Charanga

What it is

Charanga is a music teaching and learning platform for schools, teachers and music services. Its home page calls it "The world-leading, configurable music teaching and learning platform" and sums up the offer as "Multi-award-winning music teaching and learning support with complete curricula, teaching resources, content-building and personalisation tools, music technology, online learning, CPD and teacher training. Everything in one place. Accessible and secure." The tagline beside its introductory video is "Helping everyone find their inner musician."

It is not a course marketplace for individuals. Charanga is something a school or music service adopts to teach music to whole classes, with programs organized by age: one for students aged 5 to 11 and one for students aged 11 to 16. The footer identifies the company as Charanga Ltd and states that "Charanga is an Ovation Education company."

Scale

The site publishes four headline numbers: 70,000+ teachers, 2.5+ million learners, 12,500+ schools and 64 countries. It describes itself as "the UK's music platform of choice" and says that for over 25 years it has helped organizations "improve access, inclusion, equity, and standards in music and expressive arts education." It names the kinds of organizations it works with: national and state governments, music hubs and services, MATs, educators, publishers and industry professionals.

For teachers and for learners

The site addresses both audiences directly. For teachers, it promises a platform that is "Fully adaptable for teachers of all experience levels" and able to "Accommodate different class sizes, abilities, or timetable constraints without compromising core learning outcomes." A quote from Bett Global on the home page makes the same point from outside, saying Charanga can make music learning "accessible and available to non-specialist teachers too." The programs section describes its teacher resources as supporting "subject knowledge and pedagogical confidence," and the site adds that it wants teaching music to be "a joyful and rewarding experience for you and your students." Its short promise to schools is "Deliver high-quality music lessons confidently. Amplify every child's creative voice."

For learners, the emphasis is on doing music. "Musical achievement relies on hard work and dedication," the site says. It wants students' musical journeys to "focus on playing and creating music, not on reading about others doing it," and promises learners a variety of practical musical experiences and opportunities that build a love of music along the way.

The primary program

The primary offer, sold as Musical School, is built from several parts listed in the site's menu:

• Charanga's Schemes and the Freestyle library, the teaching content for class music lessons.
• Instruments resources and Charanga Sing for singing.
• A dedicated SEND area for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Yumu for students, the student-facing side of the platform.
• CPD & Training for teachers, plus a personal My Workspace, testimonials and case studies.

There is also an international version, Musical School International.

The secondary program

Charanga Secondary has its own set of resources: Music and the Modern World, VIP Studio Sessions, a Bonus Library, YuStudio, Music Notepad and Quickbeats. YuStudio and the other creative tools are where students make their own music, and the news feed shows active development, including the launch of YuStudio Mobile in September 2026 and a weekly "What's new in YuStudio" post.

Music services and management

For music services and hubs, the menu lists dedicated music service tabs, a "Partnership in practice" section, management and data tools, and resources for instrumental and vocal teachers. A separate page covers "The DfE Capital Grant and Charanga." This is the part of the platform for organizations that run music teaching across many schools rather than a single classroom.

Teacher training

Charanga's CPD and training is delivered by a named team: Kristian Parkes, Manon Llwyd, Mark Cardy, Martin Thomson, Maureen Hanke, Max Wheeler, Rosie Nicholl and Simon Evans each have a page in the CPD section. Training sits inside the platform alongside the teaching resources, which matters most for classroom teachers who are not music specialists.

Partnerships and international work

The About menu lists digital platform collaborations with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Charanga Cymru/Wales, Music Alliances, Youth Music, Arts Award (Trinity) and Young Sounds UK. The RSNO partnership gives schools a suite of bespoke educational materials alongside the orchestra's digital education resources, with the stated aim of helping more young people experience live orchestral music; a recent news item covers the two bringing the animation Gaspard's Foxtrot to schools. Internationally, the site lists partnerships in Wales, South Australia, Denmark, the Czech Republic and the USA, along with sections on UK nations, national and state governments, supporting modernization and workforce development.

The blog is aimed at working teachers, with recent posts offering classroom tips for secondary school music teachers and explaining what the Curriculum Review means for teachers and students.

Recognition is part of the pitch. The site calls its programs award-winning, and a June 2026 news item reports that Musical School was shortlisted for a BESA Award.

Trials, policies and contact

The site says Charanga is "one of the few offering no-obligation free trials," with "Full access. No payment details. No strings attached." Elsewhere it specifies that complimentary 30-day trials are available for selected products. The site publishes no prices.

Schools checking safeguarding and data protection will find a Child Protection and Online Safety Policy Statement, Data Security FAQs, a privacy notice plus a separate privacy notice for young people, an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access statement and an Environmental Sustainability Statement in the footer. The company describes itself as "an ethical business committed to social responsibility" and says using it helps "create opportunities for disadvantaged young people across your community." Questions go to its team by phone or at info@charanga.com, and news@charanga.com signs teachers up to the mailing list.

Who it suits

Charanga suits primary and secondary schools that want a complete, ready-to-teach music curriculum with built-in teacher support, and it is especially useful where music is taught by class teachers rather than specialists. Music services and hubs get tools for coordinating teaching across schools. Secondary music departments get creative and studio resources for students who want to compose and produce. Schools can try selected products for 30 days before committing, though pricing is only available by asking.