Results time again

Every year I scour the A Level and GCSE results statistics for indications about the popularity of sciences. For many years in the 1990s and early 2000s this was a dispiriting job, as we saw a seemingly unstoppable decline in popularity, particularly in Physics and Chemistry, coupled with stories about the closure of numerous university Chemistry and Physics Departments.

All that is changing now, and we are seeing a renaissance in the popularity of school science. Take A level for example: Physics numbers are up 5.2% this year, Chemistry up 3.7% and Biology up 4.3%. This kind of growth, particularly in Physics, would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Looking next at the GCSE results, I see that numbers taking triple science are up by about 30% - triple science has been a real success story and we must be nearing the point now where it is on offer in every state school in the country. Triple science is an excellent preparation for A level, and we should not rest until this goal has been achieved. .

So, just what exactly is driving this resurgence in the popularity of science in schools? Economic realism must have something to do with it. With youth unemployment climbing and job prospects for young people looking bleak, there is a greater sense of realism about the kind of qualifications that are needed to make people employable. GCSEs, A Levels and degrees in STEM subjects make you demonstrably employable. Physical science graduates earn about a quarter of a million pounds more over a lifetime than people with A levels alone.

But I don’t think that it is the chill wind of unemployment alone that is driving this improvement. I believe that Science and Mathematics are being better taught in schools, and credit for this is due to the efforts of Science, Technology and Mathematics teachers up and down the country. The changes are also linked to the availability of better professional development for Science teachers through the Science Learning Centres and for Mathematics teachers through the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM).

The challenge now is to sustain this growth in the popularity of STEM subjects and an important part of this will be to recruit more specialist teachers, particularly in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry where there are still significant shortages. We need to ensure we sustain the programmes of professional development provided by the Science Learning Centres and the NCETM as we enter a period of funding reductions for education.

In the meantime, as Science, Technology and Mathematics educators, let’s take a bit of credit and bask in some late summer warmth after a great results season for STEM.