Only 1.4% of UK students did GCSE computer science in 2020 — despite a steady rise in uptake over the past decade, report shows
UK students seem to be defying the Prime Minister’s calls for a “skills revolution” with figures showing just 1.4% of GCSE students chose the subject in 2020.
A report by global tech company OKdo, Computer Science in the Classroom, analysed GCSE results data from the Joint Council for Qualifications over a period of years. It found that since the new course and curriculum were launched in 2012, the number of students sitting the Computer Science GCSE in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has steadily increased from 16,773 students in its first year of assessment (2014) to 78,459 in 2020. However, this still only represents about 1.4% of all UK students.
Last week, Boris Johnson used the Queen’s Speech to announce a “skills revolution” aimed at equipping the UK workforce for the post-pandemic world.
The take-up of digital studies will be seen as disappointing, however. Computer science is currently the fourth most popular STEM subject at GCSE, after Mathematics, Science (including the Double Award) and Physics. However, it is also more popular that the traditional ‘ICT’ GCSE , which was taken by only 9,345 students in 2020 (0.2% of all students), down from 111,934 (2.1%) in 2015.
The figures show that computer science continues to be more popular with boys than girls, though girls tend to achieve higher grades. Three times as many males — 61,520, or 2.2% of all male students — took the subject last year compared to 16,919 females — 0.6% of all female students. Just over three out of ten boys achieving grade 7 or higher compared with 32% of young men achieving grade 7 or above, compared with 41% of girls.
Regionally, the data shows that Greater London, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire have the greatest number of computer science students.
The OKdo analysis also looked at the number of accepted computer science applications across higher education and found that demand had increased over time — from 13,405 in 2011 to 20,035 last year. But there was still a disproportionate number of males opting to study the subject than girls. Overall, less than 5% of UK undergraduate students are taking computer science courses at university.
This lack of participation is having a knock-on effect on industry, the report showed. More than four in every 100 advertised job listings require expertise in computer science but there are too few qualified graduates to fill these roles.
