syllabus states that “knowledge of content is not assessed in this syllabus”, so this page shows you how to use the arts as a context to practise the assessed skills: research, analysis, evaluation, reflection, communication and collaboration.

Use this guide with the Arts in society revision notes and the Arts in society practice questions. For the whole course, see the IGCSE Global Perspectives hub and the IGCSE Global Perspectives checklist.

What the syllabus asks of you

Syllabus reference	What you must be able to do (from the document)	Where assessed
Section 2, AO1 Research, analysis and evaluation	Research global issues, their causes and consequences and possible courses of action; use evidence to support claims; analyse and evaluate evidence, reasoning and sources; develop a line of reasoning	Components 1, 2 and 3 (all of Component 1)
Section 2, AO2 Reflection	Consider different perspectives objectively and with empathy; justify your own perspective; consider how research, perspectives and teamwork influenced your learning	Components 2 and 3
Section 2, AO3 Communication and collaboration	Present arguments, evidence and perspectives clearly and with structure; include citations and references; contribute to the Team Project	Components 2 and 3
Section 4, Component 1	Analyse sources; evaluate research and suggest ways to test a claim; evaluate arguments; assess actions. Understand bias, claim, fact, generalisation, opinion, prediction, value and vested interest	Written Exam: 1 hour 25 minutes, 70 marks, 35%
Section 4, Component 2	Choose a global issue that divides opinion; write a global research question; research local and/or national and global perspectives; analyse causes and consequences; propose one course of action; evaluate sources	Individual Report: 1500–2000 words, 60 marks, 30%
Section 4, Component 3	As a team, identify a local issue; research different perspectives; plan, carry out and measure the success of an action; reflect	Team Project: 70 marks, 35%

The syllabus defines an issue as “an important subject or problem for discussion” and a perspective as “a viewpoint on an issue based on evidence and reasoning”. Arts in society is the topic. The issue is the specific problem inside it that people disagree about. The command words printed in section 4 are Analyse, Describe, Evaluate, Explain, Identify and Suggest.

Issues at global, national and local level

“The arts” is too broad to argue about. You need an issue that divides opinion.

Issue	Global level	National level	Local level
Public funding for the arts	Countries fund culture in very different ways	Government budgets for theatres and galleries	A council deciding whether to keep a community arts centre
Return of cultural objects	Objects taken during colonial rule held in museums abroad	Laws on whether national museums may give objects away	A local museum asked to return one item
Arts in education	How much school time the arts get in different systems	Whether arts subjects are compulsory	A school closing its music department
AI and creative work	Image and music generators used across borders	Copyright law on AI-made work	Local illustrators losing commissions
Street art and graffiti	Street art sold worldwide	Laws on damage to property	A town deciding whether to paint over a mural

Key terms. Use these to describe issues; you are not marked for reciting them.

• Cultural heritage: objects, places and practices a community values and passes on.
• Restitution: returning an object to the people or country it was taken from.
• Public funding: money from national or local government, usually from taxes.
• Censorship: stopping people from making, showing or seeing a work.
• Access: whether people can take part in the arts, which depends on cost, distance, time and confidence.

Perspectives: who thinks what, and why

A perspective rests on evidence and reasoning. Strong answers say who holds a view and why: their values, their experience and any vested interest.

Take the return of cultural objects. The Benin Bronzes are plaques and sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin, in present-day Nigeria. Many were taken by British forces in 1897 and later spread to museums in Europe and North America. On 1 July 2022 Germany and Nigeria signed a joint declaration on returning Benin Bronzes held in German museums. The Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum are another long-running case: Greece asks for their return, and the British Museum Act 1963 limits when the trustees may dispose of objects.

Who	Possible perspective	Why they might hold it
A community or government of origin	Objects should come home	Values identity, history and justice; objects may have religious meaning
A museum director	Objects should stay, or be shared through loans	Values public access and conservation; legal duties; vested interest in visitors
A young person from the community of origin	Wants to see the objects without travelling abroad	Connection to their own history; cost of travel

Perspectives do not have to be opposite. A director and a community leader might both accept a loan, for different reasons. This issue is contested, so present each side fairly and reach your own reasoned judgement.

Evaluating perspectives. “The objects were taken by force” is a historical claim that can be checked. “Museums keep objects safer” needs evidence about conditions in each place. “Objects belong where they were made” is a value: it cannot be proved, but you can judge whether the reasoning is consistent.

Worked example (analysis of perspectives).

A museum director argues that objects should stay because more people can see them in a large international museum [knowledge]. This reflects a value placed on wide public access, and it suits the museum’s vested interest in visitors [application]. However, it assumes that seeing an object means the same to every visitor; for the community it came from, it may have a meaning lost in a glass case far away [analysis]. The visitor figures may be accurate, but they answer a different question from the community’s, which is about ownership and justice, so this is a weak reply to their case [evaluation].

Causes and consequences

The Individual Report must analyse causes and consequences, and the Written Exam asks you to analyse information and arguments. In this topic they often run in chains.

Example: fewer arts lessons in some schools. Possible causes: pressure on school budgets; more time for subjects with high-stakes exams; a shortage of specialist teachers; a belief that arts subjects lead to fewer jobs. Possible consequences: fewer students choosing creative careers; less access for students whose families cannot pay for private lessons; claims that wellbeing suffers. Some consequences are predictions, so ask what evidence supports them.

Example: the “Bilbao effect”. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry, opened in Spain in 1997. Since then many cities have built striking cultural buildings hoping to attract tourists, and “the Bilbao effect” is a common phrase. It is a good case for thinking about causation. A city changes for many reasons at once, such as new transport and other investment, so you cannot assume one building caused all the change. Separate correlation (two things happening together) from causation (one causing the other).

