The Government has let Science Down

The UK's manufacturing base is declining in the face of cheaper foreign competition. The City of London faces pressure due to the credit crunch. These challenges need addressing; but we also need a new generation of outstanding science, engineering and maths graduates who can help build the knowledge economy which will drive future growth.

Sadly, the current Government's record in this area is abysmal. On their watch, the number of students studying hard science subjects has declined (I use the word "hard" unashamedly - if we are going to compete in the world market, sports science will only get us so far). At GCSE level, only 10% of students study Physics, Maths and Biology as separate subjects, and a staggering 68% of state schools did not enter any pupils at all for triple science.

At A Level in 2008, only 7.8% of all pupils studied maths and just 3.3% physics, 4.9% chemistry and 6.5% biology. These figures are all materially lower than in 1997 - and the absolute numbers studying these subjects has dropped by around 25% in the same period.

The decline in the number of people studying hard sciences at university also has serious implications. Between 2002 and 2006, 38 universities closed a science department. One in four universities with significant numbers of physics students in 1994 had stopped teaching the subject by 2006. This in turn undermines research work.

Studying science subjects like Physics increases earning power. A graduate in Physics or Chemistry will earn £187,000 more than someone with just A Levels over their career according to PriceWaterhouseCooper. An English or Arts graduate only increases their earnings by half as much.

It isn't just the numbers that cause concern. It's the rigour of the exams and teaching too. The Government continually bleats that standards are being maintained. The research suggest otherwise. The Royal Society of Chemistry reported a year or so ago that it conducted an experiment - setting the same students exam papers from each of the last 5 decades. The students scored most highly in recent papers, and the lowest in the papers from the 1960s. This confirms separate research showing that a student just getting an A at A-Level maths today would have got a C in 1988. Dr Pike from the RSC said at the time: "We are witnessing an illusory great leap forward in education, where achieving contrived targets has become the end in itself." He added, "The proof lies in the enormous expense to provide remedial mathematics and even remedial science classes at university, and the lack of skills of graduates highlighted by employers."

Nor can the Government hide from international comparisons. The OECD publishes league tables ranking countries based on the attainment levels of 15-year-olds. Over recent years, the UK has fallen from 8th to 24th position in Mathematics and 10th to 14th position in Science. Both are out of 57.

We need to tilt the system back in favour of hard Science and high standards. Here are five simple ideas for doing this:
• Skew University grants, loan and fees in favour of students studying hard science subjects (which are likely to benefit both them and the economy) compared to less value-adding subjects
• Reflate academic standards in the exam system from top to bottom
• Promote Physics, Chemistry and Biology as separate subjects at GCSE level
• Give Headteachers more discretion to pay more to science teachers if they choose to
• Defer student loan repayments for top science graduates going into teaching

If we don't act to address these issues, society will be poorer in every sense.

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