From the viewpoint of European Music Year (EMY) the author, currently HM Staff Inspector for Music and Chairman of the EMY Advisory Committee for Education, makes some general observations about the present condition of and future prospects for music education in the United Kingdom. Reviewing educational initiatives which have been taken during EMY, he relates these to the wider issues which inevitably preoccupy many of us at the present time. Despite the gloomy prognostications being made by some concerning the future of music education, he prefers at this stage to point to positive achievements and to suggest possible lines of development for the future.