Education: Science

House of Lords written question – answered at on 11 March 2014.

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Photo of Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville Liberal Democrat

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to encourage more women and girls to take up science, technology, engineering and maths subjects at school and at higher and further education levels.

Photo of Lord Nash Lord Nash The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education

The Government is doing much to engage more girls in science, technology, engineering and maths subjects at all levels of education.

Excellent teaching is a key factor to engaging more girls and the Government is taking action to recruit more top STEM graduates into teaching by offering teacher training scholarships worth £25,000 as well as teacher training bursaries worth up to £20,000. The Government is also funding a programme of bursaries and grants aimed at attracting high-quality graduates to train as specialist teachers of maths in further education. We are supporting existing teachers by providing access to high-quality continuing professional development (CPD) through Science Learning Centres and Science Learning Partnerships; a network of teaching excellence to train up to 400 master teachers in computer science by March 2015 to deliver CPD nationally; and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. We have also allocated £11 million to fund 30 new maths hubs to drive up the quality of maths teaching from primary to post-16.

The Department for Education is funding the Stimulating Physics Network and the Further Maths Support Programme to support schools and colleges in increasing the number of students taking physics, maths and further maths A-level, with a particular emphasis on increasing the number of girls. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) funds the STEM Ambassadors programme, a nationwide network of over 27,000 volunteers from industry and academia, 40% of whom are women, who work with schools across the UK to raise awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications can offer. BIS hosted the Tomorrow’s Engineers Week in November which aimed to raise the profile of engineering careers, with a particular focus on girls aged 11-14. The week led to a 6% increase in young people saying they would consider a career in engineering.

The Government has set out an ambition that, by 2020, the great majority of young people (boys and girls) will continue to study maths to age 18. To support this we are introducing core maths qualifications from 2015 aimed at students who have a grade C or higher in GCSE maths, while all 16-19 year olds who have not achieved at least a grade C will be expected to continue to study towards a GCSE. Thanks to our English Baccalaureate—the performance table measure that encourages pupils into the most respected subjects—the number of girls doing GCSE physics is now at a record high and has almost caught up with boys. 73,000 girls are now taking the subject compared to 76,000 boys.

In the Autumn Statement the Government announced a £200 million investment in STEM higher education teaching facilities. Higher education institutions will be required to match the funding, so that will see at least £400 million of investment in the 2015 to 2016 financial year that will support a growth in the number of students that can be taught on the latest equipment to make them ready for the world of work. This funding is dependent on the higher education institutions demonstrating a commitment to equality and diversity.

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