Industry excitement as Stem A-level numbers rise

A positive shift

Many in the industry are firmly in the camp that this increase in students perusing Stem subjects is good news, indicative of a shift towards a generation who are more digitally savvy.

“Young people are right to be pursuing their studies in science, maths and computing,” said Carol Holden, vice-president of human resources (HR), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Software AG.

“They have truly grown up in the digital world, with unprecedented access to technologies. They are the true digital natives, and as they go on to university, they will continue to grow and develop these skills. In this age of job automation, the next generation of workers will need this training to take their natural technology abilities to the next level.”

But others are concerned that the pace of change is not fast enough when taking into account the adoption and development of new technologies and the looming skills crisis that the UK faces as a result of Brexit.

“The government has recently invested in Stem education, with these subjects now making up 36% of all A-Level entries,” said Sean Farrington, senior vice-president of Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) at Pluralsight.

“Those taking computing grew by 24% this year, with 63% achieving A* to C grades. But to succeed with the ambition to lead the world in new tech like AI [artificial intelligence] and 5G, much more needs to be done.

“If we want to keep up with technological developments in the coming years, we need to encourage thousands more young people, particularly girls, to consider careers in technology.”

More to be done

However, encouraging young people to take Stem subjects is not an immediate fix, with many believing that the curriculum is not flexible enough to get students clued up on emerging skills.

But some advancements have been made, with the number of students choosing to take the ICT A-level this year dropping as the qualification is soon to become obsolete.

Tony Reid, UK and Ireland vice-president of Informatica, said mass disruption caused by technology adoption means the UK needs specialised skillsets that are not currently available.

“The economy needs skills now, not in five years’ time when the curriculum catches up. We as businesses must play our part in making sure young people are learning the right things at the right time,” he said.

This year saw 5,643 students take the ICT exam, down from 7,607 in 2017. The overall performance of male and female students was also worse than last year, with only 56.2% achieving an A* to C grade in comparison to 58.6% in 2017.

In 2018, 64% of girls achieved an A* to C grade, as opposed to 52.6% of boys, but performance was still worse overall for both genders.

The industry sees these changes, such as eliminating outdated subjects like ICT to make way for new qualifications, as a step in the right direction. However, it has also expressed concerns that emerging, in-demand skills – such as those in data or cyber security – are still not being met.

Jordan Morrow, global head of data literacy at Qlik, and Mollie Holleman, UK threat intelligence manager for Cofense, believe the industry should take advantage of the increased interest in Stem subjects to expand on ideas students will have already learnt. This will then encourage young people to learn more about, and grow more interested in, specialisms such as data analysis and cyber security.

For sciences and maths, the number of students taking the three sciences, maths and further maths are all up on last year when taking into account overall student numbers. For biology and chemistry, however, there was a drop in males taking the exam, which was made up by an increase in the number of young women taking these A-level subjects.

As for a focus on developing the creative skills that may be needed for the future of digital and technology, the number of students taking A-levels in media/film/TV has dropped in 2018 to 25,384 from 26,956 in 2017.

As automation eliminates most mundane tasks, many believe an emphasis needs to be put on the unspoken creative skills that the technology industry needs.