A-level results: Why are more girls than boys now studying science?

Analysis: The growing interest in Stem among female pupils is a win, but Eleanor Busby asks whether there is still more to do?

Figures revealed there were over 80,000 entries from girls in the sciences (PA)

For the first time in history, the number of girls taking A-levels sciences has overtaken boys. Scientists, businesses, teachers and ministers have all hailed the gender shift as a huge success.

On A-level results day, figures revealed there were 84,111 entries from girls for biology, chemistry and physics combined this year (50.3 per cent), compared with 83,133 from boys (49.7 per cent).

But how has it happened and what’s behind the change?

It comes after a great deal of effort has been made by the government and schools to encourage more students to take-up of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects.

A campaign to increase the number of female pupils studying Stem has been running for years in a bid to address skill shortages and tackle the underrepresentation of women in the industry.

Exam boards say their increased use of positive female role models in A-level science syllabuses and the sector’s drive to tackle stereotypes have helped to boost the number of female entries.

Jill Duffy, chief executive of OCR exam board, said important women in science, such as Rosalind Franklin, whose past success had been hidden, were now talked about more in the curriculum.

The leader of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Geoff Barton, added that schools have been trying to recruit more female teachers into science posts to give students more role models. He added that former female students are often invited back to give talks as well.

Changes to the science A-level may have made it more popular with students as more practical experiments now take place in the classroom which exam boards say makes it more engaging.

More students could be turning to the sciences at A-level as they are career-savvy and increasingly aware that the subjects could lead to more jobs than arts and humanities.

However, the battle hasn’t been won entirely. Boys are still significantly more likely to take physics, with more than three times as many entries than their female counterparts.

Meanwhile, subjects like maths and computing remain heavily populated by male students.

Professor Tom McLeish, chairman of the Royal Society Education Committee, has warned that there is still a lot of “work to do in closing the gender-gap in maths and computing”.​

Despite the good news about science, the numbers taking English and arts subjects continues to decline – and it is likely many of these students have been dropping these in favour of the sciences.

So although the headline news from A-level results day is broadly positive, it is important that other vital subjects are not hit too hard by the growing popularity of the sciences.