Community News Archive
IOP Chief on A Level Results
Institute of Physics
18 August 2005
As this year’s A Level results are announced and the CBI warns that the falling number of science students is damaging business, the Institute of Physics says that the trend will continue unless Government acts now to improve careers advice in schools and combat the shortage of specialist physics teachers.
According to the CBI earlier this week science is crucial to the competitiveness of the UK and yet the number of students opting to take physics at A Level continues to decline.
The Institute of Physics thinks that one of the key reasons is that thousands of school children every year are choosing subjects that won’t provide them with good job prospects in later life.
Dr Robert Kirby-Harris, chief executive of the Institute of Physics said: “The issue isn’t whether A Levels are getting easier, it’s about whether students are making the right choices of subject – choices which will give them the range of career opportunities they want and which will give the UK the supply of well qualified school-leavers that it needs.“
He continued: “Students who take physics at A Level enjoy higher salaries in later life and have a much wider variety of career options open to them - yet physics is in decline and other subjects, are increasingly popular despite the poor career prospects they offer. It’s a crazy situation and we need to put more resources into good quality careers advice in schools.”
Dr Kirby-Harris continued: “One of the reasons so many students are making potentially damaging decisions is down to narrow careers advice in schools. Students don’t realise that if you study physics you don’t automatically have to become a research scientist – but you do become much more attractive to a huge range of businesses, for example the financial services sector, engineering, the media, and computing. Careers advisors need the right training and accurate and up to date information about employment and career prospects – the Institute of Physics urges the Government to place more emphasis on this critical area.”
Another key issue is the shortage of physics teachers. Dr Kirby-Harris said: “There is a serious shortage of specialist physics teachers in UK schools. We need teachers who are passionate about physics, and able to inspire their students. Non-specialist teachers aren’t as good at doing this. We urge Government to set quotas for the number of physicists entering teacher training rather than a quota for science, and to continue funding projects which encourage physics graduates to become teachers.
Concern continues over the closure of physics and chemistry departments at UK Universities. The funding council for universities has said that stimulating demand for courses is the most important factor in helping to keep them open.
Dr Kirby-Harris said: “If Government changes the funding model for university science departments in the UK so that it covers the real cost of teaching students then universities will be given a huge incentive to go out and market their courses better, do more schools outreach work, and make innovative changes to degree programmes to try to attract more students.”
Key facts
• According to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers report, a graduate in physics or chemistry earns around £187,000 more during their career than someone with A Levels but no degree, whereas history and English graduates increase their earnings by only about half as much.
• Physics-based industry alone employs over 1.79 million people in the UK
• Physics-based industry contributes over £130bn in export value to the UK economy.
• Physics combined with other science A Levels comes out top in a recent report which analyses the future earnings of students who take various A level combinations. The report, by Professor Geraint Johnes from the University of Lancaster Management School, found that the highest salaries are enjoyed by those who took physics, chemistry and biology together at A level. The lowest rate of return comes from studying English, History and French.
• There are now fewer than 50 university departments in the UK offering physics to undergraduates (a decrease of over 30% since 1997).
Encouraging students to take A Level Physics
• Schools curriculum should use real-life examples and case studies to reveal how relevant and exciting the subject is. We welcome changes to the KS4 Programme of Study and we are trying to work with Awarding Bodies to ensure that the new Science GCSEs that will be introduced in 2006 include motivating and contemporary physics content. The Advancing Physics A Level developed by the Institute of Physics makes extensive use of modern physics and contemporary contexts.
• Improve careers advice in schools: there is evidence to show that careers teachers and advisors do not have a good understanding of the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) sector and so do not give students good advice. The Institute is working with the Science Council to develop a Science Careers website in addition to the careers resources that it already produces.
• Solve the shortage of specialist physics teachers: there are insufficient teachers in schools who are passionate about physics, consequently they do not inspire their students. The Institute has invested £750, 000 to support non-specialists who teach physics at KS3. It has also set up a series of support networks across the whole of the UK run by physics teachers.
The Institute of Physics support to Schools
• The Institute provides significant support for physics teaching including: a broad range of in-service training through local coordinators, running a Practical Physics Website with the Nuffield Foundation to help teachers to incorporate more effective practical work into their lessons, and offering teaching resources to ensure that practical work reflects modern physics.
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