Opinion: Science and maths - doing well, but must do better
23 September 2011. By Sir John Holman
The Wellcome Trust invests millions of pounds a year in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, believing that the future of science depends on the quality of science education today. So what does the results season tell us about the popularity of science and maths in schools and colleges today?
The good news
Just five years ago, it looked as if school science and maths were in long-term decline, with maths and physics particularly endangered. The previous government's STEM programme invested £140 million over five years into trying to arrest this decline, and it now seems to be paying dividends, with this year's A-level numbers suggesting that the decline has been well and truly reversed.
Numbers are up in physics (6 per cent), chemistry (9 per cent), biology (7 per cent) and maths (8 per cent). As the Campaign for Science and Engineering reports, over the past five years there has been a 40 per cent increase in numbers studying maths, and a nearly 20 per cent increase in physics and chemistry. This is at a time when the overall number of A levels being taken has increased by just 7.7 per cent.
At GCSE, numbers taking three separate science GCSEs - physics, chemistry and biology, also called 'triple science' - have increased by about 15 per cent this year, building on increases of about 30 per cent last year. Since choosing triple science correlates well with choosing science at A level, this suggests that the growth in popularity of science will be sustained in the future.
What is driving this growth? There's no doubt that the state of the economy, and the advent of £9000 admission fees, has brought a greater sense of reality to subject choice. With the CBI saying that 40 per cent of employers have difficulties recruiting enough STEM skills, students and their parents realise that choosing STEM subjects is a good bet for securing a well-paid job.
With science and maths enjoying a growing media profile, there may also be a 'Brian Cox factor' at work. But in the end it is teachers who meet students day in and day out and it is they who can do most to inspire. Recent research for the Wellcome Trust shows that nearly two-thirds of student focus group participants found science lessons 'fairly' or 'very' interesting, and a remarkable 90 per cent agreed that it was important to teach science to all students to age 16.
Over the past five years, the government, with partners like the Trust, has invested millions in programmes to attract teachers into science and mathematics and to give them high-quality professional development through the Science Learning Centres. It is here that the work really seems to be paying off: the National Audit Office has confirmed that professional development at the Science Learning Centres is directly related to higher attainment. This work must continue because there is still much to be done.
Not so good
This isn't the time to be complacent. The UK is not the only country to prioritise science and mathematics: our competitors understand the position only too well and in many ways start from a stronger position. In mathematics, recent work from the Nuffield Foundation shows that England, Wales and Northern Ireland are the only developed countries where fewer than 20 per cent of students study mathematics post-16. Carol Vorderman's recent report on mathematics education called for maths to be compulsory for all to age 18 - and with the pay-off for people with maths qualifications being so good, this makes sense. Michael Gove has said he wants to work towards this goal over ten years, but is that fast enough with our competitors breathing down our necks?
And while it is good that physics has broken into the top ten A-level subjects, there remain very serious problems about gender, with the proportion of girls taking the subject stuck at around a fifth and actually declining a little this year. In the end, everything comes down to good teaching. The Trust's research found that around 40 per cent of students were put off science because they found it difficult or boring, and other research makes it clear that girls are especially motivated by good teaching and put off by boring teaching.
The Trust's research shows that students particularly want to see science related to the real world - something that experienced and well-qualified teachers are well placed to do. Practical laboratory work is the unique proposition of science, and students enjoy it when it is clearly linked to the curriculum. Experiments produced by the Trust and Kew Gardens for Darwin Year are proving very popular with schools - yet the pressure of exams often puts practical work under pressure.
We must keep investing in teachers. Too often, mathematics, physics and chemistry are taught by teachers without specialist qualifications, so the government must intensify the drive to recruit well-qualified teachers in these subjects. Those teachers who are already in schools need the chance to get out of the classroom to attend the Science Learning Centres and other professional development opportunities, so they can keep up with the breathtaking development of science and learn new ideas for practical work and the relation of science to the world outside.
Britain is a premier scientific nation. With just one per cent of the world's population, we produce 12 per cent of the top-rated scientific research, and science and mathematics underpin our economy. To keep that position, we need world-class science in our schools as well as in our universities, and the way to achieve that is to invest more and more in the one resource that will make all the difference - teachers.
Sir John Holman is Senior Fellow for Education at the Wellcome Trust and former director of the National Science Learning Centre.
Image: A-level results at London Oratory. Credit: hammersmithandfulham on Flickr.
