Royal Society comments on GCSE results

Commenting on the GCSE results released today Professor Adrian Sutton FRS, Deputy Chair of the Royal Society’s Education Committee, said:

“The hard work of students and their teachers is reflected in the excellent grades we see today. We’re pleased to see so many students studying the breadth of the sciences and it is encouraging that more and more students are seeing GCSE Computing as important to their futures, reflected in an increase in entries of 76.4% – a big jump from last year. Science is at the heart of modern life and essential to understanding the world. Along with maths and computing, it equips young people to prosper in today’s rapidly-changing, knowledge-focused economies. We hope that a large number of students receiving their results today will go on to study the sciences at A Level and that the increases in STEM entries at A Level seen last week will be sustained. 

“The UK is a world leading science country but we are short of scientists and engineers. A career in research or industry offers many advantages to young people and studying science will open these doors. As called for in the Royal Society’s Vision for science and mathematics education report, we want to see science and maths to 18 become the norm across the UK. A significant part of achieving this will be investing in our specialist teachers who are vital for inspiring and encouraging students in these subjects.”