Science and Mathematics Popular Degree Subjects Again After Decline

The number of young people entering English universities to study mathematics this year has risen 8.1 per cent from 2007-08. Chemistry numbers were up 4.4 per cent, and physics 3.3 per cent.

There have been equally impressive rises in A-level entrants for science subjects. Mathematics A-level entries rose by 15.7 per cent between 2005-06 and 2007-08, while further maths was up by 29.5 per cent. Entries for chemistry were up by 5.3 per cent and physics by 4.4 per cent.

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The findings are likely to go some way to assuage growing concerns that Britain is not producing enough scientists to meet the record demand created by issues such as climate change and to take advantage of global economic trends.

The reversal comes after years of decline in university science departments. In the five years to 2006, 38 university science departments closed in England as the number of students taking the subjects at A level tumbled.

David Eastwood, chief executive of the funding council, said he believed that Britain had “turned the corner”. Professor Eastwood said: “As far as science, maths and engineering is concerned, the world does look profoundly different from the world of 2004.”

The funding council is now halfway through a £350 million programme to revitalise strategically important and vulnerable subjects in universities. The scheme, running until 2012, includes £100 million to help to meet the high costs of science provision.

Teaching a science degree can cost up to £25,000 a year per student, but tends to hover around £8,000. This is about double the cost of teaching an arts degree. A total of £15 million has also been spent on pilot projects to get young people interested in these subjects. Support is also being given to vulnerable modern language subjects, although Professor Eastwood admitted that progress in this area would involve a “much slower burn”. There were, however, some positive trends, he added, such as an increase in numbers studying French at A level.