Report underscores highs and lows in STEM education

The UK has an acute shortage of STEM subject teachers and many young people are unaware of the direction they need to take to become an engineer, a new report has found.

 

These are two findings from the Engineering UK 2020 Educational Pathways into Engineering Report which highlights the trends in STEM education participation and attainment as at March 2020.

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The report found that young people are studying the GCSE and A level subjects that lead into engineering, while technical education reforms are enabling students to be more prepared for the world of work. It also found that young people’s knowledge of engineering across all stages of education needs improvement as only 42 per cent of boys and 31 per cent of girls know what they need to do next to become an engineer.

There is also an acute shortage of STEM subject teachers in secondary and further education, a situation highlighted by almost three quarters of FE college principals who rank engineering as the most difficult subject to recruit for.

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