Worked example (cause and consequence).

One cause of fewer young people taking part in local arts activities is cost [knowledge]. If a council cuts its grant to an arts centre, the centre may raise prices to cover its costs [application]. Young people from lower-income families then take part less, so access becomes more unequal, which may reduce the number who choose creative careers later [analysis]. However, lack of time, transport or confidence may matter as much, so a survey asking non-attenders why they stay away is needed before deciding that price is the main problem [evaluation].

Judging sources and evidence

The syllabus says you will benefit from understanding bias, claim, fact, generalisation, opinion, prediction, value and vested interest, and that you should analyse and evaluate use of evidence and language.

Term	Meaning	Arts example
Claim	A statement presented as true, which may or may not be supported	“Free museum entry increases visitor numbers.”
Fact	Can be checked and shown true or false	“The museum opened in 1997.”
Opinion	A personal view that cannot be proved	“Modern art is not real art.”
Generalisation	A broad statement about a whole group from limited cases	“Young people are not interested in theatre.”
Prediction	A statement about what will happen	“If the arts centre closes, crime will rise.”
Value	A belief about what matters	“Everyone deserves access to culture.”
Bias	A one-sided presentation that favours a view	A report listing only a festival’s benefits
Vested interest	Something a person or group gains if a view is accepted	A ticket company praising a new venue

Typical weaknesses of arts evidence. Economic impact reports are often paid for by the organisation that benefits. Audience surveys often ask only people who already attend. Personal testimony shows a real experience but one story is not a general pattern. Studies linking music lessons to grades often find a correlation, but students who choose music may already differ, for example in family support.

Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states: “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” It is evidence that a right to culture is recognised internationally. It does not settle how much any government should spend, so it supports a value, not a specific policy.

Worked example (evaluating evidence).

A leaflet from an imaginary theatre company claims that “every pound spent on theatre returns four to the local economy” [identifying the claim]. The company has a vested interest in continued funding, and the leaflet does not say who calculated the figure or how [application]. It may count spending that would have happened anyway, such as people eating out in town on another night, so the real gain could be smaller [analysis]. On its own the claim is weak; it would be stronger if an independent researcher had produced it and explained the method [evaluation].

Courses of action and their effects

The Individual Report proposes one course of action; the Team Project carries one out; Component 1 asks you to assess actions. Judge each against clear criteria: effectiveness (does it tackle the cause?), cost and who pays, feasibility, who benefits and who loses, sustainability (the syllabus encourages you to consider it) and unintended effects.

Example actions on local access: free museum days; a discounted youth arts pass; artists running workshops in schools; a community mural; a legal wall for street art. A free day is cheap but may mostly attract people who would have come anyway. A youth pass targets cost, but only works if cost is the real barrier.

Worked example (assessing an action).

One course of action is for the council to fund artists to run workshops in every secondary school [knowledge]. This reaches students who would never visit an arts centre, tackling cost and confidence directly [application]. It may be more effective than a one-day festival, because it builds skills over time rather than offering a single event [analysis]. However, it needs schools to give up timetable time and would stop if funding ended, so it is the stronger option only if funded for several years and measured, for example by tracking how many students join arts clubs afterwards [evaluation].

Ideas for the Individual Report

The syllabus says the report should be based on a global issue that divides opinion, with a global research question as its title, and local and/or national and global perspectives. Your teacher will confirm whether your question is suitable.

Weak title	Why it is weak	Stronger global research question
Museums	A topic, not a question	Should museums return cultural objects to the countries they were taken from?
AI art	No disagreement stated	Should AI companies be allowed to train their systems on artists’ work without permission?
Arts funding in my country	Not global	Should governments use public money to fund the arts?

Plan the global issue; a local or national and a global perspective, and why each is held; causes and consequences; two or three courses of action and the single one you propose, with how it would work; an evaluation of your main sources; and your own view. Then answer your own question. See the Individual Report guide and the Individual Report revision notes.

Ideas for the Team Project

The Team Project starts from a local issue. The team plans and carries out an action and measures its success. Your teacher will confirm whether a project is feasible.

Local issue	Possible action	How success could be measured
Few arts activities for older residents	Art or music sessions at a community centre	Attendance; a before-and-after survey on enjoyment
Graffiti on a school wall	Design and paint a mural with students and neighbours, with permission	Number involved; whether new graffiti appears
A traditional craft fading locally	A workshop where an older craftsperson teaches students	Students who complete an item and want to continue

The syllabus lists posters, leaflets, web pages, videos (10 minutes maximum), presentations or photographs of an event as possible Evidence of Action, and says it should not include evidence of research or initial meetings. See the Team Project guide and the Team Project revision notes.

Common errors

• Describing the arts or listing famous artists instead of showing skills.
• Choosing a topic (“music”) instead of an issue (“Should music be compulsory in schools?”).
• Naming a perspective without explaining why the group holds it.
• Treating an arts organisation’s figures as neutral when it has a vested interest in funding.
• Assuming that because a city built a gallery and then grew, the gallery caused the growth.
• Treating a value (“culture is a human right”) as if it proves a specific policy.
• In the Team Project, choosing a global issue, or an action whose success cannot be measured.

Where to go next

Practise on unseen sources with the Arts in society practice questions. For the exam, read The Written Exam guide, the Global Perspectives revision notes and the Global Perspectives practice set.

Official syllabus

Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). The topic list and the meanings of issue and perspective are in section 3; the assessment objectives are in section 2; the components and command words are in section 4.