EngineeringUK: "Imperative" to increase number of female students pursuing T Levels

Congratulations to everyone receiving their A Level and T Level exam results today. This cohort of students has experienced significant disruption to their studies over recent years and should be proud of what they’ve achieved.

With STEM A Levels providing important routes into engineering and tech careers, it’s encouraging today’s results show a substantial 16.7% increase in the uptake of computing A level - the highest increase for any subject.

However, the decrease in the number of students taking physics (-3.5%) and design and technology (-6.7%) A levels is concerning, particularly given an overall uptick in A level entries as a whole (+2.2%). It’s also disappointing to see the percentage of girls taking A level physics has remained at just 23% - something we urgently need to address.  

T Levels are still relatively new, but 1,592 students are receiving an engineering related T Level result today, of whom only 9% are female students. If we are to improve the diversity of the engineering and tech workforce, it’s imperative this proportion improves. It’s also been reported there has been a drop off in the number of students who enrolled on T level courses compared to those receiving their results today – we need to understand and address the reasons behind this.

As a sector that is challenged with acute workforce shortages, it’s important that we closely monitor and strive to increase both the number and diversity of young people studying science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) related subjects. Today’s results confirm there is still work to be done.

Beth Elgood is director of communications at EngineeringUK

www.engineeringuk.com