News & Views item - August 2010

 

 

General Certificate of Secondary Education in Science Jumps in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. (August 25, 2010)

The results of the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) have been released showing remarkable increases in individuals sitting the exams in the individual sciences -- physics, chemistry and biology.

 

The GCSE exam is usually taken by students 14-16 years of age in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Students intending to proceed to university must undertake a further two years of secondary education and then sit the Advanced Level General Certificate of Education (A-level).

 

About 690,000 students received their GCSE results yesterday, and it is notable that figures from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) show an increase of entries for chemistry and physics of 32%, while those for biology grew by 28%.

 

Almost 19% of students sat the biology GCSE, while 17.5% took physics and 18% took chemistry. Last year, the proportion of students who took separate sciences also rose markedly, but not to the same extent as this year -- biology: 18% vs 28%;  chemistry: 20% vs 32%;  physics: 21% vs 32%.

 

Overall there was a slight rise in examinees achieving A*-C grades compared with last year -- 69.1% vs 67.1%.

 

Concomitantly the "softer subjects have diminished in popularity. According to the Guardian: "the GCSE results show. PE, business studies and drama entries dropped by 9%, 7% and 6% respectively. Some 11% of students took business studies.

 

 

 

Key facts released by the JCQ:

 

Click here to go to the Guardian's web page for more complete information, but in any case contrary to Australian secondary students there appears to be a growing interest in the sciences in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.