Number of students taking science at A-level continues to fall

Citation

(2005), "Number of students taking science at A-level continues to fall", Education + Training, Vol. 47 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2005.00447cab.005

Number of students taking science at A-level continues to fall

Innovative and imaginative ways of revitalising young people's interest in science must be introduced in schools and colleges if the worrying drift away from physics, chemistry and biology in favour of the so-called softer subjects is to be reversed, according to the members of the UK science community. Concern over falling standards and the reduced numbers of students opting for science subjects at A-level has once again come under the spotlight. This has resulted in Open University Professor Colin Pillinger, who led the Beagle 2 mission to Mars, predicting that Britain would run out of world leading scientists unless trends were reversed. Professor Pillinger's comments followed reports that the number of A-level students taking science subjects last year fell by 6.5 per cent.

Professor Pillinger said many more students needed to opt for science if the country was to retain its reputation for producing Nobel Prize winners. And he warned that scientists were at risk of becoming a “vanishing breed” unless students went through the system. He also suggested that generating enthusiasm for science extended beyond the classroom. Referring to the broad level of interest generated by the Beagle 2 mission, he commented: “If you want children to study science their parents have got to be interested, too”.

In 2003, the number of A-level students taking physics was 30,583 – a drop of 3 per cent on 2002 figures. Chemistry fared little better, with 36,110 students taking the subject – a loss of 1.5 per cent. Although biology was a more popular subject, the 51,716 students taking it represented a fall of 0.8 per cent on 2002 figures. While 2004 figures remain provisional, allowing for slight changes as the result of late entries and appeals, they look set to reflect the continuing decline in science subjects taken by students at A-level in recent years. According to the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, this continues a disturbing trend – the number of A-level entrants between 1991 and 2003 decreased by 19 per cent in chemistry, 30 per cent in physics and 25 per cent in mathematics.