Last year, I participated in several surveys of piano teachers in the UK, aimed at gathering more information about how many piano teachers are active currently, and the mode and method of piano teaching, as well as other related areas such as fees, average age/gender of students, study books used, teacher qualifications and ongoing professional development.
This preliminary survey, conducted by Sally Cathcart of The Oxford Piano Group, contains some diverting statistics. I was particularly interested to learn that piano teaching in the UK is unregulated, though many of us belong to professional bodies such as EPTA (European Piano Teachers’ Association), or ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicans). What troubles me is the lack of protection for music teachers in the event of an ‘incident’ or difficulties between teacher and pupil, from simple issues such as collecting overdue fees, to more serious accusations of ‘inappropriate’ behaviour and child abuse.
The Cross-Eyed Pianist 