Figures for this year’s A Levels, released last week, show that there has been another increase this year (on average, 3%) in the number of students taking A Level Science and Maths subjects. Physics has seen an especially positive rise: the total number of taking Physics A Level this year increased by 5%, up from 32,860 in 2011 to 34,509 in 2012. According to the BBC News website, there are a number of reasons for this, including the newsworthiness of Physics at present, with projects like the Hadron Collider about to write a more complete version than ever before of the rules that govern our existence. Physics teaches us who we are and how we exist, and is – quite simply – fascinating. Schemes to support teachers in schools to communicate this fascination are, demonstrably, working.
But not everyone has heard and acted on this sense of wonder, and while it is pleasing to note that the numbers of pupils taking the subject have increased, the final paragraph of the article is somewhat more depressing: “But one continued cause for concern is that although there has been an increase in girls studying A-level physics, the proportion compared with boys is still very low. Of the 34,509 entered for physics A-level, only 7,361 were female.” A ratio of 1:5 is not a particularly healthy one, and not much, either, to shout about.
Girls’ schools, of course, contribute significantly to the numbers of girls studying Physics. At St Mary’s Calne, a third of last year’s Year 13 leavers studied a Physical Science or Maths at A Level, way over the national average, and they all scored extremely high grades – mostly As and A*s. I sometimes fear I must sound like a stuck record when I say that girls’ schools enable girls to do anything, free of stereotypes and prejudices … but in the case of Physics, again, it is absolutely true. There is no reason whatsoever why as many girls as boys should not study Physics at A Level, and go on to further study in the subject. With all these exciting discoveries around the corner, we are going to need as many Physicists as we can get.
So … work still to be done. But at least we know we can do it.
