Aug 15, 2024
Becca Gooch, Head of Research at EngineeringUK, commented:
"Congratulations to everyone receiving their A Level and T Level exam results today. STEM A Levels provide a key route into engineering and tech careers, and we are particularly pleased to see a slight uptick in the numbers of girls sitting A levels in computing (17%, up from 15% in 2023) and D&T (32%, up from 30% in 2023) with maths and physics remaining much the same at 37% and 23% respectively.
"Our research earlier this year indicated that girls in years 7-9 are switching off from science. It’s therefore important to redouble efforts to consolidate and increase girls’ interest in the key STEM subjects, something we’ll be working on with educators, industry and policy makers.
"Today’s results show girls are outperforming boys in computing and D&T in both A*/A and A*-C. In maths, boys did slightly better in A*/A grades and girls better in A*-C. And in further maths, we saw boys do slightly better in A*/A and A*-C grades. In physics, both boys and girls picked up similar A*/A grades with girls slightly outperforming on A*-C grades.
"Since 2020, A Level entries have been on the rise, with mathematics remaining the most popular A level, with entries now exceeding 100,000. Physics and further mathematics have noticeable increases in entries (physics increased 12.3%, maths up 10.9%, computing up 11.3%, and further maths up 19.9%).
"T Levels are growing in the numbers choosing them and the subjects being made available. Today, 7,380 students will be receiving T Level results, twice as many as last year with 89% receiving a pass. It is fantastic that around half of all T Level students completing their course studied an engineering and tech-related course, but it would be good to see higher grades in Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing which at 70% has room for improvement.
"T Levels are still very new, having only been introduced in 2020 – but more needs to be done to make employers and young people themselves aware of them and their benefits and we need to grow the 9% of females taking engineering and tech-related T Levels.
"Between now and 2030, engineering jobs are growing faster than any other occupation – so we really hope today’s results encourage more young people and especially girls - to consider an exciting and rewarding STEM career.
"Today may not have gone to plan for everyone, and for young people interested in a STEM career, please remember there are many routes into engineering and technology. Engineering is a broad subject covering a huge number of fields and there are routes in for everyone."
Download the All routes into engineering resource from Neon.
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